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The Spotlight Initiative takes a multi-sectoral approach to establishing safe spaces, to ensure that survivors - and other women and girls - accessing these spaces have access to a variety of services including financial aid, legal aid, economic empowerment opportunities, sexual and reproductive health information, psychosocial support and counselling, and opportunities to develop skills to challenge harmful gender norms safely.
The Spotlight Initiative builds safe spaces in collaboration with communities and service providers, especially health and justice services. Part of these efforts…
Spotlight Initiative has ensured access to justice programmes that reflect holistic definitions of justice, informed by the experiences of survivors and communities. For example, in addition to supporting survivors to access and navigate both formal and informal legal systems, they have also supported communities to establish reparative memorials in honour of those killed through crimes of GBV. See case study below. Other key approaches and learning include:
Supporting justice sector leaders and decision-makers to understand the seriousness and impacts of GBV. For example, programmes have…
Spotlight Initiative has partnered with women’s rights organisations (WROs) at national and local levels across all outcome areas, for example, initiatives to prevent violence, to provide support to survivors, to engage in research and data collection, and to advocate for stronger institutions and legal and policy change.
Grant-giving mechanisms to support the work of WROs: The portfolio of work with women’s rights organisations also consists of Spotlight Initiative’s two Civil Society Grant-Giving Programmes, partnering with the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund)…
Spotlight Initiative has engaged the media in a variety of different ways and with a range of objectives, from raising awareness on VAWG and challenging harmful norms, to strengthening gender responsive coverage and reporting of GBV cases. By working with the media in these ways, Spotlight Initiative aims to generate widespread awareness, influence societal norms, empower survivors, and drive policy changes to end violence against women and girls. Key learnings include:
Leverage the power of the media through targeted behavioural-change campaigns. For example, work with radio, printed…
Spotlight Initiative recognises that effective training and resourcing is essential to ensure that police units are well equipped to respond to crimes of VAWG with a survivor-centred approach. Key approaches and learning from Spotlight Initiative programmes working with the police include:
Train police officers to prevent and respond effectively and sensitively to VAWG: For example, in the Marshall Islands, Spotlight Initiative trained police officers in survivor-centred approaches. See case study below.
Invest in Women and Children’s protection units within police forces to ensure there…
Spotlight Initiative has taken a variety of innovative approaches to working with and for adolescent girls:
Using a Safe Spaces Model across programmes and contexts to support girls in developing life skills and increasing awareness of health, rights and services. Read more about the Safe Spaces approach in Malawi and the case studies on Niger and Nigeria.
Using technology and games development to increase awareness of VAWG among young people. See the case study on Kyrgyzstan below.
Supporting comprehensive sexuality education: For example, in Argentina, adolescent girls and boys have…
Spotlight Initiative recognises that survivors of violence often require a range of health services, including medical treatment, psychosocial support, and reproductive health care. Its programmes aim to ensure that survivors have access to comprehensive and integrated health services that address their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Key approaches and learning include:
Providing high-quality clinical care for survivors of violence, including emergency medical treatment, treatment of injuries, and post-assault care. This has also involved training healthcare providers to offer…
Spotlight Initiative has supported capacity-strengthening efforts with a wide range of stakeholders and partners, including civil society organisations (CSOs), Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs), media broadcasters, journalists, national governments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Spotlight Initiative developed a guidance manual on capacity building which committed to the following:
Engage stakeholders in reciprocal learning: Spotlight Initiative programmes were designed from the outset to involve all stakeholders that could benefit from a capacity building initiative in…
Spotlight Initiative collaborates with partners to establish and strengthen One Stop Centres, which allow a multi-sectoral and holistic approach to VAWG response. By 2023, Spotlight Initiative had provided more than 650,000 women and girl survivors with essential services - of these, more than 450,000 were served by One Stop Centres.
Key approaches and learning have included:
Strengthening and scaling up existing one stop centres: In Nigeria, Spotlight Initiative scaled up one-stop centres already in operation. One-stop centres in the states of Sokoto and Lagos provide housing services…
Spotlight Initiative recognises that addressing VAWG requires collaboration across various sectors and service providers, government agencies, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders involved in GBV response. Referral mechanisms are an essential component of this approach as they ensure that survivors receive holistic support.
Spotlight Initiative invests in building the capacity of service providers, including healthcare workers, CSOs, social workers, legal professionals, and law enforcement personnel. This training helps them better understand GBV issues, improve their…