How CARE is working with communities to prevent gender-based violence

Across 16 projects in 13 countries, CARE projects contributed to a 25 percentage point increase in the percentage of women and men who say that it is never justifiable for a husband to beat his wife—no matter the reason.

During this past fiscal year, 244 CARE projects and initiatives worked to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) with 12% of projects fully focusing on addressing GBV and a further 45% mainstreaming GBV prevention and response approaches into their activities.

What impacts are we seeing?

By end of FY18, CARE and partners have supported 733,492 people to reject any justification for intimate partner violence (IPV). Across 16 projects in 13 countries, CARE projects contributed to a 25 percentage point increase in the percentage of women and men who say that it is never justifiable for a husband to beat his wife—no matter the reason.

Rejection of intimate partner violence is increasing, from 31% to 56%, including:

  • In Bangladesh, SHOUHARDO II contributed to increasing the proportion of people who reject IPV by 39% (from 25.2% to 64.2%), enabling an additional 238,684 people to reject IPV and 392,910 people overall to exercise their right to a LFFV.
  • In Niger, the Programme de Promotion de L’Equite-Egalite Sociale et de la Societe Civile au Niger: PROMEESS II contributed to increasing the proportion of people who reject IPV by 7.2% (from 31.1% to 38.3), enabling an additional 36,000 people to reject.
  • In Ethiopia, the Nutrition at the Center project contributed to increasing the proportion of people who reject IPV by 30.4% (from 55.8% to 86.2%), enabling an additional 20,573 people to reject IPV.
  • In the Western Balkans, The Boys and Men as Allies in Violence Prevention and Gender Transformation contributed to increasing the proportion of men and boys who reject IPV from 5-7% in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia enabling and additional 674 people to reject IPV and 9,040 people overall to exercise their right to a LFFV.
  • In Ethiopia, Mali, and Tanzania, the Women Empowerment: Improving Resilience, Income and Food Security (WE-RISE) project contributed to increasing the proportion of people who reject IPV by an average of 13.1% (from 55.4% to 68.6%), enabling an additional 31,103 people overall to exercise their right to a LFFV.
  • In India, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mali and Pathways to Secure Livelihoods: Empowering Women in Agriculture project contributed to increasing the proportion of people who reject IPV by an average of 32.1% (from 39.1% to 71.2%), enabling an additional 47,459 people overall to exercise their right to a LFFV.
  • In Nepal, qualitative results from Phase 1 of the Tipping Point project demonstrate that girls have more and different aspirations for their futures. As one girl said, “We had no idea how to dream or think about ourselves, but since the start of Tipping Point and its activities, we have realized that we also have a say in our own lives.” Check out the recent 5 Minutes of Inspiration and evaluation.

How did we get there?

Strengthening Relationships and Solidarity Groups

Supporting girls’ and women’s self-help and men’s support groups:

  • Communities were supported to set up groups or use existing structures (VSLAs, self-help groups, producer groups) which were then used as platforms for community dialogue and action (see below) on GBV prevention.
  • The Tipping Point project organized girls' collectives where they could support each other, ask questions, and talk about all kinds of issues that preoccupy adolescent girls: menstruation, child marriage, staying in school, etc.

Projects such as Pathways and WE-RISE found that income mattered. Pathways in Mali reported that “once economically self-reliant, women see themselves as actresses for their own development”.

  • The gender tools used in the Pathways Farmer Field School and Business (FFBS) approach in India, Mali, Malawi, and Tanzania, for example, help men and women reflect on who has access to resources such as land, who makes decisions, and workload sharing.

Engaging men and boys as equal partners/family:

  • Approaches such as Engaging Male Champions as mentors and role models in Malawi, or Champions of Change with The Boys and Men as Allies in Violence Prevention and Gender Transformation in the Balkans, show wider community members that their peers are challenging predominant social norms that promote GBV in a positive way
  • The P.A.C.E project in Jordan also engaged men on topics including women’s rights and economic roles.
  • The Tipping Point project in Nepal and the Umodzi project in Malawi set up boys’ groups and hosted public-facing events in which boys and girls compete in cooking and cleaning contests.

Leadership and collective action

Helping women and girls build skills:

  • People’s knowledge of GBV, rights and relevant laws were strengthened. Projects also included a particular focus on building women’s leadership skills.

Social norms change

Community dialogues and action:

  • VSLAs, self-help groups and producer groups were used as spaces to dialogue on issues surrounding gender, social norms, and to support survivors of violence. These included Reflect circles in India, Be a Man Clubs in the Balkans, and VSLAs and Social Action and Analysis (SAA) groups in Ethiopia.

Inclusive and Accountable Institutions

Partnering with local leaders:

  • Engaging local traditional and religious leaders, as well as Government officials, brought powerful allies and created an environment people could talk about gender-based violence more openly.

Co-creating:

  • In Myanmar, CARE’s worked with the government and service providers on a Multi-Sectoral model for GBV prevention and response for Urban Women, to improve quality services and increase attention to addressing GBV. Community mobilization in all countries was an essential part of ownership of the approaches and models supported.
  • In Nepal, Tipping Point worked with parents, School Management Committees, teachers, and local leaders to spread the change beyond what girls can do by themselves.

Want to learn more?

Check out CARE’s Gender Primer for more guidance on promising practices to prevent GBV.

See evaluation reports on: SHOHARDO II; Umugore Arumvwa; Improve Access to Safe Employment for Migrant Women in Urban Myanmar. Further information on CARE’s work to tackle Gender Based Violence is available on CARE’s Insights In Practice: Ending Gender-based Violence (GBV) and CARE USA, CARE UK and CARE Australia’s websites.