The Foundation for Innovative Social Development (FISD) in collaboration with the British Council, spearheaded the ‘Future without Violence’ project, to address harmful gender norms that lead towards Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and cyber sexual violence against women and girls.
This initiative is a follow up to the project ‘Empowering Communities to address Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)’ which was implemented from 2018 to 2020 by FISD and the British Council in partnership with Jaffna Social Action Centre (JSAC), Janathakshan, and Hashtag Generation. A key output of the project is a survey on cyber violence among Sri Lankan youth, where the key findings and recommendations are fed into an action plan to address issues identified. Under both projects, British Council, FISD and partner organisations conducted leadership and training programs in five districts including Jaffna, Monaragala, Hambantota, Colombo, and Anuradhapura. A key objective of the project was strengthening service responses to survivors and victims of sexual and gender-based violence, fostering gender-responsive communications and developing recommendations for advocacy-level action based on addressing gender norms that justify such incidents of violence.
FISD conducted community mappings in selected villages from Hambantota, Monaragala and Anuradhapura as well as a spot survey on cyber violence among the youth to gauge knowledge and attitudes regarding cyber violence. A few suggestions to minimise cyber violence as suggested by the FISD include creating awareness about possible cyber violence scenarios, educating youth on how to report, and increasing digital literacy at an overall level.
The British Council supports and advocates community-based initiatives, which prioritise gender sensitive empowerment programs through its English, education, arts, and culture work strands for more open and inclusive societies.
Through this project, the British Council Sri Lanka collaborated with civil society partners and youth networks to upscale the talents of women and girls, supporting economic growth, and building networks to support women and girls in Batticaloa, Hambantota, Jaffna and Moneragala districts.