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About Us
Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society Sierra Leone [WAVES-SL] is a National Non- Governmental Organization (NNGO) operating within the confines of Sierra Leone with our head quarter in Bo City, Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone, West Africa.
WAVES was established in October 2005. Our main focus is on women and girl children, in & out of school young women, teenage/child mothers, deprived women and adolescent girls. The organization’s purpose is to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life of deprived women and girl children.
Our aim is ‘’a Sierra Leonean community that has respect for women’s and girls’ dignity and equality before the law’’ (Hannah Yambasu).
WAVES operates in both urban and rural communities of Bo and Kenema District Sierra Leonen (Niawa Lenga, Selenga, Valunia, Bagbwe, Wonde, Bagbo, Lugbu, Bongor, Tikonko, Bumpe, Baoma and Kakua Chiefdoms, Bo District and Small Bo Chiefdom Kenema District) Southern and Eastern Sierra Leone.
Most of the work of WAVES has focused on violence against women; women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and tackling harmful traditional practices that affect women adversely. WAVES is a human rights organization that aims to empower and create an enabling environment for women and children, especially girls to claim their rights at local, national and international levels.
WAVES’ goal is:
To Empower and improve the welfare of women and girls in relation to Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR)
To address the problems experienced in the communities, and work towards achieving the change they want to see in their communities. Poverty is believed to contribute to women’s vulnerability to gender-based violence and the abuse of their sexual and reproductive health rights. To empower women, WAVES focuses on economic empowerment. Economic empowerment will enable women and girls to become financially more independent by generating their own income. This will also enable families to keep their children in school and offer them the opportunity to complete high school and reduce teenage pregnancies.
WAVES also focuses on awareness raising and education of women’s rights in the general community, as well as around the legal system and how to seek justice. They believe that if community members, including perpetrators, have better knowledge and awareness of human rights, women and girls will be empowered to challenge social norms and realize their rights, and then get increased ownership and access to resources in society. With increased awareness and knowledge of the legal justice system, victims of human and gender rights abuses are more likely to seek justice and realize their rights.
WAVES aims to make sexual and reproductive health care information and services available to women and girls to make these services accessible and to empower women and girls to take care of their own sexual and reproductive health. This will also empower women and girls to make their own informed decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health, which can improve their wellbeing.
Finally, WAVES partner with like-minded organizations to collectively influence policy. In this way they aim to collectively influence policies and laws around women’s and children’s rights and that government will adopt laws that are more respectful towards women’s and children’s rights. This will enable women and children to live in a society free of discrimination.
