"Lichtblicke" - Extension of a women's shelter house in Togo, West Africa
A project from Togoverein e.V. in Dapaong - TOGO, Togo
With the organization for women's and human rights organizations REFED/S and Togoverein e.V., a women's shelter is being built in northern Togo. Now that the counseling center has been set up, it is time to build adequate sleeping, hygiene rooms.
Already 11 donations.
Join in too!
You will receive a donation receipt from betterplace (betterplace.org gGmbH).
About this project
Jenny Schmidt from Togoverein e.V. is responsible for this project
LICHBLICKE is a center for girls and women who are threatened or affected by forced marriages or barter marriages. The practice of forced or barter marriages is particularly widespread in northern Togo. The savanna region in Togo is one of the poorest in the country. Due to the high economic pressure and the archaic-traditional structures, the practice of forced marriages or barter marriages is still a common practice - despite the state ban.
- Some girls affected are only twelve years old, so they are still children. In the case of forced or barter marriages, the girls and women concerned have no say whatsoever. Their human rights according to Article 16 "Marriage and family" are violated.
- Forced marriage here means marriage against the will of the bride.
- Barter marriage means that a groom's sister is given to his brother-in-law as a kind of substitute for the bride. The exchange marriage can also take place as recognition for a benefit. A family man gives his daughter to another family as a thank you, so to speak.
- Forced or swapped marriages are often traumatic for those affected. The disorders that follow the trauma often accompany those affected for the rest of their lives, especially without adequate support
- These marriages are often accompanied by psychological, physical, and/or sexualized violence. The consequences of these violent structures are, for example, depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, dissociation, psychosomatic pain, unwanted pregnancies, nightmares, etc.
- If affected girls and women manage to escape from these violent marriages, they are often rejected by their families and are left to their own devices.
Together with the local partner organization REFED/S, the Togoverein e.V. helps girls and young women with psychological, legal, and general support, which enables the girls and young women to find a way out of a forced marriage and the trauma associated with it and into a regulated, self-determined life.
REFED/S has been active since 2004 and already has competent counselors who support those affected as much as possible and with significant commitment. They try to free the girls from the hands of the perpetrators as quickly as possible, report this case and try to create perspectives. However, the organization had no spatial resources. However, these are essential in order to provide those affected with reliable protection against further attacks.
Now that the counseling center and rooms for training and further education have been built, the second part of the project is now to build adequate bedrooms and hygiene rooms.
Get informed and get involved
Become a fan and receive news and updates from the organization
Collect donations for this project together with your community
About
betterplace.org is the largest German donation platform. Since 2007 we have been helping people, aid organizations and companies to do good. All projects on betterplace.org are non-profit. Since we ourselves also do not work for profit, our platform is free of charge for the projects.
- 2007founded
- 15,000non-profit organisations
- 300m €for a good cause
