Globally, an estimated 736 million women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence or both at least once in their lives. Less than 40 percent of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. This data reflects the situation in Myanmar, given the conservative nature of the society and limited access to justice. It leads Myanmar women to endure violence and suffer the consequences all by themselves.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), upholding its core value of human rights, acknowledges gender-based violence (GBV) as a serious violation of women’s rights and tries to address this issue globally via different programs. In Myanmar, one of these programs focuses on strengthening the resilience of women facing GBV. In this context, resilience means the ability to respond to the abuse and prevent further incidents.

Together with its local partners, Civic Development Institute and Call Me Today, the FNF organized a series of interactive online sessions for women. They wanted to learn about gender concept and GBV, share their personal stories freely in a community discussion and seek advice from the trainers. In 2023, 58 female participants spent 16 hours through eight sessions studying, opening up, connecting with their peers and building a network to support one another – an important step towards preventing violence against women in the future.