Empowerment Against Violence (EAV) is a GALS-based methodology to work with women and men of all ages, within families, communities and institutions to examine and address different forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
Empowerment Against Violence tools can be part of a dedicated workshop and process or they integrate with other PALS or GALS processes to put a spotlight on GBV and develop personal and collective strategies to address it.
Participants do their own personal confidential drawings, encourage other members of their family and community to do their own personal confidential drawings. These then form the basis for discussion and negotiation on equitable ways forward.
The immediate focus is on violence in the wider family and household domestic violence. The tools can adapt to address gender-based violence in the wider community and within organisations.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is an ongoing and escalating global crisis. It takes various forms such as physical abuse, sexual assault, psychological manipulation, and economic deprivation, primarily targeting women and girls.
Domestic violence cases increased significantly with the societal and economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Extended lockdowns, increased economic stress, and social isolation caused a “shadow pandemic”, heightening existing vulnerabilities of women and girls worldwide (Dlamini, 2020).
Gender-based violence is in itself a violation of the human rights of women and girls. It is also a major obstacle to the fulfilment of all other aspects of women’s and girls’ human rights and other development goals. Moreover Gender-Based Violence also affects boys and men, perpetuating the normalisation of toxic masculinity.
what is distinctive about the gamechange approach
GAMEChange Empowerment Against Violence (EAV) methodology has a number of distinctive features:
Women are intelligent agents of development: Women are not ‘victims of subordination in need of consciousness-raising’ but intelligent actors who already have aspirations and strategies. They need collective and organisational support to better realise these.
Men are allies in change: Men are not stereotypical monsters and problems. They are potential partners in a process of change and pursuit of justice. They also need support in order to go against established attitudes and patterns of behaviour to work for a better world.
Start with the individual: The process first catalyses individual changes, giving people the skills to reflect on their personal situation. This forms the basis then for collective reflection at group and/or community levels.
Respect difference: GALS starts by clarifying differences, and acknowledging the potential for conflict. Then the tools and farcilitation support negotiation between stakeholders to reach some consensus on ‘win-win’ ways forward. Together with acceptance of the need to acknowledge and respect different interests.
Focus on action: Every learning ‘event’ focuses on tangible actions for change that are possible for individuals immediately. They should not wait for other actions identified at group and institutional levels.
Peer learning network: Every learning event contributes to building capacities and systems for ongoing peer action learning as the basis for a sustainable process of change.
GBV negatively affects perpetrators as well as victims/survivors, and also their friends and relatives.
Gender justice is non-negotiable: Gender justice and rights-based principles are non-negotiable. They underlie the way facilitation process, and the types of actions development agencies support. Although the main focus is on promoting constructive communication between women and men, the ultimate aim is removal of all forms of gender discrimination and empowerment of women and men to realise their full human potential. In some cases this requires strategic priority negotiation of conflicts of interest in favour of women’s rights.
IMPORTANT: Safeguarding participants
Violence is real. Participants may be extremely vulnerable if they publicly disclose certain types of information. It is therefore important throughout this process that:
All personal diagrams are confidential. Give people physical space to fill them in in private. If change is to happen then it is important that the reflections that these diagrams provoke are deep and honest – both for survivor victims and perpetrators. It is also important that the diagrams become ongoing reflection where understandings and perspectives should change over time.
Any workshop should not be just a one-off exercise. Group and plenary activities should be fun. Participants share only what they feel comfortable with. Facilitators need experience in dealing with issues of violence and refer people to relevant support services if serious issues or conflicts arise.
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Empowerment Against Violence GAMEChange
Empowerment Against Violence EAV) is a GALS-based methodology to work with women and men of all ages, within families, communities and institutions to examine and address different forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
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EAV5 Empowerment Against Violence Vision Journey
The Vison Journey brings all the other tools together into a strategy and plan for change that you will implement and track yourself.
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EAV 4: Empowerment Network Map
The Empowerment Network Map analyses the range of potential family, community and institutional support networks who can work together to address violence issues.
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EAV3 Family Violence Action Tree
The Violence Action Tree analyses the causes of priority types of violence, potential solutions and action commitments.
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EAV 2: Freedom from Violence Diamond
The Freedom from Violence Diamond places Gender-Based Violence within the wider context of human rights of women/girls and men/boys and what freedom from violence means for them. It then identifies different types of violence affecting women and men in families and communities and priorities for change.
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EAV ERVIN: Ukuk Bulagy, EWMI, USAID, Kyrgyzstan
Empowerment Against Violence methodology in Kyrgyzstan was adapted with Kyrgyzstan Women Judges Project as part of the Ukuk Bulagy initiative for legal professionals funded by USAID.
EAV Vision Journeys
EAV Vision Journeys are ‘live plans’ that participants track over time to assess progress and to reflect on reasons for progress or lack of it.
- Ring things achieved (milestones, actions, opportunities, challenges) in red as ripe fruits.
- Ring or cross out strategies that did not work/you no longer wish to do in blue as perished, mouldy fruits.
- Ring things that are still in process and still planned in green. You can move these from past to future. Add any new plans/opportunities also in green. Add any new challenges in blue.
Change Movement
Share the tool, and also your experiences are also shared with other people to exchange experience of which strategies work and which do not.
Periodically review all the other diagrams on both individual and collective levels to assess for progress – turning green elements red. Identify new targets and actions in green.
Track the Empowerment Support Network Map in particular, adding new people and institutions and sharing with others.
And remember to keep updating the image of the new beautiful you – free from violence yourself and without violence towards others.