A year of service for the reception of women in situations of risk and violence, carried out by Fundação La Salle in Brazil.
We are pleased to celebrate the first anniversary of the Regional reception centre for women in situations of risk and violence, a project carried out by Fundação La Salle* in Brazil.
Domestic and family violence is the main cause of feminicide, in Brazil as well as worldwide. In 2019, according to United Nations data, 17.8% of women suffered some kind of physical or sexual violence. This means that almost one in five of the women across our planet have been victims of such crimes.
In response to this social emergency, the Fundação La Salle has developed a proposal to set up a reception unit for women in situations of violence in the Porto Alegre metropolitan region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In August 2019, they inaugurated the “Centro Regional de Abrigamento para Mulheres em Situação de Risco e Violência” (CRAM), an institutional reception service for single women and their children who are at risk of death or threatened by domestic violence. The CRAM is a safe house, where women and their children can receive psychological and legal assistance and follow workshops and group activities according to individual programmes designed for each one of them.
During the first year of its activity, the centre has already welcomed 24 women and 36 children.
Labouring every day to promote women’s rights, this project continues the Lasallian Mission and its values, and it is part of a broader framework of women’s empowerment being promoted by the De La Salle Brothers’ Institute.
*La Fundação La Salle is a non-profit organisation belonging to the La Salle Education Network and responsible for social initiatives in the Brazil-Chile District. Founded in 2006, the organisation promotes social transformation through projects and actions aimed at developing community, welfare, art, culture and sports and supporting the social and educational works of the La Salle Network.
Website: https://fundacaolasalle.org.br/
The La Salle District Brazil-Chile, composed of Brazil, Chile and Mozambique, countries with more than 600 educators, serves about 6,000 students in 7 Basic Educational Learning Communities. In addition to this provision, there is a special mission in 3 Learning Communities in Mozambique which serve more than 3,000 students through the work of more than 100 educators. In the District, there are more than 150 De La Salle Brothers who follow the path begun by St. John Baptist de La Salle and continue to work in the Lasallian Educational Mission.