Join us empower adolescent girls in Latin America to escape sexual exploitation and leapfrog to digital jobs of the future.
Your support will help sustain XOCO’s shelter and provide the girls with digital access, food and healthcare during their education and skills development journey.
In June 2021, XOCO launched its Pilot Program in Cúcuta, Colombia (Venezuelan border). More than 20 refugee girls in imminent crisis situations escaped to our empowerment shelter in the first 12 months. 5 adolescent girls and their little kids stayed longer-term and joined XOCO’s Leapfrogging Academy. From mid-2022 to mid-2023 we scaled further and more than 200 girls & women received support in our shelter & joined our empowerment programs.
Many girls get stuck in Cúcuta while fleeing Venezuela due to the devastating humanitarian crisis. Most girls face abuse of power and gender-based violence (GBV) on the migration journey, are targeted by human trafficking networks and pushed into sexual exploitation. As a result of GBV, many refugee girls in Cúcuta have a baby, and no access to a safe home.
Given the situation, providing a shelter is a crucial first step to escape sexual exploitation and start their journey towards freedom. In partnership with the local human rights organization Corporación Mujer Denuncia y Muévete (MDYM), we developed a holistic solution combining a rights-based shelter program with XOCO’s Leapfrogging Academy. In our empowerment shelter, girls have access to psychological support, health care, quality nutrition and, importantly, the opportunity to get back into the formal education system while learning entrepreneurial and digital skills of the future at XOCO’s Leapfrogging Academy.
Join us change the game for girls and scale our solution by providing internet access, food or healthcare to the girls in our shelter, enabling them to succeed on their digital education journey with XOCO. You can also support through monthly donations.
We’ll keep you updated on the girls’ education and empowerment journey, as they go through XOCO’s Leapfrogging Academy preparing them for the digital jobs of the future.
Girls from vulnerable communities & survivors of GBV participate in our empowerment program. Education focuses on girls’ rights, digital skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy & more!
Empower girls by providing empowerment education starting at 20€.
Girls in our programs receive balanced and nutritious meals. This is particularly crucial for refugee girls & girls escaping sexual exploitation.
Empower refugee girls with weekly food stipend starting at 15€, so they can focus on their education.
We often provide the only option for girls’ healthcare, especially menstrual health education & services.
Strengthen survivor girls rights to health and community-based menstrual health initiatives starting at 25€ per month.
Supercharge our empowerment workshops for women & girls from refugee and afrodescendant communities to provide them with the human rights knowledge, tools and confidence to break the cycle of gender-based violence.
“At XOCO's shelter I feel protected and comfortable. I have access to good food, I sleep well and I feel I can have a good future.
I decided to continue my studies because I want to be a professional. I feel very happy and content to be here.”
We're very excited to share the latest impact insights from our girls' shelter & empowerment program in Cúcuta, Colombia!
From October 2022 to June 2023, more than 200 adolescent girls and women participated in empowerment and human rights workshops at our XOCO-MDYM empowerment house and shelter. The majority of women and girls in our programs are refugees from Venezuela and from Afro-descendant communities in complex situations of gender-based violence.
Additionally, the traction of this innovative program has attracted further support from the international community which has allowed us to support another 180 survivors of sexual exploitation. Our shelter provided the interim space to connect these survivors with housing support as the first step towards independence.
We're so grateful for all the support from our incredible #WeforXOCO community! Please continue spreading the word & support our crowdfunding campaign so we can keep our shelter open. Our girls' shelter provides a home for homeless refugee girls to escape sexual exploitation and - as highlighted by the impact stats above - has become a crucial platform to support many more women and girls in the most difficult situations of gender-based violence.
Listen to XOCO's founder Jessica & MDYM's founder Alejandra as they share insights on our impact achieved to date and future plans to change the game for girls!
