By Coordination SUD, Forus member in France.

As social organizations, NGOs reflect and reproduce, at their own level, the social gender norms of their environment. They are just as likely to experience sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as any other organisation. Coordination SUD has therefore included the prevention and the fight against SGBV as one of its strategic priorities and has implemented a whole series of actions to strengthen the capacities of its members on the subject including the realisation of an e-learning module thanks to the support of Forus. 

The objective of this e-learning module is, on the one hand, to acquire a common collective knowledge and, on the other hand, to support the members of Coordination SUD in the deployment of prevention and protection mechanisms against exploitation and sexual and gender-based violence. For its implementation, Coordination SUD called on a consulting, training and communication agency with expertise in gender equality, the fight against discrimination, diversity and the prevention of SGBV. In order to respond to the needs of the NGOs, a decision was made to simultaneously deal with both SGBV committed towards people benefiting from programs in the field and towards people working within organisations, both at headquarters and in the field. 

The tool addresses several aspects: the French and international legal frameworks, the consequences of SGBV, the responsibility of NGOs in terms of ethics but also as an employer organisation, the implementation of prevention, protection and support for victims. An important piece of work using simulations was carried out in which practical cases were corrected using expert videos.  More specifically, this project works to better detect situations of SGBV at work, showing how to react if a person is confronted with this violence. The simulations introduced in this module have the particular effect of creating awareness of situations previously perceived as harmless and yet conducive to forms of abuse of power and violence. In this way, the module aims to stimulate a cultural change within the collective with regard to the recognition of sexual and gender-based violence in the international solidarity sector, by proposing common benchmarks. 

To support its members in setting up specific procedures for preventing and addressing gender-based and sexual violence, Coordination SUD has also organised several specific workshops to help members become informed, educated and sensitised about this topic. To do this, it relied on external expertise, such as l’Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (the Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights) (AADH) or the association Stop aux Violences Sexuelles (Stop Sexual Violence). Furthermore, and in order to offer members complete support cycles on this topic, specific training courses complement this service offer.