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A Breeze of Hope ( Spanish: Una Brisa de Esperanza) is a Bolivian nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides free legal, social, and psychological support to victims of sexual violence. [1] The charitable organization is globally partnered with Equality Now. Over the course of 14 years, the organization's legal team has prosecuted 500 abuse cases. [2]
Brisa de Ángulo, an advocate and survivor of sexual abuse, founded A Breeze of Hope in 2004 to address the urgent need for support and justice for sexually abused children in Bolivia. [3] She experienced repeated rape by a family member at 16, and her decision to report the abuse was met with intimidation and blame from her community, extended family, and the authorities. [4]
In 2013, A Breeze of Hope's advocacy before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights successfully pressured the Bolivian government to repeal the Rape-Marriage law, a law that pardoned sexual aggressors of their crimes if they married their victims. [5] The first school-based study on the scope of sexual violence against children and adolescents in Bolivia was undertaken in 2009 by the A Breeze of Hope Foundation in collaboration with the Bolivian Ministry of Education and Towson University. [6] They discovered that 1 in 3 girls said they had experienced sexual assault before turning 18.[ citation needed]