The International Organization for Migration (IOM) inaugurated on Tuesday its first Women and Girls Safe Space (WGSS) for the people in Cox’s Bazar who are hosting the Rohingya refugees.
PULSE Bangladesh is the partner of the initiative funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the government of Japan.
It is aimed at mitigating and reducing the risks of gender-based violence (GBV) in Cox’s Bazar, the UN agency said in a statement.
Domestic violence is common in Bangladesh as indicated by the government reports. An estimated 73 percent of married Bangladeshi women have experienced domestic violence in their life, according to a 2015 study.
COVID-19 has exacerbated these risks, with a recent report highlighting a rise in GBV, particularly intimate partner violence and child protection issues including child labour and child marriage across both Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities.
IOM operates such safe centers for women and girls in nine refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, providing them life-saving information and awareness-raising activities, as well as community-level outreach activities.
Between December 2020 and January 2021, IOM GBV teams provided group-based psychosocial support to 6,820 women and girls via these spaces.
Situated in Ratna Palong union in the Ukhia Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district, this new center will serve as a place where women and girls can access resources and support to reduce the risk of GBV, the IOM said.
The space will also act as a vital entry point for GBV survivors looking to access information on specialized services and referrals to health, legal and protection actors.
“This is a space where women and girls can feel physically and emotionally safe and have the freedom to express themselves without fear of judgment from their peers,” said IOM’s Deputy Chief of Mission Manuel Marques Pereira.
“We hope that this space will eventually become a women-led multipurpose community centre and evolve depending on the needs of women and girls and the wider community.”
Furthermore, the centre will focus on skills development and the empowerment of women and girls by conducting a variety of training modules, such as on sewing, the production of sanitary pads, gardening or food processing, which will lead to livelihoods opportunities.