The spring edition of CARE’s Impact Magazine is out and all about Scale x Design!
Take a look at this special issue, which features an in-depth look at the Scale x Design Accelerator & Challenge, Cohort 1 spotlights, Chrysalis – the parent of both our Different Cup of Tea and Broadening gender teams, as well as other stories of Innovation at CARE.
Click the cover to read the new issue:
Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) continues to be a significant issue facing women and girls in Sri Lanka. A large number of studies conducted on SGBV tend to evaluate the impact it has on victims/survivors. Having reviewed existing research conducted on SGBV in Sri Lanka, CARE Sri Lanka identified a gap in research: there was no study that examined the attitudes of male perpetrators of SGBV. Our groundbreaking study Broadening Gender: Why Masculinities Matter, conducted over three years in collaboration with Partners for Prevention, was born out of a need to fill this gap.
Twenty-four percent of the men surveyed admitted to using physical violence against their wives or partners, while 15% of men surveyed admitted to having committed rape, with the majority of cases involving the rape of a partner. The study also highlighted some disturbing findings, particularly in relation to men’s motivation for perpetrating violence, as well as in relation to the culture of impunity that leads to a cycle of violence. For example, 67% of men who reported perpetration of sexual violence said that they were motivated by sexual entitlement—their “right” to have sexual relations with women.
CARE Sri Lanka is instituting a multi-pronged approach to tackle SGBV that works with men and boys to address the attitudes of male perpetrators of SGBV. This approach includes implementing a key policy recommendation to address GBV within all state universities in Sri Lanka and working with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to pilot five Child and Women Development Units (CWDU) in five divisions in Sri Lanka. These units support state offices to prevent and respond to SGBV effectively.
Team members Vindhya Fernando and Ashika Gunasena will be representing their work with Broadening Gender at the upcoming Scale X Design Challenge!
Additional contributors to this effort includes:
Zainab Ilrahim, Program Advisor
Hashitha Abeywardana, Program Advisor
Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, Gender & Sexuality Specialist
Today we’d like to take a break from our Meet the Teams posts to introduce you to one staff member in particular. Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, the Project Director of the Broadening Gender Accelerator Team from CARE Sri Lanka, was the first Sri Lankan to summit Mount Everest in May! Keep reading to learn more about her story and check out this news feature from the Daily Mail.
Jayanthi has achieved a great amount in both her academic and professional pursuits. She received an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the Delhi University in 2003 and was later awarded a full scholarship to the University of Sussex where she received her Master of Arts in Gender Studies. Jayanthi also received her 10 year tenure at the Women and Media Collective (WMC). Her dedication in her passions is obvious, but one achievement sets her apart from anyone else in the world. At just before 5:00am on 21 May 2016 Jayanthi became the first Sri Lankan to summit Mount Everest. It took five years to properly prepare the necessities for the journey. With the support of friends, family, and a campaign to crowdfund the expedition using indiegogo.com, Jayanthi was able to raise the USD 136,000 fee required for climbing the mountain. Everything came together just weeks before the scheduled departure date. Returning from her feat, Jayanthi will continue to use the skills she has gained from her journey in her role as a Project Director for CARE Sri Lanka. With her on the team, anything is possible.
