HER News Jul 2015

Grant Announcement: 2015-2016 (1st Cycle)

HER Fund is excited to announce that it has awarded a total of 215,000 to 6 women’s groups in its first cycle for projects and programs under one of the following themes. The second call for proposal is open now until 30 July 2015. On behalf of HER Fund thanks our supporters for their generous contributions to the empowerment and advancement of the marginalized women in Hong Kong.

Freedom from Violence	*Behind the Concrete Walls: Images of Women Migrants* *(HKD$40,000)* Although migrant domestic workers on paper enjoy many of the same legal protections as local workers, they in practice find it far more difficult to enforce their rights. The employment ordinance in Hong Kong strictly prohibits migrant domestic workers to switch employers before the end of the two-year contract. Therefore, if a migrant domestic worker files a complaint against her employer or a member of the employer’s family this will certainly result in termination of the contract, leaving the worker without a work visa and unable to support herself while the claim is being investigated. This project tells personal stories of migrant domestic workers in the shelter about the violence and injustice they face through photos and videos making their voice heard in Hong Kong. Grantee Partner: Bethune House Migrant Women's Refuge Limited
Freedom from Discrimination	*Support Breastfeeding Mothers at Workplace Project* *(HKD$40,000)* A lot of breastfeeding mothers face various difficulties to continue to breastfeed after returning to work: they need to readjust to working status, to get balance from work and breastfeeding, and it is even more difficult if their colleagues and supervisors are not considerate to their needs. This project aims at building a support network for breastfeeding working mothers .Besides, the network will produce a resource for breastfeeding working mothers, and for which, a survey will be conducted to reveal the needs of breastfeeding mothers at workplace. Grantee Partner: Hong Kong Breastfeeding Mothers' Association
	*Leadership building for New-immigrant Women* *(HKD$30,000)* Grassroots new-immigrant women are often stereotyped as being lazy and dependent on government welfare. The simmering tension between Hong Kong and mainland China have further aggravated the discrimination which negatively affects their social participation, and employment opportunities and status. This project aims to enhance self-help and mutual supports among the new-immigrant women in Tokwawan by training them as organizers to outreach to and help those in need in their neighborhoods. Grantee Partner: New Women Arrivals League
Freedom from Poverty	*"From Social Participation to Alleviation of Poverty" - a pilot project on gender budgeting* *(HKD$40,000)* Even now when more women than ever before are hired to lead organisations and more men take a greater role in raising children, the effects of gender stereotyping on women in poverty cannot be underestimate. Grassroots women often bear the sole responsibility of unpaid care work and household chores. Even when women do work for pay, they usually can only do low-paid jobs that lack labor protection. Women represent a disproportionate percentage of the poor population in Hong Kong. This project will conduct a study, using Shamshuipo as an example to examine whether the spending of the District Council is adequate to address women’s and men’s needs, and provide policy-makers with inputs on efficient and effective resource allocation to tackle women’s poverty. Grantee Partner: The Association for the Advancement of Feminism
Promoting Civil Society Participation	*Youth Voice - Young Women Empowerment Project* *(HKD$40,000)* Our society is full of negative labels towards sex and youth. Young women may choose to be silent even though they face various issues about their body, gender, and sex, such as lacking reliable sex knowledge, gender identity issue, unexpected pregnancy, and violence and control in intimate relationship. In this project, Teen’s Key, a young women-led organization is going to organize a forum on sexual and reproductive rights for teenagers, raising their gender concerns and awareness on their body and sex. Grantee Partner: Teen's Key
	*Leadership Training Programme for Carers in Tin Shui Wai and Sham Shui Po* (HKD$25,000) Due to insufficient social care services and assistance, many women take greater responsibility for caring for the children, elderly and dependents at homes. Most of these women take cares for their families, they cannot secure retirement protection for themselves and rendered in poverty as unpaid workers. This project raises grassroots care takers’ awareness on their rights and protection, and asserting their needs for policy improvement. Grantee Partner: Tin Shui Wai Community Development Network

AWID research in 2010 revealed that the budget for women’s organizations all over the globe was scarcely inadequate compared to charities working in other issues. (1) To Women’s rights groups in Hong Kong, access to resources remains particularly difficult. That’s why HER Fund makes seed grants to support the least resourceful and marginalized groups that have bold and new initiatives for positive social change.

If you want to support HER to advance, please download the donation form here and return to info@herfund.org.hk by email or post to 1A, 217 Fa Yuen Street, Prince Edward after completion. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by 2794-1100 / info@herfund.org.hk .

（1）14 May 2015 | By Lydia Alpízar Durán “20 years of Shamefully Scarce Funding for Feminists and Women’s Rights Movements” (Source:http://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/20-years-shamefully-scarce-funding-feminists-and-womens-rights-movements#sthash.8NANZkMd.dpuf)

HER Sparkles - Stimulates Young Women's Action for Change

HER Sparkles – Young Women’s Action for Social Change

HER Sparkles is HER Fund’s latest program to support young women who dare to make changes, and to encourage them to put their ideas into actions with youth and gender perspective. The program lasts for one year in three phases: 1. Young women applicants submit their project ideas to HER Fund; 2. eight selected project holders will join “peer learning” sessions in which they will improve their project ideas with the assistance of the guest speakers and their peers; 3. the 8 selected projects will be granted $10,000 to put their ideas into practice in the communities.

HER Sparkles announced the 8 selected projects on 8th March. Related issues ranging from opening up space for women to discuss about sex, promoting health sex education, positive mensuration, feminist arts; to concerning the situations of marginalized groups of new immigrant women, migrant domestic workers. (click here to the 8 project ideas.)

The 8 HER Sparkles have participated in the peer learning sessions since May. In the first session, they learnt about project management skills.

"I have never heard of the idea of "youth-led", it’s a new stimulation for me from the peer learning session. The atmosphere of the session makes me feel equal and dare to speak out my thoughts and even to challenge each other's." Samantha, one of the HER Sparkles shared after the session.

Support the Relief Work of Tewa, the Nepal Women’s Fund

HER Fund released an urgent call for support to Tewa, the Nepal women’s fund and her relief work. HER grantee partner, Tin Shui Wai Community Development Network, responded to the appeal and co-organized the “Hand-Sew Blessing – Positive Period Workshop” to raise fund for Tewa. As of 12 Jun 2015, we have raised HKD$14,000 !

Both of Tewa and HER Fund are members of Asian Network of Women’s Funds (ANWF). We understand that Tewa as a community fund which keeps close relationship with local grantee partners can effectively carry out relief work with gender perspective. In the past month, Tewa relief team visited a number of affected communicates in remote rural areas of central Nepal. They successfully mobilized 195 volunteers and staff to join the relief work. And which includes visiting their grantee partners, conducting need assessment, and distributing relief packs and cash (including sanitary napkins and baby blankets) to 2,043 pregnant and post-natal women, elderly and children. Tewa also set-up service kitchens that serves 300 patients and staff per day.

Acknowledgement:

Rainbow Village: Rainbow Village is a volunteer group formed by students and graduates of Simon K.Y. Lee Hall of University of Hong Kong. They organized annual “4.10 Dinner” on 10 April 2015, and charity sales in the student residence and raised HKD$7,476 for HER Fund.

GOOOOOD:organized an innovative charity activity—GOOOOOD Secret Movie which promotes “consumption while doing good”, they donated half of the profit from the activity to HER Fund.

Media Coverage:

外傭的守護天使 ─ Edwina Antonio(Chinese Only) U Magazine, 15 May 2015
An interview with HER grantee partner Bethune House about the "Behind the Concrete Walls: Images what of Women Migrants" project supported by HER Fund.

用鏡頭，訴說外傭故事(Chinese Only) Ming Pao, 3 May 2015
An interview with Xyza Cruz Bacani, voluntary photographer of the "Behind the Concrete Walls: Images of Women Migrants" project. As a former migrant worker, Xyza said, “Awareness leads to change. I hope that my work may change people’s perception of migrant domestic worker and lead to the ends of the “modern slavery”.

新世代畸戀現形(Chinese Only) Eastweek, 11 Feb 2015
Coverage on the research results on dating violence by “MISS”, a project funded by HER Fund. (Before reading, HER Fund wants to ask you a question: do you think dating violence only happens in the younger generations?)