A/HRC/38/3 E/CN.6/2018/9 refugees, community awareness workshops and legal and psychosocial support for refugee girls who are vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence. 21. The third grantee in Iraq, Women for Women International, enrolled 600 women and girls in social and economic empowerment training programmes during its first six months of implementation in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Thirty women have so far received social and legal services through the local partner organization, Warvin. Women for Women International is continuing to train and mentor Warvin so as to strengthen their organizational and technical capacity in providing protection services against gender-based violence. C. Addressing the needs of women and girls living with disabilities 22. The 2017 call for proposals opened a window for at least $1 million in funding for projects on ending violence against women and girls with disabilities, in recognition of the fact that, while they experience many of the same forms of violence all women and girls experience, they also face particular risks. Women and girls with disabilities face a risk of rape that is almost three times greater than that faced by women and girls in general, and are twice as likely to be survivors of domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence. They are also likely to experience abuse over a longer period and with more severe injuries than other women and to face particular obstacles in obtaining justice and redress for the violence experienced. 7 23. Among those projects already supported focusing on women and girls with disabilities is a project implemented in Zimbabwe by the Leonard Cheshire Disability Trust. The Access to Justice project, which started in 2015, provides specialized services for girls and women with disabilities, including logistical support and signlanguage classes in order to facilitate access to police units and the courts. To date, the project has directly supported 696 women and girls with disabilities. Additionally, 293 police officers, 203 Court officials and 81 representatives of mainstream women’s organizations have been reached by the project. About 1,300 girls and women with disabilities, including their caregivers, and 290 community leaders were reached with information and other prevention activities at the community level. 24. The feedback from women and girls, caregivers and stakeholders confirms that the project has greatly empowered women and girls with disabilities who are utilizing the acquired knowledge and information to report acts of violence against women and girls in their communities. The community-based approach used provides safe spaces for girls and women with disabilities to seek information on violence against women and to discuss challenges and solutions. Through advocacy and national dialogues on access to justice for girls and women with disabilities, the project also contributed to the explicit recognition of their rights in the new national gender policy. The project also facilitated the adaptation of the policy into accessible formats, like Braille. 25. The Mental Disability Rights Initiative is implementing a project in Serbia to address violence against women with disabilities in custodial institutions. It has helped raise awareness of this issue for informed policymaking. For example, in June 2017, the grantee gathered the representatives of the Government of Serbia, members __________________ 7 17-22602 Stephanie Ortoleva and Hope Lewis, “Forgotten Sisters — A Report on Violence against Women with Disabilities: An Overview of Its Nature, Scope, Causes and Consequences ”, Northeastern Public Law and Theory Faculty Research Papers Series, No. 104 (Boston, Massachusetts, Northeastern University, 2012). 7/16