The Wo-Man Talk for the Reduction of Gender-Based Violence (WE-Talk) project is a five-year initiative in Jamaica, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Oxfam Canada (OCA) with a budget of $5 million. The project aims to contribute to the reduction of gender-based violence (GBV) in Jamaica against women, girls, boys, and other marginalized groups. Implemented by local partners WMW Jamaica (WMW) and the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), the project addresses patriarchal structures, unequal power relations, systemic discrimination, harmful norms, and pervasive myths that perpetuate GBV. It focuses on two Pillars: increasing community and individual awareness of harmful norms and practices, and strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to address GBV. The project faces contextual challenges such as criminal violence, political disruptions, and increasing reports of GBV, but it has taken proactive measures to ensure safety and security. Furthermore, the project aims to leverage the growing unity among civil society women’s rights organizations (WROs) to amplify its advocacy efforts.
The project will be implemented in all 14 parishes of Jamaica, targeting both rural and urban communities. WE-Talk will reach 314,496 ultimate beneficiaries (78,624 directly and 235,872 indirectly). Of which, 24.3% are adult women (age 30+), 29.4% are young women (age 15-29), 20.9% adult men (age 30+) and 25.5% young men (15-29). The project will utilize rights-based, feminist, and intersectional methodologies that incorporate gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) methods to foster participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including teenage mothers, out-of-school youth, those engaged in or vulnerable to transactional sex, inner city women, senior women, the LGBTQ2I+ community. It will directly benefit over 35 local WROs, CSOs, youth organizations and feminist collectives, 170 influencers (duty bearers, journalists, social media influencers, celebrities, community leaders) and directly provide 250 unique women and girls across Jamaica with services to ease their care responsibilities and foster their participation in WE-Talk activities.