Civil society organisations (CSOs) are often at the forefront of efforts to end violence against women and girls, particularly feminist and women’s rights organisations, and organisations representing marginalised groups. They do important work organising and movement building, advocating for and demanding justice, and providing direct support to survivors of violence as first responders and essential service providers, including in contexts of crisis.

CSOs representing marginalised groups typically have skills and insights that help provide specialised support and expertise to ensure that the voices and perspectives of marginalised people are integrated into programmes and policies, including recovery plans and emergency policies. Meaningfully engaging a local and diverse range of CSOs throughout the project cycle, including representatives of marginalised groups, helps to systematically ensure no one is left behind.

It is important that diverse CSOs that represent and work with marginalised groups are able to access funding. Good practice in increasing accessibility of funding involves simplifying applications, monitoring and reporting processes. In addition, flexible, multi-year funds with longer timeframes enable organisations to plan long-term, build their organisational and operational capacity and scale up innovative work. This also encourages ongoing participation and trust-building with marginalised groups. In some cases, it may be appropriate to provide targeted funding opportunities for CSOs who represent marginalised groups.

Research and analysis should be undertaken with the understanding that every community includes marginalised groups, such as adolescent girls, women and girls with disabilities, women and girls with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, and women and girls from diverse ethnic and religious affiliations. Many women and girls hold multiple intersecting identities and may have compounding experiences of marginalisation and/or discrimination.

Inclusive assessments help provide a better understanding of the dynamics of violence and exclusion, as well as the specific needs of marginalised women and girls in a particular context. However, it is important that assessments are undertaken with great care to avoid inadvertently exposing survivors or marginalised individuals to further harm.

Examples of inclusive assessment tools include participatory monitoring, evaluation and reporting approaches and the Gender, Inclusion, Power & Politics Toolkit (Christian Aid & Social Development Direct, 2021). See also this SVRI blog on intersectional feminist research.

Interventions based on a one-size-fits-all approach can be ineffective and omit important contextual considerations and social dynamics. As a result, it is important to recognise and understand how intersecting inequalities affect diverse women and girls and shape their identity and power. This contextual understanding is vital to ensuring that VAWG response services and risk mitigation activities are inclusive and accessible to all women and girls and do not inadvertently expose survivors or individuals to further harm.

Taking an intersectional approach therefore requires critical examination of how vulnerabilities overlap in women and girls’ lives, and how power relations and systems create and maintain these complex patterns of intersecting vulnerabilities to violence, whilst avoiding viewing women or girls as innately vulnerable or in need of protection. Programmes may need to include specific mechanisms to include or target marginalised women and ensure they can benefit from programme activities.

Lack of data or statistical information on the experiences, needs and priorities of marginalised groups can negatively impact their involvement or visibility in programming. To avoid this, programmers should intentionally seek and listen to people’s different perspectives, ensure specific information on marginalised groups is captured, and disaggregate data in order to make well-informed decisions. This should be reinforced in data collection throughout the project cycle, from initial research conducted, through programme design phase to the indicators selected for monitoring, evaluation and learning. Ensure that the data is acted on and that social inclusion of marginalised groups does not become a tick-box exercise.

Marginalised women and girls may be harder to reach due to factors such as isolation, discrimination, or limited access to resources. Local leaders often have direct knowledge of or access to these populations and may be able to facilitate outreach efforts, ensuring that services and support reach those who need them the most. Engaging local leaders in work with marginalised communities can also support ongoing advocacy and sustainability work, which can impact policy change.

However, while local leaders can act as agents of change, they can also uphold patriarchal systems and values or hold other discriminatory attitudes against particular groups of marginalised women and girls (such as LBT individuals, refugees, and women and girls with disabilities). As a result it is important to engage them with consideration. Read more about how to engage traditional and faith leaders to end VAWG here.