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>View discussions about this entry Country: Nicaragua
Organization: Asociación Movimiento de Mujeres de Chinandega
Focus of activity: Direct Support
Year the initiative began: 2004
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
Description of Initiative: The school of Legal Training for Women can be described as a community educational Project, that shares legal knowledge with women who are community leaders, through their participation in training sessions, so they later provide legal advise and/or support women who are victims of domestic violence in their claims before the justice.
The training process developed inside the school, aims at providing women with legal knowledge related to their rights as subjects of the law, which includes elements from General Law, understanding of the State and the legal frame where women rights rule, in particular the Criminal Code, Criminal Process Code and laws related to the protection of their rights to life, physical, psychological, sexual and economical integrity, such as Law 230 ( Law for the Prevention and Punishment of domestic violence), Law 150 (Law of Sexual Crimes), Law of Alimony, Law of Citizen Participation and Municipal Law. We also educate on the building of the gender, the feminine identity, processes of emotional recovery and the facilitation of self help groups. Once they have completed the training, the women get a certificate as “community Defendants” and the are identified in their communities where there usually isn’t any kind of women support, with the knowledge and the will to advise and accompany women to complain against domestic violence. Innovation: This training model has the following characteristics;
1. The identification of women leaders in each community who are already providing support to women who are victims of domestic violence, but who lack the legal knowledge to do a better job. Delivery Model: The training process is not carried out in a centralized manner, but it is developed in each community. This eliminates the obstacles so women can participate in the whole program. The organization is coordinated by the networks of women members of Asociación de Mujeres de Chinandega, who develop the student selection process and e
The Community Defendants contact the victims of domestic violence through different channels; : • Because of their public recognition, women sep the advise and support of the Community defendants. The School and the work of the Defendants is periodically evaluated by the Coordination in the School along with the networks of women in the communities where the Project takes place. Key Operational Partnerships: The School implemntation has been posible thanks to some important partnerships;
The first one is with the Centre of Constitutional Rights, an NGO specializing in the study of legislation and that has developed the training methodology used at our school. With help of the CCR our facilitators do their work. The second partnership is the one that we make with the local women communities, who provide the venues for the meetings and the follow up as well as the evaluation of the training process and the performance of the /community Defendants. Although it isn’t one of the most strong, the partnership with the local governments, which provide financial resources, food or materials to foster the students participation in the rural communities. The fourth partnership is with the public institutions in charge of administering justice, such as the National Police, the local Courts, the Attorney General, the Public Ministry to gain the recognition of the Community Defendants in their role of supporting victims from domestic violence. Financial Model: Among the mechanism we have incorporated there is the criteria that the women who enter the program must be natural leaders and already have social recognition and who have the will of helping other women. This contributes to the effectiveness of the process since these women are not strangers to their communities and it also helps its sustainability since the investment in human capital stays in the communities.
Effectiveness: Even though the School started in 1996,. when the first group of women was trained who now are facilitators for the School. For the first eight years its operations were irregular due to lack of financing and the need to have to contact the women groups each time to to the high migration rate in the area.
But in the past two years our operations have become more stable, which contributes to the strenghtment of the Project and allows a better quantification on the benefits brought by the program. Among the most relevant elements to evaluate the impact of the School, we find the following; • A 100% increase in the number of women, teenagers and children who have complained before the justice authorities about domestic and sexual violence.
Scaling up Strategy: In the first place reach financial sustainability for the Project through a commitment from the local governments to warrantee financing for the training sessions.
In the second place to obtain academic recognition from a form an educational institution so the women can have a formally recognized certification. Thirdly to extend the School to other municipalities and areas of the country.
Origin of the Initiative: Two leaders from the Asociación de Mujeres de Chinandega Lucrecia Lindo, have been deputees to the Nacional Assembly of Nicaragua,none of them finished secondary school but through an informal training process and the leadership they have built in their communities that have done amost relevant work in the parliament. Their lack of formal ecuation was not a barrier to their success. Thus these two Maria Castillo and Teresa Delgado,it contacted the Centre for Constitucional Rights to train community leaders in in legal matters to improve their work. From this initiative come the idea of seting up the School. The first group of students was no bigger than six, theyr were trained and credited as Legal Defendants. Then they each went to their respective communities to share their knowledge providing legal support to women.
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up: We have no political barriers, only financial, since our members come from very low income a community which limits the possibility of any financial contribution.
The second obstacle is political since it is important to have the support of the local governments but they often tied their support to political favors and want to politically influence the women of our program. Main Partnership Challenges: We have no political barriers, only financial, since our members come from very low income communities which limit the possibility of any financial contribution.
Contact Information:
Maria Castillo
Coordinator Asociación Movimiento de Mujeres de Chinandega (NGO) Discussions about this entry |

