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Governments are increasingly acknowledging the negative impacts of VAWG on women, families, communities, business and the national economy - and are committing to do more to prevent violence. Whilst it is known that government action to create an enabling environment of laws and policies and to allocate resources for prevention is critical, there has been limited progress on tracking impacts and measuring change. However, measuring population-level change is just as important as measuring programme-level change. Key approaches include:

Develop a realistic vision of the expected processes of…

Efforts to galvanise community support to end VAWG require creating opportunities for dialogue. Social norms, attitudes and beliefs about VAWG are often deeply held and associated with complex social understandings of morality, shame and honour. Efforts to shift these norms, attitudes and beliefs often benefit from safe spaces where individuals can discuss them and have them challenged without fear of humiliation or backlash. When developing a safe space for critical dialogue, consider the make-up of the group and potential power dynamics that may prevent certain individuals from sharing their…

Initiatives aiming to mobilise communities to create an enabling environment to end VAWG should engage a range of stakeholders. Communities are not homogenous groups and community mobilisation efforts should reflect this. Stakeholders from different religious backgrounds, political affiliation, ages, disability status, sexual orientation and gender identity, ethnicity etc. may be more likely to connect with different approaches to shift norms on VAWG. In addition, different groups within a community may hold different norms themselves, which may require different approaches to addressing them…

Experience from VAWG practitioners across the field demonstrates that the success of community mobilisation efforts relies heavily on the contextual relevance of those initiatives. What works in one context will not necessarily work in another, and in some cases efforts to duplicate initiatives in other contexts may result in backlash and resistance. Working in partnership with diverse local community activists, WROs and CSOs who have a strong understanding of the local context, social norms, and what is likely to work effectively in transforming these norms is key to maximising the impact of…

Activists living within communities are best placed to lead community mobilisation efforts. Unlike activists from outside of communities, community activists are likely to have a deep understanding of the context and be tapped into existing community networks. This puts them in a strong position to develop context-appropriate initiatives and to galvanise support from community members. Programmes should select teams of community activists from diverse backgrounds with diverse networks to maximise the reach of their activities. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Women’s Rights Organisations…

Community mobilisation takes time and intense programming to have an impact. The Prevention Collaborative recommends funding for a minimum of 3-5 years in order to maximise the impact of this programming. Their research found that, while some community mobilisation efforts have been effective in reducing VAWG, others with shorter timeframes and less flexibility to adapt their approach have not. The factors that influence the success of a community mobilisation initiative have not been widely documented. Therefore, long-term, flexible funding that allows programmes to adapt to their context and…

 A key element in the success of the SASA! Approach has been its carefully phased approach which is based on theories of behaviour change. It trains and supports community activists through four stages of change: pre-contemplation in Start, contemplation in Awareness, preparation for action in Support, and action and maintenance in Action, with different objectives and content that evolve for every phase. Further learnings from many years of implementing the SASA! Approach across multiple contexts has confirmed that it is important not to do too much too soon and to ensure adequate intensity…

Effective community mobilisation requires a range of strategies that work across the socio-ecological model including at individual, interpersonal, community and institutional levels – to bring about changes in the attitudes, behaviours and norms that enable violence. This included community activism, but also other strategies such as policy advocacy with governments, capacity development work with local service providers (schools, police, health, etc), and engagement with local faith traditional and community leaders and influencers.   

Women often experience violence and harassment in the workplace, in both the informal and formal economy. This ranges from women receiving lower pay than men for the same work and women’s lack of representation in decision-making, to women experiencing physical and sexual harassment and violence from managers and co-workers. Tackling VAW in the workplace requires work on the broader enabling and regulatory environment of national policies and laws, but also specific work with companies and institutions in a whole range of areas: 

Develop and implement policies on zero tolerance of…

Women’s economic position is also affected by a range of laws and policies, including labour, family, inheritance and property rights laws. For example, where laws do not permit women to hold property in their name, have an equal share of property after a divorce or inherit property, this renders them economically dependent on their male partner or other male family members. This creates a situation of inequality and makes it more difficult for women to negotiate relationships or leave an abusive relationship. There is promising evidence from low- and middle-income countries that reforming…