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When working with media partners, it is important to design and deliver campaigns and edutainment based on contextual insights and the latest evidence, for example:

Make information accessible: Identify and distil the message of the campaign, and what the audience needs to know, and make sure information shared is simple, bold, clear and accessible. Positive and aspirational messaging is often more appealing than punitive or corrective messaging.
Tailor campaigns for the intended audience: Identify and consider the target audience for the campaign, the language to use and the tone to…

There is little evidence that awareness-raising activities on their own are able to significantly reduce violent behaviours, although they may start to improve knowledge and attitudes around VAWG. This is especially the case with one-off campaigns whether in print, radio, TV or social media. As a result, to be most effective, it’s important to integrate awareness campaigns into multi-component prevention and response programmes. For example, a series of radio programmes might interview couples that have participated in a prevention programme to reduce intimate partner violence to showcase…

When working with the media, educational entertainment - or edutainment - can be used to tackle complex social issues, norms and behaviours. Research shows that edutainment can play a key role in changing attitudes and behaviours concerning VAWG and can be effective in introducing new positive norms and behaviours. The impact of edutainment programming can be further enhanced by opportunities where communities can come together to watch or listen to the programme, then reflect, discuss and build new skills together. But not all edutainment programming is equally effective and one-off…

Mass media plays a critical role in shaping public opinions and raising awareness, creating an enabling environment for changes in structural and social norms. By working with media partners, strategic influencing and campaigning can improve laws, policies and regulatory frameworks on matters relating to gender inequality and VAWG. Relevant policy analysis, research and recommendations can be useful tools to share with journalists in their coverage.

Working with media partners to provide sensitivity training and encourage positive storytelling can help challenge harmful stereotypes and contribute to changing norms about violence. It is important to encourage positive media content about survivors and their resilience and about successful interventions to prevent and respond to violence. At the centre of efforts should be the principle of ‘do no harm’, such as not re-traumatising survivors. For example, Spotlight Initiative programmes in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, and Uganda, among others, have trained journalists to sensitively…

Programmes working with girls should ensure that rigorous risk mitigation measures are included to recognise and safeguard against risks of backlash and potential violence and abuse perpetrated during the programme.  As most girls will be under 18 years, it is important to put in place child safeguarding policies and protocols.

This means organisations commit to not exposing children to the risk of harm and abuse, and that any concerns an organisation has about a child’s safety within the community they are working in are reported to the appropriate authorities. Equally, this includes…

Adolescent girls commonly face gender-based and age-based barriers to their participation in decision-making spaces, and leadership opportunities on issues that affect them and matter to them. Evidence shows that building girls’ self-efficacy, confidence and skills can support changes in attitudes to gender equality and help reduce gender-discriminatory practices, such as child marriage or limitations on girls’ mobility outside the home. Such capacity building can be provided through awareness raising, skills training and peer support initiatives, for example in safe spaces. Girl-led…

Programmes should support the police to develop strong synergies with the Justice Sector to ensure that the Justice Sector has all the information needed to bring perpetrators to justice during prosecution. Programmes can do this by supporting more efficient and safe data sharing processes, by improving coordination and collaboration across the sectors, and by providing training to both the Police and Justice actors about what is needed to strengthen VAWG cases and bring perpetrators to justice.

The police have an important role to play in collecting, handling and storing data in VAWG cases. This evidence is needed to develop strong legal cases against perpetrators and in some cases, survivors of VAWG are required to provide evidence to access social support. Programmes should work with police forces and WROs representing survivors of VAWG to understand and address the barriers to safely collecting, handling and storing data. Programmes should provide training for police on how to safely collect, handle and store data. They could also consider strengthening operational processes to…

Survivors who report crimes of VAWG are at higher risk of violence and backlash from perpetrators and communities. Police should recognise these risks and support survivors to find a safe place to stay once they have reported. In instances of intimate partner violence or domestic violence, where the survivor lives in the same house as the perpetrator, it may be unsafe for a survivor to return home. This is particularly the case when the survivor is also financially dependent on the perpetrator. While supporting survivors to find a safe place to stay, police should ensure that all information…