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Share your voice!  Soroptimist International, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the World YWCA, and the Friends of Cambodian Child’s Dream Organisation invite you to participate in a worldwide conversation about violence against rural women and girls: experiences and solutions. 

We have developed a list of seven questions and we want to know YOUR thoughts!  We will be collecting responses – written, audio, video, or photo – over the coming weeks as we prepare for the Commission on the Status of Women taking place in New York from 27th February to 9th March. 

This year’s CSW theme is “the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”  We will be taking these questions to the event and capturing responses in person, culminating in a side event with panellists from each of our organisations. 

If you would like to participate, please answer any of the following questions in 2 minutes or less – don’t forget to tell us your name and where you’re from!  And feel free to share your response in any format you like.  They will all be edited together after CSW to create a film which we will distribute far and wide.

1) What are the risk factors, including cultural and societal norms, which render rural women and girls around the world vulnerable to violence?  Are they different from those facing women and girls living in urban or peri-urban areas? What are the specific challenges facing young rural women?

2) Do rural women and girls experience violence differently from women and girls living in urban or peri-urban areas? Are there specific challenges facing young rural women?

3) What kinds of interventions, from your first hand experience, work best in a rural setting?  What types of educational and awareness measures are proving effective?

4) How are rural women and girls leading change in this area? What more can be done to build the leadership of rural young women and men to respond to violence in their communities?

5) How can policies or legislation work to reduce incidence of violence against women and girls in rural areas? Are sufficient resources being directed towards addressing the problem?

6) How can we create safe spaces in rural communities for women and girls experiencing violence?

7) What are five simple, cost-effective strategies to address violence against rural women and girls?

Women and girls in every country across the world are being subjected to many forms of violence; those living in rural areas face different risks to violence and challenges in responding.  Empowering solutions may be different in rural settings as well.  We all have the right to live free from violence and the fear of violence and to be aware of our rights – and find the voice to create a global movement and actions to end violence. Building from a whisper to a shout, we need to talk, join together and inspire action around the world!

Send your responses to hq@soroptimistinternational.org. If your file is too large to email, then contact us at the same email address and we will find an alternative! We look forward to hearing from you!