In furtherance of its objectives, the CAWJ embarked on a Project in support of UN Women’s Spotlight Initiative. The Initiative is so named as it brings focused attention to the issue of violence against women and girls, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  This is a collaboration between the European Union and the United Nations, which have embarked on a new, global, multi-year initiative focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls. In the Caribbean, the focus of the Initiative is Family Violence. 

The vision of the Spotlight Initiative (SI) is that the rights of women and girls to live free from violence are protected, promoted, and upheld. 

The main objectives of the SI are: 

1. To contribute to the reduction of family violence against women and girls, and 
2. To improve access for women and girls to essential, safe, adequate, integrated gender-responsive services.

The key pillars of the SI include: 

• Pillar 1: Laws and Policies 
• Pillar 2: Institutional Capacities 
• Pillar 3: Social Norms and Behaviours 
• Pillar 4: Services 
• Pillar 5: Data Availability and Utilisation 
• Pillar 6: Women’s Rights Groups, Autonomous Social Movements and CSOs 

The CAWJ’s project is entitled “Family Support Network and Violence Reduction Programme: Creating safe adjunct spaces for children of single mothers”. This project falls under Pillar 6 of the SI.

The primary foci of the project were: 

1. the establishment of a single mothers’ support network, 
2. a family support centre and 
3. home security sensitivity training.  

The aim of the project is to set up physical and emotional support systems for single mothers/survivors of intimate partner violence and thus reduce their exposure to family violence. The CAWJ received funding from UN Women to implement this project.

The Project Lead is Ms Beverly Samuel, an attorney-at-law and the Controller of the CAWJ appointed under the Non-Profit Organisations Act, 2019. The Project was implemented between August 2022 and August 2023. 

Based on the success of this project, it is the hope of the CAWJ it may be used by UN Women as a template for similar projects in other Caribbean territories.