Organization name withheld (2)

About the Organization Contact and Service Areas Successes and Impact Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security Survivor Leadership Understanding Economic Harm in Context

About the Organization

Country

Nicaragua

Number of survivors served in a year

500+

Languages

Spanish

Groups most commonly served

Disabled persons Indigenous peoples, communities, or nations Refugees, migrants, or internally displaced persons Rural communities Sex workers Women Youth, children, or adolescents

Type of organization

Grassroots/community-based organization Nonprofit or non-governmental organization (NGO) Volunteer-led organization

Program model(s)

Holistic crisis response Rights-based economic justice Survivor-centered income generation Systemic change through strategic partnerships Transforming social norms through community-building

Contact and Service Areas

Email

If you would like to contact this organization, please email FreeFrom to introduce yourself at programs@freefrom.org

Service Area(s)

Nicaragua (rural and coastal communities); Nicaragua’s neighboring countries

Successes and Impact

“Without this network or collective work, none of this would be possible. This is a significant, sustainable, long-term impact.”¹

This organization has created profound and lasting change in the communities they serve. Their feminist model, rooted in a community network of advocates and survivors, has shown that economic autonomy combined with emotional support can generate lasting economic security that protects both survivors and their children.

Creating alternative economic opportunities for survivors and their daughters

The organization observed that many daughters of survivors worked as street vendors instead of attending school due to the economic needs of their mothers, who had been subjected to intimate partner violence. To break this intergenerational cycle and strengthen economic autonomy, the organization supports survivor mothers in managing their income and developing their entrepreneurial skills. This enables survivors to generate independent income and, in turn, opens opportunities for their daughters—including the chance to attend school. The organization specified that, “[With this project] we worked . . . so that mothers and families could be self-sufficient and access economic resources, and so that girls could attend school.”

“These are girls who didn’t go to school because they had to sell jewelry and other things on the coast with their mothers,” the organization remarks.

The result has been transformative: some daughters have finished high school, entered technical schools, and are pursuing bachelor’s degrees, gaining access to economic opportunities that their mothers helped make possible. These achievements also help break patterns of economic dependency that had constrained previous generations.

Building real economic security through independence

The economic security survivors achieve is reflected in tangible improvements in their quality of life. The organization describes how survivors have improved their housing conditions (for instance, by installing toilets where there were previously latrines), invested in better clothing, and prioritized family well-being. They explain, “Once they’ve gained control over their finances, they see things differently, they present themselves differently, even their homes look different.”

These visible transformations demonstrate how real economic security—not just income, but control over that income—allows survivors to rebuild their lives and create stability for their families based on their own choices and priorities.

Strengthening community networks to ensure sustainability

The organization’s most enduring impact has been building a strong network of survivors who support one another and work collectively to create change in their communities. This network ensures continuity when external circumstances are challenging and multiplies the impact: survivors who have achieved economic security become mentors and advocates for others. Without this community network, the organization explains, none of the individual economic achievements would be sustainable in the long term. “The most important thing is the community fabric. Having a group of women with this shared interest and vision is the greatest achievement.”

Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security

“This result could be seen in the project process: . . . They are women who manage money, highly capable women; [they can manage] their earnings, [they] decide what to invest, they have [this] knowledge that is very important, [and they are also] aware of their rights.”

About the Program

This organization has implemented an innovative program that addresses both economic autonomy and emotional support for survivors of intimate partner violence, integrating financial education, community advocate networks, and digital protection. In particular, this program has focused on survivors and their daughters working as street vendors in Nicaragua’s coastal areas.

Through feminist socioeconomic assessments, business plans, financial education, and feminist economy fairs or markets, the program enables survivors to develop true economic independence. Furthermore, the program is designed to expand economic opportunities for survivors’ daughters while strengthening relationships between mothers and daughters, creating economic stability for the entire family. In this way, the organization seeks not only to reduce economic dependence but also to establish a space for personal growth and security that allows mothers and daughters to rebuild their lives in a safer environment.

Program Development and Key Strategies

The organization has identified key strategies crucial to the program’s success:

Community support to build survivors’ economic independence
Strengthening solidarity between mothers and daughters to create economic opportunities and break intergenerational cycles of violence
Accessible technology for protection, communication, and training

Community support to build survivors’ economic independence

The program integrates the identification of business opportunities with training in financial management and business planning from a feminist economics perspective, challenging gendered divisions of labor and control over household finances. This training goes beyond technical concepts: it empowers survivors to make independent financial decisions and build economic autonomy, allowing them to break patterns of economic control.

Support is provided through a network of community advocates who prioritize emotional well-being and collective care, creating a culture that encourages survivors to identify and prioritize their own needs and those of their families. With greater economic security and psychosocial support, participants are free to determine how best to support themselves and their families, helping to break generational cycles of economic control and precarity perpetuated by intimate partner violence and gender discrimination.

Strengthening solidarity between mothers and daughters to create economic opportunities and break intergenerational cycles of violence

The program recognizes that strengthening the partnership between mothers and daughters is critical to creating new economic opportunities and building alternative futures. Through a deep process of emotional recovery, survivor mothers learn to build relationships of trust and communication with their daughters, becoming role models for protection and prevention of gender-based violence. The organization explains the importance of this work: “This project worked on communication between mother and daughter, because it’s a crucial partnership. Adults are trusted role models and advocates for violence prevention with their daughters, and now they [program participants] prioritize that relationship.”

This strategic alliance helps open additional avenues for daughters’ economic security. As survivors increase their income and gain greater control over household finances, it becomes financially possible for their daughters to attend school—an important pathway to long-term economic security and self-reliance.

The multigenerational results have been extraordinary: many of the daughters have completed secondary education, entered technical schools, and are pursuing university degrees. “The reality they live in is very dark, [there are] many situations passed down from generation to generation, from the grandmothers to the mothers and then to them. So the community organizing that has happened with women and girls in these rural communities has been very successful,” the organization’s representatives explain. This transformation demonstrates how mothers’ economic autonomy translates into long-term economic security for their daughters, breaking patterns that had limited the options of previous generations.

Accessible technology for protection, communication, and training

This organization has transformed access to training and communication in rural areas through the implementation of accessible technology. Survivors now participate in virtual meetings, receive remote training, and maintain communication networks that allow them to coordinate with each other and access support when they need it.

“Now women use Zoom, attend meetings, and receive training via Zoom. They have WhatsApp and Signal groups,” they add. This digital connectivity facilitates access to training, mutual support, and emergency assistance, contributing to the overall safety of survivors. Simply put, “Many women’s lives were saved with a simple phone call.”

Survivor Leadership

“The community defenders are a network of women . . . [and] they are leading figures in the communities, who have trained as psychosocial counselors and legal facilitators, and who carry out all the community work with girls and women—supporting them through emotional preparedness, economic empowerment, and everything that relates to the feminist economy. These community leaders and advocates are part of the organization’s General Assembly, which is the decision-making body. From there the organization’s Board of Directors is elected. The organization is entirely community-based, and that’s where new participants emerge. . . . [Community advocates] are the key—they do all the work in the communities.”

The organization is largely led and operated by women survivors of violence who both participate in its programs and hold key leadership and strategic decision-making positions. At the heart of the organization is a network of community advocates. From its organizational structure to the implementation of its initiatives, survivor leadership ensures that every aspect of the organization’s work is deeply aligned with the needs and experiences of those who have faced violence.

Additionally, the organization fosters an intergenerational leadership model, encouraging young women to take on leadership roles and learn from more experienced women. This strategy ensures a seamless leadership transition and strengthens the organization’s sustainability, creating a legacy of committed and empowered advocates who respond to the needs of their communities. By integrating young women into its network, the organization strengthens its collective voice and fosters a sense of belonging and responsibility toward future generations.

Understanding Economic Harm in Context

The organization’s work responds to specific forms of economic and structural violence faced by survivors in Nicaragua, where economic control is systematically used as a tool of violence and where structural barriers limit survivors’ economic options, especially in rural and coastal communities. In particular, the organization notes the following factors that influence forms of economic harm:

Economic abuse perpetuated through the legal system
Intersectional barriers for rural and coastal survivors
Economic hardship and security risks due to civil conflict and forced displacement

Economic abuse perpetuated through the legal system

The organization has documented an emerging strategy where a partner or ex-partner uses the legal system to perpetuate economic abuse: they sue survivors for alimony, taking advantage of the survivors’ limited resources to secure legal support.

“They have no money, they live in poverty, they have faced violence for many years, and they are being sued for child support. There, countless situations of violence against women accumulate, all of which are related to the economic aspect. Because a woman who hires a lawyer to prevent her children from being taken away has to take out loans . . . to be able to . . . defend her children.” This tactic represents a sophisticated form of economic violence that can trap survivors in cycles of debt and harm for many years.

Intersectional barriers for rural and coastal survivors

Multiple economic barriers for rural survivors

Rural survivors face multiple forms of discrimination based on their geographic location, educational level, and social position. Many women who were unable to go to school due to violence have limited access to paid jobs and must temporarily migrate to urban centers for low-paid domestic work—while paying others to care for their children. This situation creates additional financial burdens that further hinder their ability to build financial security.

The organization goes on to explain, “Rural women . . . who, because of [intimate partner] violence, were unable to study, don’t have paid work, [and are in] total economic dependence. As a result, rural women have fewer opportunities, including for employment. In order to work, they have to go to the capital to wash and iron, earning next to nothing.”

Discrimination and stigmatization of survivors in coastal areas

Survivors working as street vendors in coastal areas face a specific form of social discrimination that limits their economic options. “These women are discriminated against because of their situation and social position. . . . There is complete discrimination against . . . women selling [goods] in a basket and tray in the community—they are looked down on,” the organization notes. This social stigma can prevent survivors from accessing other economic opportunities or community support, maintaining cycles of economic dependency, even in situations of intimate partner violence.

Economic hardship and security risks due to political unrest and forced displacement

Displacement and dispossession of resources in rural areas

Since the civil conflicts that erupted in 2018, more than 200,000 people have fled Nicaragua seeking refuge in neighboring countries due to political persecution and economic instability.² For survivors in rural areas, land conflicts and lack of legal protection have resulted in the loss of homes and other economic resources. As the organization describes, “many of these rural women have had their homes burned—to the point of having everything taken from them, of burning the last thing they had: where they live [and] where they sleep with their children.”

Survivors from indigenous and rural communities face additional barriers, lacking access to justice and resources to defend their property rights.³ This situation forces many survivors to start over in other countries, where they must rebuild their economic security while navigating new barriers to accessing employment and housing.

Perseverance in contexts of exile and repression

Despite facing systematic repression, survivors and community advocates continue to build economic security and support each other. This organization has adapted their strategies to continue working, developing operating methods that allow survivors to continue accessing financial training and mutual support. This persistence demonstrates the extraordinary resilience of survivors who, even under extreme circumstances, continue to forge ahead. As the organization recognizes, simply continuing to exist and share their experiences is a significant achievement that strengthens both individual survivors and the community network that supports them.

“A major challenge is the daily struggle—the everyday reality—for the advocates, for women, for the people, as we resist a fierce [repression]. I believe that surviving that is in and of itself already an achievement—to be here, with you, talking about it.”

Notes

Direct quotes are slightly edited for style and flow.
Human Rights Watch, Nicaragua: Events of 2022, World Report 2023 (New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2023), https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/nicaragua.
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nicaragua (Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2023), https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/nicaragua/.