30th November 2020

Saint Lucia Organisations Partner for Youth Engagement Addressing Gender Based Violence

By Herstoire Collective

HERStoire Collective, Empowering Our Women, PCI Media – Three local organisations have partnered to hold public discussions with youth, on issues related to Domestic Violence legislation, resources and redress for survivors.

This initiative is in observance of the United Nation’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The period spanning from November 25th to December 10th is recognized annually, in this international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. The UNWomen’s 2020 UNiTE Campaign Theme is "Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!"

As part of UNWomen’s campaign, local organisations, Herstoire Collective, Empowering Our Women St. Lucia and PCI Media collaborated to increase youth engagement on domestic violence legislation and referral pathways in Saint Lucia. Their initiative, “Youth Orange Together”, comprises a series of Zoom discussions, digital advocacy, and the publishing of radio drama episodes, to focus on stimulating interest and engagement, particularly among Saint Lucian youth.

According to Co-founding Director of Herstoire, Tiala Scott: “This program is particularly important because although COVID-19 has taken Saint Lucia and the entire world by storm, the shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls still continues, and is on the rise. By engaging the public— especially the youth—in discussions about issues related to domestic violence, we hope to not only generate awareness of this very real plague, but to chart the way forward when it comes to confronting it. This can only be achieved by a collective effort, engaging persons from across the country. It is particularly important that males get involved so that they, too, can speak out and commit to taking action to end violence against women and girls.”

The joint initiative, “Youth Orange Together,” highlights youth-centred advocacy, while seeking to outline Saint Lucia’s existing domestic violence legislation, Gender-Based Violence Referral Pathways and Psychosocial Support Services, to identify solutions for challenges faced in the management of domestic violence within the country.

The Zoom discussions will take place over two consecutive Mondays: November 30th and December 7th, 2020 from 7-8PM. Key stakeholders expected to be in attendance are representatives from the Department of Gender Relations, youth advocacy groups, victims support agencies, social services, civil society organisations, lawyers, psychotherapists and gender experts.

The triad organisation partnership invites all parties - particularly youth, who are interested in advocating against and exploring measures to combat gender-based violence, to attend both Zoom sessions. Registration information can be found at https://linktr.ee/herstoire under “Youth Orange Together.”

For more information on the HERStoire Collective, email:[email protected]

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