INTRO
No woman should face violence alone.
It was with this certainty that, in 2016, we created Mapa do Acolhimento, a movement that has become an organization to ensure that women survivors have access to the help they need to get out of this spiral of pain and violence. What began as an emergency campaign has grown into a large and robust network of solidarity, sustained by committed volunteers, a team made up only of women, donors and partners who believe in this cause and mobilized activists who dedicate their time and knowledge to supporting, guiding and empowering women seeking a fresh start.
It's not new that we live in a critical scenario in Brazil, with increasing femicides and violence against women in constant renewal. In a culture that is still frighteningly sexist, we also know that many women can't even recognize the violence they are suffering. For this reason, we understand that, in addition to offering a direct and immediate response, we also need a systemic change that is much bigger than ourselves. The past has shown us, through milestones such as the drafting of the Maria da Penha Law and the Brazilian Women's Letter to the Constituents, that this change will only be possible through cooperation between civil society and the state.
Today, our work is organized around three main programmatic areas. The Service Provision area, connecting women to volunteer psychologists and lawyers, guaranteeing sensitive and qualified care; Cooperation with Governments, which works to strengthen services and policies for women, promoting training and articulating strategies to improve care for survivors; and the Mobilization area, engaging more people in the cause, broadening the public debate, creating campaigns and strengthening support networks to transform the reality of gender-based violence in our country.
We are an organization made by women and, every day, we deal with the violence that runs through our lives and bodies. Dealing with stories that reflect our pain is not easy. But we keep going because we know that change only happens when we refuse to accept the silence imposed on us. Every service provided, every bond strengthened and every advance made is a small step towards the transformation we want to see in the world.
Recado da Diretoria
The year 2024 was a year of great pride for the team and the bond created with the communities that make Mapa do Acolhimento happen: survivors, volunteers, multipliers, state secretaries and partner organizations. Being at the head of an organization like this, working for the tireless purpose of preventing women from suffering femicides is very challenging, but being side by side with the trust and commitment of women who understand the structures that sustain patriarchy and racism in Brazil and are constantly fighting to transform this reality is comforting. Comforting because it gives us hope, every day, of a country free of violence.
O ano de 2024 foi de muito orgulho da equipe e do vínculo criado com as comunidades que fazem o Mapa do Acolhimento acontecer: sobreviventes, voluntárias, multiplicadoras, secretárias estaduais, organizações parceiras. Estar à frente de uma organização como essa, trabalhando para um propósito incansável de impedir que mulheres sofram feminicídios é muito desafiador, mas estar lado a lado com a confiança e o compromisso de mulheres que compreendem as estruturas que sustentam o patriarcado e o racismo no Brasil e lutam constantemente para transformar essa realidade é reconfortante. Reconfortante, porque me traz esperança, todos os dias, de um país livre de violências.
Message from the directors
Enrica Duncan
Executive Director
Ana El Kadri
Program Director
Service Provision
The Service Provision area is the heart of Mapa - and where it all began.
We started this project, now an organization, out of concern about something that is far from ceasing: the threatening scenario to which Brazilian women are exposed. Year after year, the rates of different forms of violence against women only increase. But if violence is renewed, we are also striving to sophisticate our response strategies, offering support, care and hope.
Our ongoing goal is to increase the number of services offered, so that more women find ethical, humanized care that takes their particularities into account — a safe space where they can, together with the professionals, build solutions that legitimize their autonomy.
At the same time, we have also dedicated ourselves to improving our methodologies. We want to offer an increasingly qualified experience for our beneficiaries and volunteer professionals, providing satisfaction, security, belonging and personalization.
In 2024, we made significant changes to the way we connect the psychologists and lawyers who are part of our network of volunteers to the women who request assistance. Until then, we relied on a technological solution that made this connection automatically, but still with limitations, considering only the type of service required (psychological or legal) and an ideal distance of up to 20km.
After long reflection and a lot of dedication on the part of the team, we developed new technologies to make this match in an optimized way, prioritizing the connection between women from the same territory, expanding the search in cases where there is no volunteer nearby, and searching daily for volunteers for women who join the waiting list. In this way, we add to this equation some factors that are essential for good service, such as a short waiting time and the possibility of connecting with a professional who understands the territorial context in which the survivor is located.
“The psychological help I received helped me leave behind a very sad time in my life.Thanks to it, I've been able to move on and see paths I couldn't see before.”
- N., survivor assisted through Mapa services
Volunteers are the lifeblood of Mapa do Acolhimento.
They are the ones who, with dedication, sensibility and professionalism, are on the front line, offering psychological and legal support to women facing violence. Every service they provide, every warm listening and every piece of legal advice they give represents not only their commitment to the cause, but also their willingness to build a network of solidarity that transforms lives. Without the time, expertise and commitment of these professionals, our work would not reach so many women seeking a new beginning with autonomy and dignity.
When we talk about improving service methodologies, we understand that this process only makes sense if it is built together with the psychologists and lawyers in our network. That's why we keep alive the practice of holding regular case discussion meetings with our volunteers, creating safe spaces for sharing experiences, reflections and continuous learning. These meetings, called Volunteer Assistance Sessions (PAV), are fundamental to ensuring the alignment and quality of the care offered, as they allow participants to share challenges, evaluate approaches and deepen their knowledge of the complexities of gender-based violence.
“Through the meetings I was able to get closer to the volunteers and other women who contribute to our network. These experiences and this closeness made the importance and power of our daily work a reality! I was very happy!”
- Isabella Santos, Psychologist and Psychology Analyst in the area of Service Provision at Mapa do Acolhimento
In addition to the 5 editions of the PAV, we also held two themed meetings to talk about specific topics within our work. At one of these meetings, we welcomed psychologists Cecília Guida and Marina Silva dos Reis to talk about the temporality of care and how to provide a humanized welcome from the perspective of CONFAD care; at the second meeting, lawyer Márcia Ribeiro, who has a Master's degree in Law and is a Legal Analyst in the area of Service Provision at Mapa do Acolhimento, discussed the challenges of feminist advocacy with the volunteers.
“I feel that, through Mapa, as well as welcoming these women, I am also welcomed. And this mutual exchange of support and affection is what makes this experience so special for me.”
- Dayane Candatten, volunteer lawyer at Mapa do Acolhimento
In our work, we have as a fundamental principle the recognition of the importance of public services in tackling gender-based violence and we know that strengthening this network is indispensable to guaranteeing broad, accessible and continuous care for Brazilian women. That's why we always seek to work in a complementary way, identifying demands that need to be referred to the network, dialoguing, offering support and exchanging knowledge with the professionals who are at the forefront of this service in the health, public security and social assistance sectors.
A few years ago, during the pandemic, in a scenario in which violence against women reached alarming levels and many services were limited, we mobilized to map the public services that were still operating, along with information such as their telephone numbers and addresses. The result of this mobilization was the construction of the Public Services Map - a tool that will be of great use to both survivors and the professionals who work with these women. In the last year, we have greatly updated this map, which now includes more than 2,500 services from the network for dealing with violence against women, such as police stations, reference centers, defense offices, health and care services, spread all over Brazil, as well as information on the types of care offered at each facility, opening hours and addresses of the services.
When it comes to coordinating with the public services in the network, something that gives us great satisfaction is to share our learnings based on the demands of the services themselves. Receiving recognition from professionals who come to us to refer women, as was the case with two shelters in São Paulo and Ceará, and requesting training, such as the one we carried out for the Community Council of Paraná, is an important confirmation for us that we are on the right track.
Numbers
2.086
requests for help received
3.226
connections made
1.490
new volunteer lawyers and psychologists registered
2.086
requests for help received
1.490
new volunteer lawyers and psychologists registered
3.226
connections
made
Cooperation with Governments
We want every woman who seeks help from public services to find a welcoming, humanized and effective service.
In this programmatic area, we provide technical advice to governments with the aim of supporting the expansion of Women's Policy Organizations and training policies for public servants.
Despite the thousands of volunteers who join our network every year, we understand that only systemic change, involving dialogue and effective cooperation between civil society and the state, will be enough to address an issue as complex as femicides in Brazil.
Over the years, we have learned a lot.
Through partnerships and technical cooperation agreements, we have shared our knowledge and tools with those who have the resources and capillarity to reach all women: the state.
One of these joint actions, carried out in 2024, was the launch of the Chamada pelo Acolhimento (Call for Support), a guide to humanized support. The materials were produced in partnership with Serenas and the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and with funding from the British Embassy, to serve as support for Ligue 180 operators and all those who assist women in situations of violence.
The material contains a lot of information on the practice of humanized assistance, types of violence, legislation that protects women, activities to fix the content, self-care tips for frontline workers and much more. As a way of deepening knowledge about the topics covered, complementary video lessons have also been launched, produced with specialists. And the operators of Ligue 180 - the Women's Call Center - received face-to-face training in Brasilia from representatives of Mapa do Acolhimento and Serenas.
In addition to “Chamada pelo Acolhimento", we also participated in the Information axis of the project “Entre Nós, Candidatas”, carried out in conjunction with the National Observatory of Women in Politics (ONMP) of the Chamber of Deputies and De Olho Nas Urnas. Through this, we launched the booklet “Care and Self-Care in Mental Health as a Tool for Confronting Political Gender and Racial Violence”, available on the EVC Portal of the Chamber of Deputies School, which addresses strategies for reducing the impact of political violence on the mental health of women who work in politics.
In 2023, in partnership with Instituto GENi, we signed a cooperation agreement with the Alagoas State Secretariat for Women and Human Rights (SEMUDH) to develop Alagoas por Elas. This project included the construction of a state plan for women's policies and a training course for public managers.
In 2024, we continued the project, supporting the development of the “Training in Gender Equity in the Municipalities of Alagoas” course, training more than 80 managers and leaders from 15 municipalities in Alagoas who work in women's secretariats and coordinators. The course was the result of a consultation with the municipalities to identify the main shortcomings in the women's agenda and was supported by the State Forum of Public Policy Organizations for Women.
Over the course of three months, with online classes and face-to-face immersions, we sought to train the participants on three fronts: political training from an intersectional perspective, raising awareness of gender-based violence and the qualification of gender-based policies.
CHAMADA PELO ACOLHIMENTO
“This partnership will certainly be strategic in the reconstruction and further improvement of the services provided by the Women's Call Center - Ligue 180.”
Denise Mota Dau, National Secretary for Combating Violence against Women, Ministry of Women's Affairs, on the “Chamada Pelo Acolhimento”.
ALAGOAS POR ELAS
“It's extremely important for us, who are working at the frontline in each municipality, to learn more about the legal and practical technicalities in order to better ascertain the policies we can implement in our realities.”
Nayara Matias, Secretary for Women and People with Disabilities of Batalha-AL, on the “Training in Gender Equality in the Municipalities of Alagoas” course.
Mobilization
The mobilization area develops strategies to strengthen the social fabric in defence of the network of public services for women.
The historic mobilization of feminists and social movements is what led to the creation of specialized public policies to combat violence against women. In the Mobilization area, we encourage society to get involved in the fight against gender violence so that these policies are improved and fulfill their role effectively.
In 2024, in addition to one-off social mobilization campaigns, we expanded our activities and launched programs to continuously engage and strengthen civil society with regard to existing policies and services to combat violence against women.
This year, we built a community of activists by launching the Multipliers Program. In the first cycle, we brought together more than 80 women from the North, Northeast and Southeast regions of the country, who took ownership of the needs of their territories, promoted actions and disseminated knowledge on the subject.
Through online meetings, the Multipliers took part in series of training sessions on gender-based violence and the network for combating violence against women. Their learning was put into practice through actions, campaigns and face-to-face events held in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco and São Paulo. By participating in and leading these initiatives, the Multipliers took on an active role in transforming their realities. As well as creating safe spaces for dialogue and the exchange of experiences, they strengthened support networks and disseminated information about women's rights and available public services.
In line with our commitment to strengthening the link between civil society and the state, we have launched Todas Por Alagoas - the first program of Mapa do Acolhimento to directly support women's collectives. This pilot project was structured to improve and expand the actions of feminist and community initiatives that work to promote actions to combat gender violence in Alagoas.
Four initiatives were invited to take part, working in different territories and with different audiences, but with a common goal: to tackle gender-based violence in an articulated way, complementing public services and strengthening the network for tackling violence against women. They are the Coletivo Maria Bonita, the Grupo de Pesquisa Frida Kahlo, the initiative As Trabalhadoras Sexuais Vão à Luta and the Rede de Mulheres Pescadoras da Costa dos Corais.
With the aim of optimizing impact and ensuring that the initiatives had the tools they needed to develop their activities over the long term, we offered comprehensive support tailored to the needs of each group. Through technical assistance, direct funding, strategic meetings and training, we share knowledge to improve project execution and promote cooperation and integration between collectives and public authorities.
The program is being carried out with the support of the Alagoas State Secretariat for Women and Human Rights and Instituto GENi, expanding the partnership that began in 2022, with the signing of an agreement for technical advice on drawing up policies for women in the state.
TODAS POR ALAGOAS
“The ‘’Todas por Alagoas‘’ program has been fundamental in strengthening our links, broadening the scope of our actions and promoting the exchange of experiences between women.”
- Ana Moura, Presidente do Coletivo de Mulheres Maria Bonita, iniciativa integrante do programa Todas por Alagoas
PROGRAMA DE MULTIPLICADORAS
“It was an exciting moment to be able to participate, learn and build collectively. Seeing so many women together and willing to welcome other women is inspiring and powerful.”
- Débora Mariana, participant in the first cycle of the Multipliers Program
Institutional
2024 was our first full year as an independent organization.
It has been a year of putting down roots and expanding the work of Mapa do Acolhimento. This period was marked by significant advances in our structure, such as the expansion of our team and the construction and consolidation of internal policies and processes. This development enabled greater efficiency in all areas of the organization and ensured a working environment aligned with the values we stand for, both externally and internally.
One of the guiding principles of our work is collaboration. We believe in collective action as a powerful tool for expanding our impact. In this sense, we have had the opportunity to consolidate several strategic partnerships over the last year.
We also had the opportunity to actively participate in various strategic spaces for discussion and articulation, such as the Ecosystem Meetup, organized by Societal Thinking, a partner organization that has helped us create sustainable and scalable solutions to tackle growing problems such as femicides in the Brazilian context. At the event, which took place in Bengaluru, India, we had the opportunity to exchange experiences, make connections with other leaders and present Mapa do Acolhimento's theory of change along with the challenges of scalability.
Another noteworthy event was the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) 2024 Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. The Forum is one of the main global spaces for exchanging knowledge between researchers, professionals and activists, and our attendance reinforced Mapa do Acolhimento's commitment to contributing to global solutions and bringing lessons learned to our local reality. Together with the Instituto AzMina and Serenas, we formed a feminist coalition to share our experiences, challenges and lessons learned in the fight against gender-based violence in Brazil with the world.
Mapa was also able to take part in the SVRI Forum's official agenda at the “Online responses” table, where digital innovations that are helping to combat gender-based violence were showcased. We presented IAna to the world, developed in 2023 and finally implemented in our work this year. Built to answer questions and support our volunteers during their training process, IAna is an artificial intelligence that works in chatbot format. This technology uses our team's practical experience, academic knowledge and volunteers' feedback as a database, to provide useful guidance and qualified information on the network for combating gender-based violence to those who are on the front line in assisting women.
At the 15th AWID International Forum in Bangkok, Thailand, we also joined forces with Brazilian organizations to strengthen our network. This time, in addition to Instituto AzMina, we also got together with Nem Presa Nem Morta, Instituto Marielle Franco and Fundo Agbara. We shared challenges and ideas and returned even stronger. It was an experience that showed us the power of feminist unity and solidarity.
2024 was, above all, a year of consolidation and expansion.
Each partnership, each event and each initiative reinforces our commitment to building a fairer and safer world for women. We continue to be driven by the collective strength of thousands of women who believe in the power of support and the urgency of confronting gender-based violence. And it is with this energy that we move forward, ready to face the challenges of 2025.
Events and Conferences
.jpg)
Meeting and selection to represent Brazil in the Marianne Initiative for Human Rights Defenders program in France.
Participation in the Ecossystem Meetup, a meeting of the Centre for Exponential Change, in India.
Presentation at the I Seminar for Women from Sete Lagoas and the Region, in Sete Lagoas/MG.
Lecture on Gender-Based Violence for the company KINEA, in São Paulo-SP.
Participation in the 1st Forum of the Network to Combat Domestic Violence in Lavras, in Lavras-MG.
Training in Gender Equity in the Municipalities of Alagoas, in Maceió-AL.
Online training for Geledés' Popular Legal Promoters.
Online event to launch the “Chamada Pelo Acolhimento”.
Participation in the 17th edition of the ABCR Festival, organized by the Brazilian Association of Fundraisers, in São Paulo-SP.
Presentation at the 13th International Seminar “ Fazendo Gênero”, at the UFSC Campus, in Florianópolis-SC.
Lecture at the event “Conectadas em Rede”, in Rio de Janeiro-RJ.
Training and conversation circle at the Álvares Penteado School of Commerce Foundation (FECAP), in São Paulo-SP.
Selection for the Obama Foundation Scholars Program.
Participation in an episode of the Pamitê podcast, from the Maria da Penha Institute.
Participation in the Co-Impact meeting in São Paulo-SP.
Presentation at the SVRI Forum 2024 in South Africa.
Meeting of the Centre for Exponential Change, in São Paulo-SP.
Meeting to Strengthen Women in Politics, in Rio de Janeiro-RJ.
Participation in the 15th AWID International Forum in Thailand.
Taking part in The Well, a New Profit event in the United States.
Workshop “Mental Health Care for Women in Politics”, in Brasília-DF.
Participation in the Women Without Fear of Change Conference, organized by the E se fosse você? Institute, in Brasília-DF.
Online training for Justice for Peace at Home Week.
Participation in the XIV National Meeting of the Permanent Commission on Domestic and Family Violence against Women (COPEVID), in São Paulo-SP.
Final Thoughts
Everything we do is the result of the thirst for change of all the women who believe in the power of this work.
For this reason, we are deeply grateful to all the volunteers, partners, supporters and collaborators who made this year possible. To the women who have trusted our work to help them live a life without violence; to the psychologists and lawyers who dedicate their time and expertise to welcoming; to the organizations and governments that have walked with us; and to every person who believes in and supports our cause. You are the force that drives us and the reason for everything we have built!
But there is still a lot to be done. Violence against women continues to be an alarming reality, and we need your help to keep moving forward. Your support is essential if we are to expand our reach, improve our services and ensure that no woman is left alone.
To find out more about the impact of your support, get to know Grazi and Paula's story. In this video, they share their personal stories and how having support has been a transformative experience in their lives.
Mapa do Acolhimento only exists because we are not alone.
Our work is only possible thanks to the contribution of institutions and people who, like us, believe that it is possible to live in a Brazil without femicides.
This report is part of our commitment to transparency, along with other audit and trial balance documents that are available on our website. Every resource invested in our work is managed responsibly, ensuring integrity and clarity for our supporters at every stage of the process.
By contributing to the work of Mapa do Acolhimento, you enable our team to continue to specialize and be continuously dedicated to improving the welcoming experience for each of the Brazilian women impacted by our work.
