Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA)

CSAGA focuses on:

• Increasing the capacity of women and children who are victims (or who are at high risk of being victims) of domestic violence, corporal and psychological punishment, and/or human trafficking
• Enhancing awareness and developing responsibilities of communities, local authorities, social organisations, and governmental organisations to support gender equality and the rights of children and women
• Advocating actively to create a favourable legal framework to ensure the rights of women and children
• Acknowledging culture and rights as two important factors for intervention and objectives of all activities.

Approaching humanity from the cultural angle is a basic principle that CSAGA leans on to solve social problems. CSAGA prioritises the use of art and creativity to orient individuals and community to learn together and change actively. The organisation also seeks to effect change through the improvement of knowledge and skill on self-protection and community helping of women and children. Forms of arts CSAGA has used include role play, short stories, body play, puppet play, body games, etc. These approaches have been integrated into activities such as:

• Counselling: CSAGA counsellors (those who teach or who have studied extensively in fields including psychology, sociology, and health) take part in specific training courses on preventing gender-based violence, domestic violence, human trafficking, and corporal punishment against children. Forms of counselling include face-to-face counselling, counselling via telephone, group counselling, and community counselling. A specially designed website (no longer in operation as of this writing) was intended to raise awareness about domestic violence, gender inequality, child abuse, child labour, and human trafficking.
• Training: CSAGA carries out training programmes to increase capacities and change awareness of local authorities, staff of social organisations, and/or women and children who are victims or at high risk of being victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, or corporal punishment. CSAGA courses include various kinds of art in combination with regularly updated theory and 10 years of experience in research and intervention in gender and prevention of domestic violence, corporal punishment, and human trafficking prevention. Lessons are designed to draw on participants' experiences and to create a safe learning environment conducive to cooperation which actively helps participants to effectively absorb knowledge and put it into practice.
  
• Doing Research: CSAGA concentrates on intervention research, using a culture- and right-based approach. Studies are conducted in areas such as domestic violence, gender equality, and the situation of corporal punishment against children.
• Communication: CSAGA works to increase awareness and spark behaviour changes related to issues such as domestic violence, gender inequality, and violence against children. Amongst the tools used for sharing information are reports, leaflets, seminars, and through mass media such as television and newspapers. CSAGA also carries out public events such as holding competitions of writing poems, plays, and performance on issues that need attention.
• Designing and managing programmes: To cite only one example, CSAGA is working with 15 youth volunteers from universities who are teaching formal school subjects to 40 urban economically poor children who cannot attend formal schools due to poverty and the demands of work in the city. Most of them work as rubbish pickers and vendors, and the rest beg to survive, exposing them to crime, accidents, street violence, and the drug trade. CSAGA has trained youth volunteers to incorporate "living values" education as an important component of academic subjects. This focus is linked to CSAGA's belief that the inculcation of life skills and living values such as peace, respect, cooperation, happiness, and responsibility (among others) empowers children to believe in themselves, to respect others, and to make good choices to promote their own their rights. Active teaching methodologies and learning-centred techniques are designed to enable children to accept their own difficult situations, process their experience, and internalise the intended value. Together with values education, the teaching of life skills helps children cope with day-to-day life, preparing them to choose education and safe work. Classes are held in a donated space close to the children's work and homes. CSAGA will provide support in enabling them to live their decisions. "Such was the case of 12 year-old Duong, now in level 3, who rarely expressed herself and showed so much unforgiveness for her father. In one lesson on happiness, the youth volunteer asked Duong to tell her story, facilitating a discussion among the children, giving additional inputs on the topic. She also asked Duong and others to draw a family picture and talk about happiness in the family. In a positive way, Duong was able to come forth and confront her anger, ending with a realization that she cannot be happy with herself and others if she does not free herself from negative attitudes in life. Slowly, the children experienced a more free, confident and happy Duong, ready to succeed in her class and face challenges..."
• Mass media intersections: For instance, CSAGA's "Promoting effectiveness of communication on making the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and control to real life" was launched in response to the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and control, which went into effect in July 2008. At the same time, the first of 52 interactive television programmes was aired - with law experts and psychologists directly answering audience questions on domestic violence issues. In addition, noticing that the mass media play a role in supporting and protecting the victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, CSAGA held a workshop in December 2007. This gathering affirmed and supported the media's responsibilities in providing timely information to the public, providing basic knowledge of domestic violence and human trafficking, raising their voice to protect victims, and helping make changes in the public's conception of victims. In order to promote cooperation and the positive impact of mass media's support and protection of victims, the workshop "Mass Media Support and Protect the Victims of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking" brought together representatives of NGOs working in the field of domestic violence and human trafficking, reporters, newspaper journalists, and also victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.

One theme running through many of these efforts is the centrality of child/youth participation. For example, as part of "Improving informal education system for child laborers", CSAGA emphasised communication, volunteer training for youth, and teaching and guiding activities for children. Communication groups were implemented through two major channels: the Voice of Vietnam (VoV) and cassette tapes. As part of the 8 months of VoV broadcasts, child labourers and youth volunteers took part as much as possible in helping improve the awareness of the whole civil society regarding child labour issues and the importance of educating children for staving off child labour. They assisted with the reportage of status and consequences of child labour, quoting studies on child labour, reporting (often live), broadcasting stories, conducting interviews, and receiving questions and feedback through air-mail (to VOV), email, and phone calls to CSAGA. Also, children's groups and youth volunteer groups participated in compiling and selecting contents and style for 2 cassette tapes featuring details from the radio programmes.

Children, Women, Gender, Rights.