Women’s Empowerment Fund Launched in England

The Government has launched a one-off £250,000 Fund to support women and give them the confidence to speak out against abuse and child sexual exploitation within their communities.

The newly launched Women’s Empowerment Fund is directed at voluntary sector organisations, including faith groups, who work with women in the community. Funding is available for local community engagement projects that empower women to challenge abuse, including child sexual abuse, and is particularly aimed at women who find it difficult to get their voices heard. This includes:

  • Women who are or can be marginalised.
  • Women from black, Asian minority and ethnic groups.
  • Women who are disadvantaged or deprived: with no or little educational attainment or restricted opportunities.
  • Women who may have been victims of domestic or sexual abuse.
  • Women who suffer from barriers that inhibit the accessing of day-to-day services. These might include language barriers, societal issues and lack of confidence about inter-acting with people from outside their community or with public services.

Grants of between £2,000 and £20,000 are available for projects that address the following criteria:

  • Empowering women – the project should have an impact in empowering women, for example, improving their confidence, increasing their proficiency in English, helping them to integrate in the wider community.
  • Engaging women who find it difficult to get their voices heard – the project should engage with women who are marginalised, disadvantaged and deprived with little or no educational attainment and restricted opportunities.
  • Based within the community – the project works with the local community and within local neighbourhoods.
  • Will capture the learning and will communicate and share it with other VCS groups – the project should aim to communicate and share what is learnt with other VCS groups.

It is anticipated that between 10 and 20 grants will be awarded.

The deadline for applications is 31 March 2015 (noon).

For further information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fund-to-empower-women-to-tackle-abuse

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