Who we are
Girls Empowerment Initiative UK CIC is a Community Interest Company based in Basildon, Thurrock and Essex. We are a non-profit voluntary organisation investing in programmes that providespecialist services to empowerBAME girls and young women aged 0 to 21to prevent and protect them risk of harmful cultural practices, beliefs and attitudes. Our aim is support to victims of such practices in sharing their experiences, seeking early support, and never falling victim again.
Girls Empowerment Initiative UK CIC has mobilized a team of experts to provide highly specialized support in this field, which is generally unrecognized and poorly understood in the UK. Our passionate and committed team is diverse, drawn from the five continents of the world. We have backgrounds in social work, community activism, legal, and mental health care. Perhaps most importantly, some of us are survivors of these harmful practices turned leaders, who offer a unique understanding of the beliefs and practices underlying the harmful behaviours and can offer ways to work with families to improve outcomes for the victims.
Our Vision
Girls Empowerment Initiative UK CIC envisions families and communities that support the empowerment of girls and provide protection from all forms of gender-based violence, harmful cultural and religious practices, beliefs and attitudes so that girls can fulfil their potential. We want to see girls achieving their life goals and potential.
We envision to create a society where every girl has a vision, mission and direction of her life through unleashed full potential; that, through empowerment girls and young women have equality, respect, dignity and reach their developmental goals.
Our Mission
Our organisationrecognizes that girls have unique risks and vulnerabilities because of age and gender. We therefore support empowerment of girls in the home, school and community and ensures victims of child sexual exploitation, rape, harmful religious and cultural practices are supported to heal and reintegrate with families, schools and communities and live free of gender-based violence.
Over the year, girls from BAME communities in Basildon and Thurrock have shared their stories with us. They found a safe space to do so. They felt our service should be expanded to other BME communities. There is a huge gap of service. Gender inequality is rampant due to harmful cultural practices, beliefs and attitudes. Girls are at risk and empowerment programmes and a safe place to come meet others and talk has proved more effective. Girls and women told us how valuable our programmes are. We have seen transformation. We have seen many of them bouncing back to life and working hard to achieve. We have an inspired generation of girls. The girls whose lives we changed motivate us to keep upholding our mission and vision of empowering girls.
Realizing that some challenges girls face needs holistic approach, our works closely with professionals and other organisations to ensure empowerment, safeguarding and prevention of risk on girls.
Why Girls?
Hidden harm can have a profound effect on girls’ emotional and psychological development. Some girls therefore lack self-confidence, an appreciation of who they are, and cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs make them step back from taking up opportunities. Many issues undermine their confidence and so they perform badly in school, colleges and many spheres of life. There are many who lack courage to break silence on abuse and this program helps with speaking out and seeking assistance.
FGM cutting, FGM pulling, body shaming, sexualisation, bullying, racism, internet grooming for child sexual exploitation and ALL 30+ harmful cultural and religious practices are devastating to girls and affect their mental health and functioning as children and later as adults. It can also have a profound effect on girls’ emotional and psychological development. Some girls therefore lack self-confidence, an appreciation of who they are, and cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs make them step back from taking up opportunities. Many issues undermine their confidence and so they perform badly in school, colleges and many spheres of life. There are many who lack courage to break silence on abuse and this program helps with speaking out and seeking assistance.
Girls face serious social and cultural barriers of legal redress. Some don’t believe that they are entitled to protection. On one hand, they are pressured to avoid bringing ‘shame’ upon their families in terms of sexual abuse or any other kind of violence because jailing the perpetrator would decrease the family’s social and economic status. Majority of cases of violence against girls occur in intimate relationships, the psychological and physical self-esteem and self-confidence that have a major impact on their future social status.
Our Values
Empowerment: We put Space, Voice and Choice for girls at the Centre of everything we do. Therefore, our motto is Empowerment, Safeguardingand Prevention. To empower girls, we should live up to empowerment ourselves.
Efficiency: Delivering specialized support for girls immediately, efficiently and effectively.
Diligence: Critical analysis of situations we find girls in and being able to make good professional judgement.
Passion: Our passionate and committed team of experts in girls’ empowerment is drawn from the five continents of the world and is here to build a partnership that brings the best out of the girls and foster a culture of prevention.
