New projects to address gender-based violence are presented in Cuba

The Temporary Working Group of the National Program for Women's Advancement met in Havana to review two new initiatives and a campaign that will enhance the strategy for preventing and addressing gender-based violence within the family context.

The delegates of the Federation of Cuban Women presented the initiatives «Support for the national response to gender-based violence» and «No more», developed in collaboration with international partners and various civil society organizations and academic institutions.

The first initiative is supported by the United Nations Population Fund and the Canadian Embassy in Cuba, and will cover 40 municipalities in all provinces.

It is aimed at establishing or enhancing national and regional comprehensive services for addressing gender-based violence in the family context; as well as dismantling social norms, prejudices and discriminatory practices that perpetuate this issue.

The No More initiative is a collaboration between the Federation of Cuban Women, the Organization for Development Cooperation of Emerging Countries, and the Martin Luther King Center. It focuses on six municipalities on the island and involves some 11,400 people, including residents, social workers, communicators, and officials.

The participants will collaborate to foster cultural change regarding gender violence, the articulation of local organizations and institutions, the strengthening of care services, and the participation and empowerment of women.

According to the National Center for Sexual Education, the campaign will continue to address these issues, under the premise that looking away also contributes to gender violence.