Search4Dev

Search4Dev is an online library for digital documents from Dutch development organizations. This website offers quick and easy access to these documents.

The SASA! Way to preventing violence against women


Document type: article
Download file(s): 120679 (80 KB)
Abstract: There is growing recognition that to reduce violence and women’s vulnerability to HIV, the link between these two issues must be addressed. Raising Voices, a Uganda-based organization, believes that the key to preventing the twin pandemics is to address the power imbalance between women and men. The challenge lies in developing methods that convert this concept into a practical, context-appropriate response for use by community activists. The SASA! Activist Kit is Raising Voices’ response to the challenge of meaningfully, provocatively, constructively and effectively tackling the sensitive and charged issue of reframing power dynamics between women and men. In developing the SASA Activist Kit, we explored HIV and AIDS and VAW programmes to learn how others were addressing them. There were a few examples but few that fostered broad-scale social change. Experience shows that changing social norms is the key to long-term, sustainable violence prevention and that the key to changing power dynamics in relationships is about challenging unjust social norms — deconstructing the negative norms and replacing them with positive ones that promote equality and justice.
Authors: Michau, L.
Country: Uganda
Category: Practice
End Page: 10
Serial number: 3
ISSN: 1871-7551
Journal: Exchange on HIV/AIDS, sexuality and gender
Keywords: HIV and AIDS , women , violence , empowerment
Language: eng
Organization: KIT - Royal Tropical Institute
Year: 2008
Region: Africa South of Sahara , East Africa
Right: © 2008 KIT
Subject: Health and Nutrition
Start Page: 8
Title: The SASA! Way to preventing violence against women