APPROACHES TO PREVENTING WOMAN
ABUSE THAT EMPHASIZE RISK FACTORS FOR WOMEN ARE INADEQUATE IN PREVENTING WOMAN
ABUSE DUE TO:
Failure to address macro-level
influences
No reliable risk factors for women;
Viewing the victim's behavior
as problematic instead of holding the perpetrator accountable.
THE GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS OF WOMAN
ABUSE CONNECTS ALL FORMS OF MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: THE ROOT CAUSE OF
WOMAN ABUSE IS MEN'S BELIEF IN THEIR RIGHT TO CONTROL AND COERCE WOMEN, WHOM
THEY PERCEIVE AS SUBORDINATES.
TO PREVENT WOMAN ABUSE:
Societal norms that condone this
"right" to control and coerce must be transformed into norms that:
Promote safety, justice and
equality for women and girls;
Raise awareness and hold violent
men accountable for their actions;
Promote a vision where women
and men co-exist in cooperative and peaceful ways.
The status of women and girls
must be elevated at every opportunity in every context.
THIS TRANSFORMATION REQUIRES ENVISIONING
A NEW REALITY WHICH OFFERS POSITIVE BENEFITS TO ALL
SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY POSITS
THAT:
Effective transformation must
arise from within communities that "own" the prevention effort;
The energy sparked by a community
committed to transformation sparks similar efforts in other communities, eventually
creating a large-scale movement which reaches "Critical Mass" and ultimately
transforms the larger society and culture.
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION STARTS WITH
EACH OF US.
How we work is as important
as what we do; we must model the new reality.
We must be prepared to do the
inner and outer work to sustain ourselves and support each other in our social
change efforts.