by Ceri Hayes

[this is the second part of a blog entry addressing the ways to tackle Violence Againt Women. Part 1 is here].

Co-ordination between and the commitment of different actors in the community is extremely important if interventions to address violence against women are to succeed.

Integrated community approaches

In Ghana, the Nkyinkyim project has a strong focus on working with traditional and religious leaders - and engaging the whole community in its efforts to tackle the pervasive problems of domestic violence. Partners in the project have created COMBATS or Community-Based Action Teams to work with local leaders in rural areas -where access to legal support and formal justice systems can be very limited - in order to resolve individual cases of domestic violence and to establish locally appropriate sanctions such as public ‘naming and shaming' of perpetrators.

This approach has fostered a sense of ownership of the project amongst the whole community that has resulted in not only the incidence of violence against women decreasing, but also a reduction in other types of intra-familial violence.

Culturally appropriate responses

Cultural norms and traditions are important considerations when tailoring interventions, as are the particular circumstances of a country context, such as conflict situations and the influence of other factors such as ethnicity, class and religion, which may combine to further exacerbate violence.

In Afghanistan, strict societal codes are invoked in the name of tradition and religion to justify the denial of women's most basic human rights. The Afghan Women's Resource Centre has demonstrated that the promotion of women's rights can be a positive force for change, rather than a concept that is at odds with religion, by integrating training on the role of human rights within Islam into their work. They also meet regularly with elders and mullahs to create trust and acceptance of their work. As a result, women in the community now feel more supported - and are more likely to report incidents of violence to the shura for arbitration.

Media, campaigns and lobbying

The ‘16 Days of Activism' campaign has been instrumental in bringing the issue of violence against women to the fore - and this is just one of many examples of how activists have learnt to adopt creative strategies for the mobilisation of resources and political will to end violence against women.

Increasingly, organisations are harnessing the force of the media also to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of violence against women. For example, Rape Crisis Cape Town has developed ‘Speak Out' guidelines for journalists on factors to consider when interviewing a survivor of violence. This is already helping to counter media myths and stereotypes around rape.

Next steps

Given the scale and complex nature of violence against women, no single approach can claim to be universally applicable. Rather, as these examples illustrate, violence can only be reduced through a combination of sustained, strategic and comprehensive measures to address both the short-term requirements of individual survivors, such as access to justice, and the longer-term cultural and attitudinal changes required to challenge its acceptance.

This requires greater political will and significant increases in the resources available to respond to the pandemic. It also requires governments and activists to work together with communities to find local solutions to VAW. And crucially, it demands that everyone listens to and supports the women's organisations working so hard to tackle this problem worldwide, not only during the 16 Days of Activism, but 365 days of the year.