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VAWG programmes should monitor and respond to instances of backlash. It is essential that participants who experience backlash, especially backlash that is violent or threatening and including technology-facilitated GBV, are able to access support such as safe spaces, security, referral systems and access to the resources needed to recover. Programmes should work with implementing partners to establish clear and culturally appropriate reporting mechanisms and referral mechanisms for participants who experience backlash. See the page on how to strengthen referral mechanisms.

Programmes can be more effective and reduce the risk of backlash when they are designed to be culturally sensitive and appropriate. EVAWG efforts often involve challenging local norms, beliefs and customs; however, it is important that they do so respectfully. It is important for initiatives to be led and facilitated by local people, with a strong understanding of cultural norms and traditions. This can help address the risk of EVAWG initiatives being perceived as being imposed from outside as opposed to being community-supported and led.

VAWG programmes can improve buy-in across communities by establishing local partnerships with respected institutions and opinion leaders, who are able to help reduce the risk of backlash and resistance. For example, initiatives might partner with local faith leaders, celebrities, men and boys, as well as non-traditional actors as champions of change, to encourage support for the programme. In addition, initiatives could partner with media outlets and conduct community dialogues to share positive messages around EVAWG and reduce the potential impact of false information that may be circulated. …

EVAWG efforts can generate greater support by engaging in open dialogue to hear the concerns and perspectives of those who may disagree with the programme. Listening to these perspectives is key to understanding the challenges faced, provides an opportunity to address misconceptions about ending VAWG, and helps raise awareness about the importance of doing so. Open listenings sessions and dialogues should be facilitated at all levels, including within communities, at the State level, within institutions, and among civil society actors.

These open dialogues may be most effective if…

Teams developing an EVAWG programme should conduct analysis during the design phase to identify potential risks. This analysis should identify harmful social norms and behaviours along with gender and social hierarchies that may be challenged through these efforts. Following this analysis, initiatives should work with local women’s rights organisations (WROs) and feminist organisations to develop risk minimisation and mitigation strategies. For example, to reduce the risk of individual women’s rights activists being targeted, programmes should ensure their data protection processes are robust…

Due to the limited pool of approaches with rigorous evidence they are ready to scale, donors and funders should consider developing flexible funding mechanisms, including ‘transition grants’ that can help facilitate the journey to scale. For example, if funders want to support smaller organisations to scale initiatives, it may be necessary to adapt the evidence requirements and the size and flexibility of grants.

Spotlight Initiative’s Small Grants Policy is a funding mechanism used by some UN agencies to increase their reach to national, local and grassroots organisations. These…

Learning and adaptation are essential components of effective scale efforts. Efforts to scale a programme are likely to come up against new and unexpected opportunities and constraints. Scaling efforts should document these challenges and efforts to overcome them and use this learning to adapt interventions, so they are better suited to the new context. For more information, see these pages on how to develop a monitoring and learning plan and how to capture and share learning.

Programmes pursuing scale should develop clear plans to harness opportunities, understand any constraints, and mitigate against risks. Scaling strategies should be developed in a participatory way with local actors to ensure they are informed by contextual expertise. Efforts to develop strategies should:

Map contextual opportunities and constraints. These could be linked to the policy, institutional, political or socio-cultural environment. Once identified, programmes should identify ways to build on these opportunities and adapt scaling efforts to work within the constraints.
Assess and…

Based on their learnings of scaling gender-based social norms approaches, the Community for Understanding Scaling Practices (CUSP) has recommended including at least seven key elements in a feminist approach to scale, as shown in the box and diagram here.

Source: Community for Understanding Scale Up (CUSP) Webinar An invitation to feminist scale. raisingvoices.org

When scaling EVAWG programming, it is important to ensure that the scaling process is ethical and upholds the work of existing feminist movement building that has been central to ending VAWG. The Community for Understanding Scaling Practices (CUSP) has identified six principles to underpin ethical scale for social norms programming, which are useful to consider for taking VAWG programmes to scale:

Prioritise accountability to communities: Recognise that contextual differences can lead to different outcomes, risks, and repercussions when a programme is scaled. Ensuring accountability to…