| Peru Projects: Women's Self-Help Group for Spousal Violence |
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| Spousal abuse is a persistent problem in Peru, as it is in Canada. In the barrios of Chiclayo it is exacerbated by the hardships and insecurities of extreme poverty. This 2-year pilot project, created by Centro Esperanza, began in April 2007. The goal was to provide women with the support and the skills they needed to move from being “passive victims” of violence to a situation of empowerment. The main tools for this transition were self-help groups for the women together with the continuous support of a psychologist and access to legal advice. Through these vehicles the women were able to express themselves and recognize the effects of violence on their lives and the lives of their children. |   |
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In the 8 self-help groups that were formed during the 2-year period, a total of 131 women participated regularly. Some, having completed their 3-month group cycle, continued to attend as new groups were formed. The women participated in psychological therapy, including bio-dance and bio-energetics, that in all cases reduced their levels of anxiety and depression. Twelve participants in the program made efforts to exercise some degree of autonomy by taking job related training or working outside the home; two actually separated from their violent partners; and one initiated police action. The self-help groups were effective in raising the self-esteem of the participants and helping them recognize abuse and its consequences. However, the project also showed that many other strategies, and most of all time, are needed for most women to find ways out of situations of domestic violence and to take the hard decisions to undertake such journeys in the face of official indifference or worse. Nevertheless the self-help group format was shown to be useful in laying the foundation for transformation. The two-year process was fully documented and the model was subsequently shared with other organizations. |
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In Their Own Words... "When I came to the program, I came scared, nervous, full of problems and here we learned to relax, now I am very contented, very thankful because they have made us value ourselves, improve our self-esteem, we have learned much." "Being in the group has helped me be more secure and able to make my choices and feel more confident in myself and also those around me, because I have always felt less than others… I understand that I am not less than the others and that yes I am important." |
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