Women's Rights Organisation
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Women's Rights Organisation
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Kivulini Strategic Direction, Message from Board of Directors Kivulini Approach to Preventing Domestic Violence Violence Against Women Situation
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Kivulini mobilises communities to prevent violence against women and girls. As Heise argues, prevention holds powerful potential: “the most important shift the antiviolence groups could make to improve their effectiveness is to place greater emphasis on primary prevention”. This means changing ‘social norms and behaviours that promote violence against women’[1]. The approach has been inspired by and supported by Raising Voices. The basis of this approach lies in understanding that there are a number of different factors why a person uses violence, and that in order to prevent violence, we need to take into consideration all the different areas of influence: · Strategic engagement in policy advocacy through local, regional and national networks, forums and coalitions. · Community entry point through street leaders who are trusted and elected by the community members and are the first contact persons in any incidence of domestic violence or development gathering. · Creating space for community voices on domestic violence issues 9public debates, dialogues, advocacy, community festivals). · Engagement and training programmes for community resource persons (street leaders, religious leaders, community volunteers, media representatives, networks and forums, health services providers and law enforcers, etc.). · Community Based Prevention by using the positive approach of engaging both men and women throughout all kind of activities. Key principles of the approach Prevention: We focus on prevention rather than on service provision. The rationale for this is we believe that in order to end domestic violence we have to address the root causes, which are embedded in women’s low status in the community. Our approach raises awareness both on the causes and consequences of domestic violence and works to address violence before it happens by changing the attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women to inspire community to take action. Rights based approach to domestic violence: Like the Beijing Platform for Action states, violence against women is a violation of women’s fundamental rights and freedoms. Kivulini uses the rights based approach in our work and advocates that local and national government be accountable for preventing and responding to domestic violence. We further expand that by also encouraging non-state actors to take responsibility to promoting and protecting the rights of women. Holistic approach to communities: Kivulini does not target women for special attention; rather, we consider domestic violence to be a community problem. Thus, our approach aims at bringing communities together, namely street leaders, religious leaders, Community Action groups, women’s groups, teachers, women men and in & out of school youth led groups, to address domestic violence. Multiple strategies and multi-level: To address domestic violence successfully, we use multiple strategies: developing effective communication materials, strengthening capacity (deepening the understanding and skills of community members and professional sectors to prevent domestic violence), Media and Events (which explore ideas and values), Advocacy (to call for special attention on women’s needs and encourage positive change), Local Activism (encouraging community members to actively participate in preventing domestic violence in their community). Emphasis on a positive approach: Our approach emphasises the benefits of preventing domestic violence rather than focussing on blame. Our community leaders and volunteers are motivated by the idea of happy families that are free from violence.
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