Thread by @stillSHErises

The deaths of #SarahEverard #BlessingOlusegun are triggering because frankly EVERY woman is either a survivor or knows at least one woman/girl who is. But remember violence against women isn’t inevitable. PREVENTION IS POSSIBLE & there’s amazing work being done to show how.Thread

First let’s acknowledge feminists were right-violence against women exists at a pandemic scale (1 in 3) because its a primary tool for defining women and girls in patriarchy-i.e as objects not subjects, who must comply with patriarchal norms or be punished. Violence is normative.

So if we are going to end VAW we can’t just address it after the fact- though we *definately* need high quality holistic feminist response services for survivors. Prevention means redefining the premise of how we relate & structure society= changing gendered power & social norms.

Sounds like a big ask *but* that’s what feminist movements have done & continue to do. Eg: The fact that public officials are even condemning violence against women, that media is covering it and attempting to use language and that isn’t victim blaming, that there are laws etc-

The deeper work is in normative change & there’s research that shows it’s possible. In Uganda @CEDOVIPuganda & Raising Voices worked w/community activists to trial SASA!, an inspired method built around reimagining gendered power. I wrote about it here:

opendemocracy.net/en/5050/avoida…

The SASA! results were significant- physical intimate partner violence was 52% lower in communities using the SASA! approach compared to communities that weren’t and social attitudes shifted around consent & women’s right to say NO- in the space of 5 years. #PreventionIsPossible

There’s other really exciting research-shaped by feminist activists- happening around the world in particular through @WhatWorksVAWG - an initiative that’s been building up a tremendous resource of info & research on evidence-based prevention practice across the world #vaw

For an accessible guide to the principles, key studies & terms around evidence-based prevention check this Primer we created @awdf01 with Raising Voices. It’s designed for African feminists but relevant globally. #afrifem

raisingvoices.org/wp-content/upl…

Now of course intersectional analysis teaches us that other power relations matter on violence-not only gender. Prevention research & practice is exploring ways to intervene on these other axes too- ‘structural drivers’-though more thinking/action is needed.

What’s clear too in all this is how central feminist movements and activism are to ending violence. We have that valuable study by @malahtun & @SLaurelWeldon that shows how autonomous feminist movements are central to shaping progressive policy on VAW. In fact THE most central.

There’s super interesting long-term research in Nicaragua by @MaryEllsberg & her team showing the impact that feminist activism had in really challenging violent patriarchal attitudes AND decreasing intimate partner violence in community. For info see: globalwomensinstitute.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/…

Am saying all this as an African feminist who’s finding courage in knowing we have PROOF that violence can end. We must demand full investment in prevention (with holistic response) and support feminist activism to end VAW & keep programming & the broader convo political✊🏾❤️

We also need to dig into this universe of research and programming as activists & help grow it, define its terms and its future. Also consider that communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America are showing the way & their work can be drawn on to help end VAW in Europe & Nth America