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Spotlight Initiative has used four key strategies in its programmes to engage men and boys in work to end VAWG:
Engage male leaders and role models in the community to challenge social norms used to justify VAWG. Spotlight Initiative programmes have worked with sports stars, male celebrities, and religious leaders to denounce VAWG, promote respectful behaviour towards women; and raise awareness of the impacts of VAWG. For example:
In Nigeria and Argentina, programmes have worked with sports stars in football to denounce VAWG and promote respectful behaviour towards women.
In Tajikistan…
CSOs and WROs are key partners of Spotlight Initiative. Priority civil society partners include WROs, feminist activists and women’s movements, as well as CSOs representing groups facing intersecting forms of discrimination. These include but are not limited to, women and girls living in rural communities, women and girls from ethnic minorities and indigenous communities, women and girls living with HIV/AIDS, LGBTQI+ persons, women and girls with disabilities, domestic and informal workers, and sex workers. Spotlight Initiative’s partnership with civil society is guided by three principles: (1…
Private sector organisations are often very adept at media and communications. Encourage and support them to engage with media and use communication tools and information technology to raise public awareness about VAWG as an unacceptable social situation and economic issue. The engagement of non-traditional actors like private sector companies can be key to change opinions, attitudes, perceptions and ideas as well as to equip community members, such as vulnerable young people including girls, women, parents, educators, and employers, with skills to take appropriate individual and collective…
Safe spaces for girls can be shared with women, and can exist online as well:
Women and Girls Safe Spaces: These spaces support women and girls to develop strategies and assertive skills to negotiate and challenge harmful practices that fuel sexual and gender-based violence. They can learn how to challenge social norms, including child marriage, and about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Read more about women and girls' safe spaces
Online safe spaces: Mobile service delivery can be designed to support a range of different age groups and topics, including girl-specific…
When engaging with national governments, think about how to influence national priorities and/or development goals so that programmes have long-term impact and sustainability. This could include collaborative solutions to share costs or mobilise resources from other sources. It can also be useful to explore options to scale up interventions by integrating them into existing government structures, for example, a school-based programme could be integrated into national education systems. There may also be opportunities to align programmes with national policies or National Action Plans.
Supporting changes in national policies and laws involves navigating complex challenges. To determine an effective advocacy strategy, it is important to begin with an assessment of these challenges and to develop possible mitigating measures. The process should also include gathering data and evidence to make the case to invest in EVAWG and identifying key contacts in government to engage with and considering how best to engage them. An advocacy strategy can include objectives and strategies on:
The adoption, strengthening and reform of laws and policies that criminalise VAWG and harmful…
Training and ongoing capacity development support can help equip policymakers and public administration employees with the knowledge and skills they need to design and implement gender equality strategies, gender-responsive budgeting, national action plans, and multi-sectoral programmes to end VAWG. Partnering with women’s rights organisations to deliver this training and capacity building can be a good approach, although a careful risk analysis is important to ensure that it is safe, appropriate and feasible to do so.
When healthy partnerships have been established with national governments, it is important to facilitate ongoing forums and spaces for dialogue on the importance and benefits of supporting women’s rights and civil society organisations, activists and human rights organisations. This needs to be done based on careful political analysis of the context and existing government - civil society relationships.
In contexts where governments are not fulfilling their duties, engaging local women’s organisations in coordination structures is important to advance local efforts and demonstrate…
Successful partnerships with national governments involve building trust and establishing open communication channels. The programme may be directly funded by the government, or the government may be a key stakeholder in coordination and/or implementation.
To build relationships and create allies, it is critical to understand the values, perspectives, and mandates of government counterparts at various levels – some may be more or less likely to address discrimination and violence against women and girls. Establishing an internal point of contact in key government agencies, with sufficient…
Before starting any VAWG programme, it is important to identify key allies and influential champions across government and political parties. In cases where there is not already strong political will to address VAWG, it may be necessary to make the moral and economic case for urgent action (see page on how to make the case to invest in ending VAWG).
While it is important to work with existing government departments tasked with addressing VAWG and gender inequalities, it can also be useful to recognise that gender ministries often have limited influence and resources. It is therefore useful…