Photo by Mauro Medina, © RET International

Article by RET in Venezuela

CARACAS, VENEZUELA – Since 2012, we have worked in Venezuela to improve the quality of education, protection, and resilience in communities across the country. During these #16Days of Activism, we want to highlight our work against gender-based violence (GBV). 

We have fought against GBV in Sucre, Venezuela, through RET’s Protection Component and Women’s Safe Space. Our projects have empowered participants to recognize themselves as valuable women, demand respect in their relationships, and make decisions to build a life free of violence. We have strengthened sisterhood, provided tools for childcare, and promoted relationships based on respect and shared work.

RET’s project in Sucre has been transformative. Our actions are focused on family and community protection. Women now demand respect, practice parenting from love, and promote equitable relationships, sharing work at home and in the conuco. We are building a safer and more respectful environment, step by step.

The testimonies highlight a profound personal, family and community transformation. These are the most relevant changes that women mention having achieved thanks to their participation in the RET project (Women’s Protection and Safe Space Component) in highly vulnerable communities:

Personal Transformation and Empowerment

• Self-Esteem and Self-Respect: They learned to recognize themselves as valuable women, to heal wounds and to love themselves.
• Demand for Respect: They no longer allow themselves to be humiliated and demand the respect they deserve, even in their relationships.
• Decision-Making Capacity: They feel empowered and capable of making decisions to build a life free of violence.
• Inspiration for Others: They discovered that their story of healing and change can inspire and help other women.

Changes in Family Dynamics and Parenting

• Parenting without Violence: They abandoned physical abuse or beatings, and now they educate their children from love, dialogue and without violence.
• Child Protection: They understand the importance of protecting children from abuse and giving them a loving and safe home.
• Risk Management: They received training on the risks teens face, especially on social media, and how to teach them to trust safe adults.
• Improvement of the Couple’s Relationship: They actively promote respect, are attentive to gender violence, and share responsibilities at home and in the conuco (crop field) as a team.

Community Impact and Sorority

• Strength of the Union: They strengthened sisterhood, discovering the strength they have when they come together as women to fight against violence and take care of each other.
• Agents of Change: They received tools to be agents of change in their lives and have acquired the motivation and ability to give talks and accompany other families and sectors of the community.
• Rights Awareness: Now they know that they have rights, they deserve respect and that they are not alone.

This work would not have been possible without the support of the Swiss Embassy in Venezuela and COSUDE in Venezuela.

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