Women affected by violence in Asia: strengthening through empowerment

Background information

Mission 21 works with six partner organizations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong and promotes projects to combat sexualized and gender-based violence.

Women are particularly vulnerable in a generally patriarchal context, as in many Asian countries, as they are also subordinate to their husbands under civil law. The husband is considered the head of the family with far-reaching powers of control and domination. Indonesian and Malaysian law makes the spouse who leaves the parental home first guilty and thus discriminates against women who move away with their children because they have experienced domestic violence. Moreover, cultural norms characterized by poverty still lead to the marriage of underage girls in Indonesia and Malaysia, which can be seen as a structural form of violence. In Indonesia, around 1.2 million women are under the age of 18 when they get married each year, with marriages often being arranged by the heads of the family and the will of the young women concerned not being respected.

In order to improve their economic situation, many Indonesians seek employment abroad, for example in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore or the Middle East. Others are even forced by their families to earn money as migrant workers. Quite a few experience violence through human trafficking. To prevent this and reduce the pressure to migrate, Mission 21 supports prevention measures in Indonesia. Over nine million Indonesians work abroad. 66 percent of them are women; very often they are employed as domestic workers and caregivers.

In the Hong Kong project region, around 350,000 foreign domestic workers mostly work under very poor conditions. More than 40 percent of them come from Indonesia. The lack of education worsens the situation of migrant workers in particular. Only a few know their rights and can seek support in cases of sexualized and gender-specific violence or unhealthy situations in the workplace. Data from Hong Kong indicates an increase in sexualized violence by employers in 2023.

Malaysia has become one of the most popular destination countries for uneducated migrant workers. A large number of them enter the country without papers. The province of Sabah, where Mission 21 is active, has the highest proportion of stateless people in Malaysia, which leads to complex problems. In Sabah, Mission 21 supports immigrants affected by violence, especially the children of undocumented migrant workers. As part of Mission 21's education project (project no. 256.1004), children of irregular immigrants in Malaysia are also supported in their school education. Mission 21 also carries out prevention and awareness-raising work at community level.

Project goals

• Prevention of sexualized and gender-based violence, including human trafficking, and its structural causes
• Victims of sexual and gender-based violence receive legal and psychosocial support and are given access to shelters.
• Strengthening the legal rights of women, young people and children, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups such as migrant workers and their children.
• Raising awareness among key actors such as authorities, community and religious leaders, teachers, men and boys to promote gender equality.

Target groups

The primary target group are women who are victims of disenfranchisement, exploitation and violence in their own families or as migrant workers in foreign households or along the migration chain, or who are exposed to this risk. The children of irregular migrant workers in Sabah, Malaysia, are also part of the target group. Men are included in prevention work and campaigns, because gender justice can only be achieved if women and men work together towards it.

Direct project participants: 5,515
Indirect project participants: Around 17,400

Activities

• Prevention activities, such as skills development for community leaders, educators and activists, and public awareness campaigns on: Gender norms and power relations; physical safety and protection; legal frameworks and access to justice; safe access to basic needs; economic, educational and social equity.
• Support measures for people affected by sexual and gender-based violence with a focus on: physical, mental and psychosocial health; legal aid and physical protection; socio-economic empowerment.
• Annual regional platform on "Safe and Fair Migration" for mutual learning, networking with authorities and other actors, and planning joint actions and campaigns for better regional coordination and transnational accompaniment of victims.

Project progress

Last year, the partner organizations significantly strengthened their preventative and support services against gender-based and sexualized violence. One important step was the opening of the renovated Rumah Damai in Kalimantan - a safe place that combines counseling, psychosocial support and economic empowerment for women under one roof.

Over a thousand people took part in awareness-raising activities across the program. In Malaysia, the „Sentuhan OK/Tak OK“ approach helped children and young people to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable touching and to know who they can turn to if something is wrong. This was supplemented by educational offers on digital safety and dissemination via church networks.

In Hong Kong, the protection and counseling services for foreign domestic workers were further expanded. The renovation of the shelter - in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong and church partners - enabled new, empowering activities. The legal guidance team assisted several hundred women, including in connection with labor law issues and after the fire at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po. Workshops on rights, coping with trauma and image-based violence gave many women helpful tools for challenging situations.

Together, these developments have significantly improved access to protection, support and relevant information.