FIRELIGHT FOUND ATION

GRANTEE PROFILE
Providing a ‘Ray of Hope’ to abused women and vulnerable children
When Zimbabwe’s new Domestic Violence Act was signed into law in 2007, community organizations working to improve the
lives of women and children celebrated the important milestone. But the new law—almost a decade in the making—is only a
first step in curbing the abuse of women and children. A variety of obstacles stands in the way of the law’s full implementation.
First, many people do not know about the law or understand it, reports Firelight grantee-partner Ray of Hope, while others
do not view women as equal to men and still consider the abuse of women and children in the home to be a personal and
therefore, private issue.
Then there is the enormous scale of the problem. The Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association reports that one in four women
in the country suffer some form of abuse during their lifetime, and 60 percent of murder cases are related to domestic violence
perpetrated against women. The link between sexual abuse and HIV transmission only magnifies the terrible consequences of
these violations.
Based in the rural Mutasa District of Zimbabwe’s
eastern highlands, Ray of Hope is a communitybased
network of domestic violence survivors
working to empower women and protect and
support vulnerable children. One of their current
goals is to increase public understanding of the
impact of abuse on women and children, and
to change entrenched views and habits through
education and training.
Firelight supports these objectives by funding Ray of
Hope’s public awareness campaigns and provision
of direct assistance to domestic violence survivors
and their children. To economically empower women
who have left abusive situations, Ray of Hope offers
training and start-up capital for small businesses.
They also assist survivors with school fees for their
children, food, legal assistance, and counseling.
And they are making progress in winning local
support and changing attitudes. More than 1,500
community members participated in a local
International Rural Women’s Day event, organized
by Ray of Hope, where community leaders spoke
against domestic violence.
Jennifer Lentfer