1. PROVISION OF LEGAL AID SERVICES
Provision of quality legal aid services which is WLAC’s core undertaking are served to disadvantaged women and children through reconciliation, clients coaching, drafting legal documents and representing clients to courts of law.
Legal aid services are implemented through the following:
- Legal aid clinics
- Mobile legal aid clinics
- Mobile hotline
WLAC has three major legal aid clinics which are operated at Kinondoni and SUWATA-Kariakoo and Kasulu, Kigoma for refugees program. The service is normally provided every Thursdays from 2pm to 5pm.
Types of legal aid services provided are as follows:
- Matrimonial causes
- Civil cases
- Child maintenance
- Child custody
- Criminal cases
- Labour disputes
- Insurance
- Rape
- Inheritance
- Land disputes
- Landlord/tenants disputes
- Education
WLAC since its establishment in 1989 todate has served a total of 52,412 clients.
CHART FOR LEGAL AID
Currently, the data for legal aid can be seen through the chart hereunder:
MOBILE LEGAL AID PROGRAM
Introduction
Mobile legal aid clinic is the services which are provided by WLAC through motor vehicle which was designed to provide legal aid in Temeke district in Dar es Salaam follow up of failure to establish an office. The services later expanded to rural areas in other regions of Tanzania.
WLAC mobile unit officially started in July 2009 as a pilot project in Temeke district. The service reached a total number of 160 clients. The mobile legal aid clinic proved to be one of the most effective tools to reach women who could not afford to come to WLAC offices. The mobile legal aid clinic is also an opportunity to make WLAC known in communities where existence of legal aid services may not be known. It is good platform of raising awareness on legal and human rights issues, particularly women’s human rights.
Result:
The services had a positive impact the legal aid services since 2009 a total of 783 clients received legal aid services. The program had been able to provide services to men and women for free and some were able to finalize their cases.
- in 2009 a total of 186 clients from 6 wards and 2 districts,
- in 2010 a total of 425 from 25 wards of Temeke district and 7 districts
- in 2011a total of 110 clients received from 6 wards and 4 districts
Challenges
Strengthening the mobile legal clinic and assisting rural women who cannot visit WLAC offices to report their problem.
Lesson
The services help to advertise WLAC services to the community and reached many people across the country.
 
HOTLINE SERVICES PROGRAM
Hotline service is another means of assisting the community to access justice cost free. It started in 2007 and it’s still an ongoing program. The program enables various people across the country to call through free toll mobile telephone and assisted in their legal problems. The mobile telephone numbers include 0757 726660 for Vodacom and 0785 066555 for Airtel. The service managed to reach a total number of 3112 whom include both men and women. The legal problems assisted include matrimonial, child custody, child maintenance, probate, civil, criminal, labour disputes, land disputes, HIV and AIDS, education, insurance etc.
2. WOMEN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
WLAC has two major on going campaigns which touches womens rights issues. The said campaigns are:
WOMEN LAND RIGHTS:
In Tanzania the rights of women could be effectively enforced if women know their rights, access justice system in time and receive proper remedies. Minimal knowledge of women human rights and legal rights on the part of the community lead to massive violations of women human rights. Subordinate status of women limits their opportunity to be informed about their rights. Women inequality is also noted to be a fundamental marginalization on determining and controlling property, accessing market economy and this increase poverty among women.
In 1999, Tanzania passed the most progressive gender equality land laws, the Land Act (Cap 113) and the Village Land Act (Cap 114).The land laws have the provisions have the provisions which do away with customs and traditions discriminating women on issues of land ownership. Men and women under the land laws have same rights to acquire, use and dispose land. The 1999 land laws have a specific provision barring customs and traditions discriminating against women on land ownership, however the law is in conflict with the traditional setup of land ownership in rural areas. Culture reinforces the fact that women access to land must be through a social relation and not direct access. This subordination of women socially and economically renders them less competitive than they should be under the economic structuring of the society.
Recognizing this concern, WLAC have included the promotion of and protection of women land rights as a particular priority agenda in assisting women realizing their legal and human rights.
On that premises WLAC is implementing a project called the Promotion and Protection of Women land Rights. The project is focused in Muleba district, Kagera region and Kyela district, Mbeya region. The reason for choosing these regions is due to high reported incidences of land disputes and in many cases victims of these disputes are women. The objectives of this Project are:
- To promote and strengthen implementation of land laws and other laws promoting women’s rights
- To raise awareness of the community of Muleba and Kyela Districts on land laws and rights of women.
- To increase the capacity of the Village councils and Ward tribunals on land laws and rights of women.
- To enable women access land right through legal advice and emergence response on land cases.
WLAC in implementing this project closely work with two NGO’s in these respective districts. In Muleba district WLAC collaborates with MUVIMAWAMU which stands for Muungano wa Vikundi vya Maendeleo ya Wanawake Muleba; whereas in Mbeya, WLAC is collaborating with Kyela Paralegal Unit in implementing this project.
TUNAWEZA (“WE CAN") CAMPAIGN:
We Can’ campaign is a global movement to end violence against women. Prevention of VAW is at the core of the ‘We Can’ campaign. The campaign seeks to change social norms and attitudes, which have set the boundaries of acceptability of VAW and consequently build a base for preventing and ending VAW. ‘We Can’ campaign aims to change these social norms and attitudes and convince people that violence is neither acceptable nor inevitable. The campaign hopes to trigger a mass movement of change, which will make tangible progress in preventing VAW.
The campaign recognizes that VAW is deeply rooted and justified within cultures to the extent that some forms of VAW are widely accepted as a way of managing conflict and as an inevitable way of life, and as a consequence are not perceived as violence. This necessitates changing the deeply entrenched societal attitudes that have served to condone and consequently perpetuate VAW. This calls for inclusive interventions that call for attention on VAW while harnessing individual and collective change. The campaign recognizes that a prevention-based approach not only addresses the unequal relations between men and women but also ensures that there are concerted efforts across all sectors of society to ending VAW. Moreover, prevention of VAW is in the longer term more effective and sustainable than addressing the effects and consequences of VAW as it looks and acts at the root causes of violence.
The campaign is grounded on the understanding that people change when they recognize something as their own problem, and also acknowledge that they can change and have the ability to change. A person who has been through this reflection and makes the individual change is best placed to support another person to change.
THE BACKGROUND OF TUNAWEZA CAMPAIGN (“WE CAN) IN TANZANIA.
The campaign started after Oxfam GB initiatives to combat domestic violence. In their efforts, Kivulini was invited to participate in a meeting held in Nairobi to discuss and design a mechanism to combat domestic violence in East Africa communities. A follow up meeting held in Kampala Uganda in 2007 and drawn participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Oxfam (Kenya) and (Bangladesh). It is in this meeting where the issue of campaign against domestic violence was discussed coherently. Participants from Bangladesh had an opportunity to share about the We Can” campaign.
Thereafter, participants were interested with how thw campaign works. Consequently, a study visit was conducted in Bangladesh and India. There were representation Kivulini and WLAC in the study visit which took place in July, 2007.
Followed by a pre planning and the outcome was a five year strategic plan for Tunaweza campaign in Tanzania.
In January 2008, there was a communication workshop, where by alliance partners from Kenya, Tanzania and DRC assisted by Raising Voices developed a draft of communication materials for the campaign.
IMPLEMENTATION OF TUNAWEZA CAMPAIGN IN TANZANIA
The campaign is implemented towards achieving three major outcomes namely:
- Mobilization of 1.6 direct changemakers by 2012
- Build 70 alliances by 2012
- Campaign visibility
To achieve the desired outcomes, number of strategies has been employed by organizations implementing the campaign in Tanzania. The organizations/alliances are working under coordination of the core group members namely KIVULINI, WLAC and HAKIMADINI.
- Launching the campaign at national level ( Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha)
- Integrating the Tunaweza Campaign in ongoing organizational programs. This means that the campaign does not change the objectives of the organization rather the campaign messages are disseminated in course of implementation of other organizational activities such as trainings, seminars and workshops.
- Use other forums (rather than those organized by the implementing organization) to introduce and publicize the Tunaweza Campaign
(Tents – displaying Materials and given opportunity to explain about the campaign)
Popular Tribunals
Workshops
Gender and Development Training series
- Radio programs and use of Newspapers
- Comic strips and comedy
- Community mobilization events
- Youth dialogues and debates
- School mobilization and outreach events
- Campaigning around the international days
3. LEGAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS TRAININGS
WLAC conducts awareness and educational trainings which contributed immensely in enhancing public understanding on women legal and human rights. The knowledge reached many WLAC’s stakeholders at the community, national and international levels through public awareness and educational programs. The trainings conducted were mainly focused on community awareness on women human rights. The regions covered include Lindi, Mbeya, Arusha, Iringa, Shinyanga, Morogoro, Manyara, Kilimanjaro, Dodoma, Mtwara etc. Implementation of these training programs at the communities’ level is still an ongoing activity.
Advantages of Legal and Human Rights Trainings
- Increased public understanding and knowledge on women’s human rights
- Enabled individuals and communities access their rights and seek assistance to protect and promote their rights. This led to increase number of women seeking legal aid services at WLAC offices
- Enabled WLAC to implement result-oriented, community-focused and meaningful advocacy campaign
Developed appropriate, accessible and educative women human rights materials.
4. ESTABLISHMENT OF GENDER DESKS AT POLICE POST
Gender desk played an important avenue to support the victims of crime, witnesses and their families. Such support includes court preparations, familiarization visits, demonstration of vulnerable witness facilities and observation of court proceedings. The gender desk also includes offering services such as counseling, legal and medical advice. The desk is responsible for notifying the victims of crime in writing about the services and contact details either by phone or any other means of communication. The desk also offers interpreters to assist the victims and witnesses in their appearances before the court.
The Gender desk started in 2008 in the three districts of Dar es Salaam region. These gender desks include 17 police stations which are as follows:
Magomeni, Kimara, Selander Bridge, Kilwa Road, Kigamboni, Chang’ombe, Oyesterbay, Ukonga-Sitakishari, Ilala, Msimbazi, Central Police, Buguruni, Kijitonyama, Wazo Hill, University of Dar es Salaam, Urafiki and Mbagala.
The services provided by these gender desks include:
- Identify complaints to see whether they are related to gender violence and violence against children.
- Receive complaints related to GBV and children in a special way including using good language to the victims of GBV and give them assurance to remove fear so that they can freely express themselves and create an environment of privacy to those who report issues of GBV.
- Identify the actions to be taken for the case, for example, taking the victim to the hospital, reporting to the investigation unit, etc
- To collect evidence from the complainant and from the place of incidence by a thorough investigation based on the rules of investigation.
- To arrest the suspect (perpetrators) and collect evidence from them, for example, hairs, for laboratory experimentation.
- To refer the suspects of GBV to other institutions or organization to prove their health, mental ability, age etc.
- To interrogate the suspects to see whether they are related to the offence and to look for other people related to the incidence.
- Help in keeping the evidence records and give them to the court as required.
- Collect evidence for the cases that are brought before the court of law.
- Enable the victim of GBV to get a psychological or emotional healing.
Currently Gender Desks are nearly placed to all police posts in Tanzania.
 
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