Gender Based Violence

Ending Gender-Based Violence in South Sudan

Transforming Communities, Empowering Women, and Protecting the Future

Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most prevalent and persistent issues affecting 1 in 3 women and girls globally, greatly impacting the long-term health and wellbeing of violence survivors, their families, and communities. Conflict and other humanitarian emergencies in South Sudan intensify already dangerous environments for women and girls, placing them at a greater risk of many forms of violence.

GREDO is committed to ending all violence against women and girls, and in particular to ending sexual violence. This we do using an innovative and exciting approach that is aimed at preventing sexual violence against women and girls in communities affected by conflict by working with these communities to transform social norms – reshaping norms that promote sexual violence into norms that promote dignity, equality and non-violence; community care programming.

The goal of the Community Care Program is to create safer communities for women and girls through transforming harmful social norms that contribute to sexual violence into social norms that uphold women and girls’ equality, safety and dignity.

GREDO implements this program in Pibor of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), bringing together 8 community Dialogue Leaders (CDLs) – influential opinion shapers – who are trained on community care programming.

Driving Community Change in 6 Steps

1. Strengthen community-based care and support for survivors of sexual violence

This step involves building stronger multisectoral systems and services, including health, psychosocial, law enforcement and education, to ensure that survivors of sexual violence can receive compassionate and quality care and support. The CC Program addresses gaps in services, identifies barriers to access, and provides training and mentoring to service providers. It also works with them as a core group in the community to help them reflect on values, harmful beliefs and norms, examine how these influence their treatment of survivors, and explore how this treatment may influence a survivor’s willingness to come forward for help.

2. Enable reflection among core groups about human rights and sexual violence

Group discussion is at the heart of the CC Program, and the process begins by identifying influential people and groups in the community to involve in discussions and to inspire as change agents. In this step group members are guided through a process of learning and reflecting on their collective values and aspirations and assisted to connect these to universal values of dignity, fairness and justice. They are encouraged to reflect on beliefs and norms that foster sexual violence, as well as positive beliefs and norms that contribute to healthy, safe and peaceful communities.

3. Explore shared beliefs and practices

Continuing the discussion process, this step involves helping groups to explore the ways in which certain beliefs and practices contribute to sexual violence against women and girls and to adopt alternative beliefs and practices that promote non-violent, respectful relationships between men and women. One positive beliefs and practices have been chosen, the group discussion focus on identifying changes they can make to reinforce positive beliefs and practices.

4. Support collective public commitment to taking action and making changes

Successfully shifting social norms requires that community members understand the benefits of change, and collectively commit to taking action to prevent sexual violence. This step involves supporting core groups to identify advantages of promoting change, and organizing public actions that demonstrate their commitment to change. Such public commitments encourage others in the community to adopt positive beliefs and practices that prevent sexual violence against women and girls.

5. Communicate change

This step involves affirming and reinforcing among core groups that change is happening and encouraging others in the community to also adopt positive beliefs and practices. As change begins to take root, and norms and practices begin to shift, communicating this change provides important feedback and reassurance that others are changing and spreads the message to others outside the core groups that change in happening in their community

6. Build an environment that supports change

The pathway to change requires more than changing collective norms; it requires building an environment that supports change and supports community members to sustain change. This step involves advocacy for supportive laws, policies and other mechanisms that support new practices and behaviors, address violations, and further strengthen the capacity of institutions and services to provide care for survivors.