The Women's Project: Educating Women in Rural Nicaragua About Gender and Violence

Programs and policies addressing gendered violence in impoverished rural areas in developing countries face a number of challenges: high rates of intimate partner violence, low reporting rates, cultural restrictions on women's employment, lack of education and adequate health care, limited access to legal options and social services, and corruption in the criminal justice system. In these social contexts, anonymity is low and patriarchal notions of gender are especially persistent. In some areas, there are no services specifically for victims of gendered violence and shelters are in urban centers, far away from family and friends. Even where legal interventions are available, the outcomes often favor the perpetrators, making this option less attractive and in some cases dangerous. Because of these barriers, victims of intimate partner violence in rural settings rely more often on informal or community networks of support rather than formal authorities and legal sanctions to stop the violence. Consequently, addressing intimate partner violence in rural areas in developing countries requires more than a criminal justice response; it requires empowering rural women economically and socially. This conceptual article describes one program that attempts to empower rural women and the implications for creating safe space for victims of violence in challenging contexts.