1000 Women Trust was established in 2003 by Wendy Ackerman and Tina Thiart. At this time, women’s issues were not on the radar of ordinary funders. When issues like rape, or sexual and reproductive health rights arose, funders were not interested and as a result, there was no money being directed towards women’s organisations that supported women to know their rights and respond to GBV and SRHR with confidence. 1000 Women Trust wanted to change this, and began mobilising women all over South Africa to kick start change and enable funding bodies and organisations to be run by women, for women.
1000 Women Trust believe that with the right tools and information, women can create change for themselves, and ensure that spaces are created that allow women to heal and feel confident when facing issues such as gender based violence and sexual and reproductive health rights. Because of this, for the past 17 years, 1000 Women Trust has been supporting and building the capacity of women lead organisations, and developing toolkits, campaigns and interventions that enable women’s organisations across South Africa to empower the women they work with.
This WVLSA project aims to collect grassroots data on women’s experiences in relation to GBV during the COVID-19 lock-down, as well as increase the availability of support for those at risk. 1000Women Trust is currently supporting 44 feeding stations across the Western Cape, through funding and assistance in handing out food, and through this endeavour, engaging women from communities where GBV rates are high. 1000Women Trust would like to use data collected to inform the provision of support to women on how to stay safe from GBV during COVID-19 whilst adhering to hygiene and social distancing rules.
This funding would enable us to achieve the goal of reaching hard to reach women who need support, and collecting grassroots information on women’s experience in relation to GBV. It will also enable us to share this information with other organisations whose aim is to support women who are at risk of, or suffering from GBV during this time. This would feed into our ultimate goal of ensuring that 1000Women Trust is prepared to respond effectively and efficiently to the needs of women at risk of GBV during the COVID-19 lock-down.