COVAW is a non-profit making national women human rights organization registered in Kenya under the NGO Coordination Act. COVAW was established in 1995 as a result of a workshop organized by WILDAF (Women in Law and development in Africa) that sought to strengthen the networking capacities of women organizations. At this workshop, violence against women was identified as a serious women rights violation that needed concerted efforts to address.
This saw the birth of COVAW . Since inception, COVAW has continued to be instrumental in placing violence against women as a crime and a human rights violation and has spearheaded the campaign towards women having the right to be free from violence, the right to self defence and the right to state protection. COVAW believes that people have the capacity to learn and change their attitudes towards women. COVAW's beneficiaries are therefore women and girls.
COVAW Vision:
Our vision is that of a society that is free from all forms of violence against women
COVAW Mission:
Our mission is that of “Building Social Movements of change agents opposed to and committed to eradicating Violence against Women”.
Why we do what we do:
- We believe that violence against women is a crime and a human rights violation.
- We believe that women have a right to state protection.
- We believe in solidarity and mutual respect; which should be based on frank, honest and open discussion.
- We believe in freedom of choice and autonomy regarding bodily integrity issues including sexual and reproductive rights.
- We believe in non discrimination; the right of all women to live free of patriarchal oppression, discrimination and violence.
Our core Values are:
- Integrity
- Solidarity
- Commitment
- Respect
COVAW Theory of Change:
We believe through working in partnership with community based organizations a critical mass will develop and work towards the eradication of violence against women. Using rights -based approach, COVAW believes that women are violated and vulnerable to violence because of unequal power relationships in the society. Therefore through building effective partnerships with women led community based organizations violence against women will be eradicated.
