In the fight for gender justice, the Garden of Hope Foundation (GOH) is honored to stand with our partners around the world: Taking the opportunity to attend the founding meeting of the Asian Network Against Gender-based Violence in Malaysia, we met with Women’s Aid Malaysia (WAO), the largest shelter provider in Malaysia since 1982, when the first shelter for survivors of domestic violence was established.

During this visit, WAO took great care to introduce us to the important local women’s service. Apart from visiting the women’s and children’s shelter services in Malaysia, GOH also talked deeply with their advocacy partners, including the difficulties faced by local promotion, such as the conundrum of religion and law, and the lack of government support. We also took the opportunity to exchange ideas about Taiwan’s advocacy and best practices.

At the end of our visit, we stopped at WAO’s newly built Children’s Services Center to enjoy their well-prepared local specialties. WAO CEO Sumitra led the entire service team and shared with us what they have seen in recent years in the prevention and treatment of gender-based violence, and explored the challenges we all face: the transformation of non-profit organizations, the difficulties in nurturing talent, the emerging digital issues of gender-based violence, and how to evaluate how to use every donation. Despite the distance between Taiwan and Malaysia, the common goal of eliminating gender-based violence continues to bind us together. We cherish every like-minded partner in the international network, and believe that every exchange and cooperation can strengthen each other, and make a further step towards this global common goal!