V-Day Annual Report 2015 | Page 32

RISING GRANTS SOL For over 17 years, V-Day has been in solidarity with extraordinary grassroots activists, groups and projects on the ground. PROMOTING WOMEN CAPABILITIES BY EDUCATION LEADERSHIP CENTER (KABUL, AFGHANISTAN) V-Day has committed to supporting PWCE (Promoting Women Capabilities by Education) to run an extraordinary leadership center in the heart of Kabul. The center is providing free, non-formal education in literacy, science, computers, family planning and English for Afghan women and girls, as well as legal, psychosocial and counseling support. Originally the center had planned to serve 250 women, but demand was so high that they are now serving 300 women, aged 15-30, in three groups. Most of the women come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and many have experienced violence, forced marriage and depression. Additionally, a series of seminars on issues such as domestic violence, legal rights, rape within marriage, birth control and pregnancy have proven to be incredibly powerful experiences for women participants. A new class of women began the program in February 2015. DALIT WOMEN’S SELF RESPECT MOVEMENT (INDIA) The Dalit Women’s Self-Respect March/Dalit Mahila Swabihmaan Yatra is the largest historic challenge to caste-based sexual violence in Indian history. The brainchild of the All India Dalit Women’s Rights Forum/All India Dalit Mahila ADHIKAAR MANCH, survi32