Women play a vital role in the societal and familial structure of their communities. They are the primary caregivers and their impact on society is unquestioned.

 

However, women are oppressed globally. According to the World Health Organization, one in three women worldwide are victims of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. In parts of East Africa 56% of women experience such violence. In underserved communities women and girls face many other issues such as extreme gender bias, lack of health care, and oppression stemming from the prevailing cultural and societal norms surrounding the status of women.    

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Music therapy offers a trauma-informed psychosocial therapy to survivors of violence and can be a highly impactful service in the community. Umoja aims to help establish more of these music therapy services and empower women community leaders to facilitate them.

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We want to see self-sustaining music therapy practices be carried out BY women and FOR women globally and have their practices recognized and valued within the music therapy field. 

 

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