Fighting Violence Against Women, One Coffee Bean at a Time

February 2009 | Women Thrive Worldwide | Photo Credits: Sara Heinrichs, Steve Evans, Sara Heinrichs

Fighting Violence Against Women, One Coffee Bean at a Time

In honor of Valentine's Day we are devoting this month's newsletter to the fight to end violence against women and girls worldwide, an issue so many of you have take action on over the past few years. To honor your efforts, and those of women around the world, we couldn't think of a better story than that of COMUCAP, our partner in Honduras that has overcome all odds to improve the lives of the women they serve:

Photo Credit: COMUCAP	When Dulce Marlene Contreras started her organization with seven of her friends, there was one thing on her mind: how to help the women of Honduras protect themselves from domestic violence. A daughter of farmers in the rural region of La Paz, Honduras, Marlene was tired of watching the women of her community endure widespread alcoholism and household abuse. She wanted to fight back.
So, in 1993, Marlene founded the Coordinadora de Mujeres Campesinas de La Paz, or COMUCAP, to educate women about their rights. But as time went by Marlene noticed that something was missing. While awareness-building was critical, in order to reduce violence for the long-term, COMUCAP had to attack the problem at its root: poverty. "We realized that until women are economically empowered, they will not be empowered to escape abuse for good," says Marlene. Seeing this link between economic independence and reducing violence revolutionized the way COMUCAP approached its work. In addition to rights awareness workshops, it started training women to grow and sell organic coffee and aloe vera, helping them earn an income for their families. Soon Marlene and her friends started seeing results - the more money women made, the more power they were able to assert in the household.	Marlene (right) shows off a bag of coffee with COMUCAP members. Photo Credit: COMUCAP
As the community started to view the women of COMUCAP as economic contributors to its families, rather than threats to the status quo, more and more women made decisions jointly with their husbands and stood up for themselves and their children in the face of abuse. Today COMUCAP provides employment and income to over 256 women. Household violence, Marlene is proud to report, is now nearly non-existent within the families of COMUCAP. Read more about our partner, COMUCAP, here.

How You Can Fight Violence Against Women

As the leading organization advocating for policies that economically empower women like those in COMUCAP, Women Thrive fights to get organizations around the world like COMUCAP the assistance they need to attack violence and improve lives. Right now, for example, we are working on getting the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), a bill that would reduce violence against women worldwide by investing in local groups like COMUCAP, re-introduced and passed by Congress.

If passed, IVAWA, which was developed by lead Senate sponsors with the help of Women Thrive, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Amnesty International USA, and over 150 groups around the world, would make ending violence against women a diplomatic priority for the first time in U.S. history. It would for the first time comprehensively incorporate proven solutions for reducing violence into all U.S. foreign assistance programs - solutions such as promoting women's economic opportunity, addressing violence against girls in school, and working to change public attitudes, potentially affecting millions of women worldwide. We need your help to get IVAWA through Congress and passed so that it can become a reality for women worldwide! This Valentines Day, help us make this happen: Click here to donate to our life-saving anti-violence advocacy! Click here to sign the petition calling on Congress to pass IVAWA! On Facebook? Join our End Violence Against Women & Girls group to stay connected to other activists!