Simply Women® is a not-for-profit organization launched in 2016 with the aim of empowering women who have been victims of domestic violence in Sri Lanka. The program provides training in sewing and related skills to these women with the primary aim of economic empowerment.
The classes are conducted 03 hours per day twice a week for a period 06 months. The program is free of charge; all tools and material required for the classes are provided free to the students. What started in a small group of women has now flourished in to a large collective of over 8500 women, meeting in 15 different locations and representing various communities in Sri Lanka.
The selection and recruitment of the program is managed by a group of 61 women who work as volunteers for this initiative. These volunteers obtain name lists of women affected by domestic violence via local government authorities such as The Provincial Councils and then conduct home visits to speak to the victimized women and to encourage them to take part in this initiative to help rebuild their lives.
Upon completing 06 months of training, the women are then empowered to pursue avenues of income individually or in groups. However, most of the women remain connected within their groups after the training period and participate in large sewing projects together as a group.
The project has been witness to many success stories, the primary success being the change in domestic circumstances as these women become economically empowered which has in some cases enabled them to leave difficult situations and in other cases changed the overall dynamic of their domestic relationship, resulting is a safer environment. Many of these women have also started small businesses or found employment in other organizations.
Hirdaramani Group is passionate about uplifting communities and empowering women is at the core of the Group’s CSR strategy – HOPE. The Group contributes towards this not-for profit initiative by providing fabric, machinery and other various materials to be used for up-cycling projects and training purposes.
Hirdaramani also further supports the program by placing bulk orders for products such as coasters and the branded bags (the same item that may have led you to this post) to use for our corporate requirements. We also use these products to drive awareness about this program in the hopes of encouraging other businesses to support it via orders and donations.
