Chapter 2. External Analysis

2.1 SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis has been conducted on the Women’s Aid Organization. This method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or campaign initiated by the organization.

Strength:

• WAO supports  local and foreign bused women.
• WAO is one of the Joint Action Group (JOA) that lobbed for the domestic Violence Act 1984 in Malaysia.
• WAO has many refuges around Malaysia for domestic violence survivors.
• One of WAO’s duties is to continue modifying and enhancing the domestic Violence Act to best serve the survivors of domestic violence, whereby they can work with field of advocacy, public education.
• WAO was the first organization in Malaysia that opened women’s refuge, counseling, and child support to battered women.
• WAO is highly trusted organization by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community, therefore; MWFC always supports WAO by allocating funds for the organization.
• WAO has been established in Malaysia before any other women’s organization, thus they have more knowledge and information about domestic violence.

Weakness:

• In past, WAO had faced a problem which is lack of funds from donors and rescinding of pledges due to the global recession, which mean that they are bad highly effected by outsource donation support.
• WAO has just  branch the one in Pataling Jaya.
• Burnout of social workers and activists.
• Sometimes, they have backlash on the women's issues that may have bad effect on the organization.

Opportunities:

• WAO has organized many campaigns that cover all domestic violence issues in Malaysia, that makes the organization more known among people.
• Victims of domestic violence feel more close to WAO because they have good servicing that meet all the victims need.
• usually WAO has gotten financial support for example they got  RM720,000 for two years to enable WAO to help more women and their children who take shelter at the centre, and that will make them more trusted from people.
• All WAO's news is always monitored in much newspaper, that makes the organization more trusted.

Threats:

• WAO might not get financial support which may put the organization and the battered women and their children in big trouble.
• Because the really hard work in this organization that makes many volunteers avoid joining this organization.
• Lake of women in servicing makes many battered women's avoid to come to this organization.