Stop the Bus! I Want to Get On

Stop the bus! I want to get on

Lessons from campaigns to end violence against women in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ghana

October 2008

MUSASA PROJECT

Stop the bus! I want to get on

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Stop the bus! I want to get on

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Lessons from campaigns to end violence against women in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ghana

October 2008

Contributors: Kathleen Dey Judith Chiyangwa Netsy Fekade Odoi Rachel Carter Kanwal Ahluwalia

Edited by: Editors 4 Change Ltd

Also available to download from www.womankind.org.uk

MUSASA PROJECT Published by WOMANKIND Worldwide © WOMANKIND Worldwide and Rape Crisis Cape Town WOMANKIND Worldwide Development House 56-64 Leonard Street London EC2A 4LT www.womankind.org.uk UK Registered Charity No. 328206

Rape Crisis Cape Town 23 Trill Road Observatory Cape Town 7925 South Africa www.rapecrisis.org.za South African Registered NPO No. 044786

Cover picture: Day 1 of the ‘Stop the Bus’ campaign to change hearts and minds about rape in Western Cape. Acknowledgments

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A number of people who have worked to pro- Acknowledgment should also go to Dr duce this document deserve our thanks and Neddy Matshalaga who undertook the initial appreciation: Kathleen Dey, Kholeka Booi, research on WOMANKIND Worldwide’s Small Meaka Biggs and Nazma Hendricks, Campaign Grants Programme, which helped us concep- Co-ordinators at the Rape Crisis Cape Town tualise this work. In addition, our thanks go to Trust; Judith Chiyangwa and all the staff at the Brita Fernandez-Schmidt and Mary Breen for Musasa Project as well as the staff at the Gen- their input on shaping the document, as well der and Human Rights Documentation Centre as Kanwal Ahluwalia and Rachel Carter who and Netsanet Fekade Odoi. Their tireless com- project managed the process and helped edit mitment to fighting for women’s rights and the document. Thanks also to Jane Lanigan gender equality as well as their enthusiasm, at Editors 4 Change Ltd for her editing work patience and willingness to share lessons from and Valerie Phipps-Smith for her design work, their violence against women campaigns has both often at breakneck speed! helped make this document what it is. Our Finally a special thanks to New Field Foun- special appreciation goes to all the women and dation Fund of Tides Foundation for their finan men in the communities who were involved cial support for this project. in the campaigns in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ghana during 2006 and 2007.

Glossary CSVR Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation CSO Civil-society organisation CHRAJ Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice CBO Community-based organisation CEDAW UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women FBO Faith-based organisation FGM Female genital mutilation GBV Gender Based Violence IDASA Institute for Democracy in South Africa M&E Monitoring and evaluation MDGs Millennium Development Goals NGOs Non-governmental organisations RCCTT Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust SAPS South African Police Service VAW Violence against women WK WOMANKIND Worldwide WASN Women and AIDS Support Network ZNFPC Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council ZWLA Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association ZWRCD Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network Foreword

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Strategies to tackle violence against women This report encapsulates the lessons from have evolved over recent years and there is three organisations working to achieve wom- now increased visibility of the problem and en’s rights in South Africa, Zimbabwe and greater knowledge and awareness of its causes Ghana in their annual campaigns to raise and consequences. However, huge challenges awareness about and contribute to a reduction remain. The scale of this global phenomenon in violence against women in its many forms. is enormous, but the level of investment in This document offers lessons and guide- suitable interventions and the political will lines to non-governmental organisations to tackle the problem remain low compared (NGOs) and community-based organisations to other human rights violations. Aside from (CBOs) to encourage community awareness the devastating impact on the lives of women, and understanding of gender-based violence, their families and communities, the pandemic as well as to help those organisations build threatens to undermine efforts to bring about campaign strategies — and monitor their im- sustainable development. pact effectively. Contents

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Introduction 1 Background 1 Framing campaigns: United Nations and African Union frameworks 2 Who this publication is for 3 u

How to set up a gender-violence campaign 5 Introduction 5 Violence against women campaigns 5 Seven steps for a successful campaign 5 u

True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa 11 Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust 11 The Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre 19 The Musasa Project 27 u

Summing up 35 u

Appendices: links and resources for campaigners 36 Appendix I: General information on contributing organisations 36 Appendix II: Legal instruments and frameworks 37 Appendix III: Useful links and documents 37

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Introduction

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Background long-term monitoring and evaluation than programmes with existing long-term partners WOMANKIND Worldwide and, therefore, discontinued this grant pro- WOMANKIND Worldwide is a leading inter- gramme in 2006. national women’s human rights and development organisation. The need to monitor and evaluate Our vision is of a world where women are VAW campaigns equal, secure, respected and proud. We work In 2005 WOMANKIND commissioned research with women’s organisations around the world to help us make progress in monitoring and to reduce violence against women, support evaluating VAW campaigns. It became clear women to play an active role in society and that we needed to create more meaningful support them to fight for their rights. relationships with grant recipients, mirroring WOMANKIND works to eliminate violence the way WOMANKIND engages with long- against women, increase women’s participa- term partners. We decided to take forward the tion in civil and political processes, and mo- following recommendations: bilise political will and resources for women’s rights and development. WOMANKIND should: Small Grants Programme to support u Take a leading role in capacity building both new and existing 16 Days of Activism Campaigns partners to monitor and disseminate learning from VAW WOMANKIND supports a number of partners strategies and campaigns to undertake various campaigns around the u Learn from organisations illustrating best practice in terms of world. In addition, under its Small Grants Pro- their monitoring processes and impact assessments gramme, WOMANKIND previously provided annual grants to grassroots women’s organisations in Africa to support their campaigns dur- The research highlighted the lack of capacity ing the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, a global and the challenges facing organisations work- initiative aimed at raising awareness and reducing on VAW in terms of their assessing both ing the prevalence of violence against women.1 the short and long-term impacts of VAW cam- Grant recipients embarked on a variety of ini- paigns. According to the Centre for the Study tiatives to raise awareness on VAW, share strat- of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) based egies, lobby governments and strengthen the in South Africa, monitoring and evaluating of solidarity of women tackling this issue. How- VAW programming ‘has remained a great chal- ever, WOMANKIND acknowledged that the lenge or gap for VAW organisations in Africa2’. nature of the Small Grants Programme, which The research highlighted the need to identify provided small, short-term grants for women’s clear VAW campaign monitoring and evalu- organisations, afforded fewer opportunities for ation (M&E) indicators, tools and systems.

1. Running every year from the International Day for 2. Matshalaga, Dr Neddy, July-August (2005) Violence the Elimination of Violence against Women (November Against Women in Africa: Initial Research on Learning 25) to International Human Rights Day (December 10), and Evaluating Campaign Strategies, unpublished. the 16 Days of Activism is timed to coincide with dates historically linked to women’s rights and empowerment.

1 stop the bus! i want to get on

It suggested that WOMANKIND could learn Framing campaigns: United Nations and collaborate with organisations that have and African Union frameworks undertaken campaigns with demonstrable re- The impact of violence against women is sults, with the aim of working with them and now well documented. It denies women their partners to collate a participatorily designed most basic human rights, such as the right to VAW campaign monitoring and evaluation health, and is a major threat to the social and manual. This then could be adapted for use by economic development of communities and organisations in Africa and beyond. whole countries. In development terms, VAW directly endangers the achievement of the Mil- Lessons from three WOMANKIND lennium Development Goals (MDGs) related partners undertaking VAW campaigns to gender equality and women’s empower- WOMANKIND reflected on how to learn more ment, poverty reduction, infant and maternal about effective campaign strategies to combat health and mortality, educational attainment VAW and how to support partners to evaluate and combating HIV and AIDS. their work on campaigning within their local Governments’ obligations to prevent and contexts. tackle violence against women are set out in a In addition, the organisation wanted to number of international human-rights instru- explore what evaluative methods are most re- ments, in particular the United Nations Con- sponsive and tailored to monitoring the impact vention on the Elimination of All Forms of of the strategies employed. Thus, WOMAN- Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and KIND approached the Rape Crisis Cape Town the United Nations Declaration on the Elimi- Trust (RCCTT), on the basis of the organisa- nation of Violence against Women. In fact, it tion’s history of undertaking highly innova- is possible to find provisions of human-rights tive and successful campaigns in relation to law that relate to violence against women in VAW, as well as its knowledge and experience all of the basic UN human-rights treaties. For of VAW campaigning. WOMANKIND invited example, the International Covenant on Civil RCCTT to extract and document key lessons and Political Rights states that ‘no one shall from its Stop the Bus Campaign, which took be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or place as part of the 16 Days of Activism Cam- degrading treatment’. paign in 2006. In addition, many governments have made WOMANKIND also wanted to reflect the commitments to tackling violence against experiences of its partners in other parts of women at international summits and confer- Africa. So we invited the Gender Studies and ences, such as the 4th UN World Conference Human Rights Documentation Centre (Gen- on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The result- der Centre) in Ghana and the Musasa Project ing Beijing Platform for Action outlines con- in Zimbabwe to learn from RCCTT’s lessons crete steps that governments must take to end whilst planning their own 16 Days of Activ- the problem of violence. ism Campaigns in 2006 and 2007. They then There are also regional instruments, such as added their experiences and learning from the Inter-American Convention on the Preven- their own campaigns to the document. tion, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Hence this resource documents the planning, against Women (the Convention of Belém do implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Pará) and, with particular reference to Africa, three VAW campaigns in three countries in Af- the Protocol to the African Charter on Human rica during 2006 and 2007. Each organisation and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in reflects on lessons learned and experiences they Africa, which defines violence as: feel can be usefully shared with other organi- ‘All acts perpetrated against women sations in Africa undertaking VAW campaigns which cause or could cause them physical, under different circumstances. These efforts to sexual, psychological and economic take the exact measure of a campaign’s success harm, including the threat to take such resulted in a useful toolkit for campaigners. acts; or to undertake the imposition of General and contact information on the Rape arbitrary restrictions on or deprivation of Crisis Cape Town Trust, the Gender Studies and fundamental freedoms in private or public Human Rights Documentation Centre and the life in peacetime and during situations of Musasa Project can be found in Appendix I. armed conflict or of war’.

2 Introduction

The Protocol covers a broad range of hu- important for organisations to be better at man-rights issues and calls for an end to all documenting the impact of work on VAW to forms of violence against women, including share lessons with other practitioners, as well unwanted or forced sex, and recognition of as to add to a body of evidence for influencing protection from sexual and verbal violence as power brokers and policymakers. inherent in the right to dignity. The Protocol Monitoring and evaluating both VAW gen- also explicitly calls for the legal prohibition erally and VAW campaigns specifically are of traditional practices such as female genital challenging undertakings in both Northern mutilation (FGM). Furthermore, the Protocol and Southern contexts. Hence this document focuses attention on the prevention of VAW is an attempt to capture successful strategies as follows: ‘State Parties should identify the and lessons from three of WOMANKIND’s causes and consequences of violence against partners in Africa in order to provide guid- women and take appropriate measures to pre- ance to other organisations hoping to more vent and eliminate such violence’. See Appen- effectively document the impact of their cam- dix II for links to useful legal frameworks and paigns work. instruments. Who is this publication for? Despite this The need to share lessons from VAW This document offers lessons and guidelines significant web campaigns to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of policy and Advocates for women’s rights have cam- and community-based organisations (CBOs) legislation already paigned hard to bring the issue of violence so that they can be more effective in raising in place to prevent against women to the world’s attention. As a awareness and understanding among com- and challenge result, a number of states have taken signifi- munities of gender-based violence – as well as VAW, ongoing, cant steps at the national level towards the help those organisations build campaign strat- systemic and eradication of such violence. However, these egies and monitor their impact effectively. serious failures in steps have focused primarily on improving Community involvement with (and hence implementation laws relating to violence against women. Far ownership of) development and campaign in- remain. For less has been done to enforce such legislation itiatives is essential to their long-term success this reason, and to tackle the underlying causes of the and is one of the main ideas promoted here. campaigning to problem – the imbalance of power between WOMANKIND is confident that community achieve stronger women and men and the way in which gen- leaders who take up the challenge to confront responses to VAW der roles are articulated in society. gender violence in their areas will learn a lot remains essential. Tackling violence against women requires from the experiences of the Rape Crisis Cape changes in values, attitudes and behavioural Town Trust, the Musasa Project and the Gen- norms, which can be difficult to quantify or der and Human Rights Documentation Centre. measure over the short term. Thus, it is vital We want to help campaign co-ordinators em- for women’s organisations to continue to raise power participants through including them in awareness at the community level, as well as the planning, co-ordination, implementation to bring pressure to bear on national govern- and monitoring of initiatives, passing on skills ments to address both the causes and conse- and helping them become confident enough quences of violence against women within to run their own successful campaigns as part the framework of human rights. It is equally of a larger strategy.

How to set up a gender-violence campaign

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Introduction u The concept While each campaign is unique, certain com- u Funding ‘[The campaign mon factors in planning and managing a cam- u Planning concept] is the paign did emerge from the experiences of the u Implementation excitement, the three campaigns. The Rape Crisis Town Trust u Monitoring passion and the explains: u Evaluation thread that binds u The way forward a campaign Violence against women campaigns together and A violence against women (VAW) campaign 1. The concept draws people into is an organised set of actions which aims to A sound campaign concept helps in the design the campaign. raise public interest and bring about posi- of the campaign logo, the emblem or badge It finds willing tive change. It focuses on the ideal of a world to be printed on banners, posters, t-shirts and volunteers and where women are safe, where there is access other campaign materials. eager sponsors to good services for victims of violence, where How do you come up with a good cam- and it ensures there is a strong legislative and policy frame- paign concept? the success of work and where women’s voices are heard. u Borrow from other campaigns. A arousing public Campaigns should be passionate: it is pas- good campaign concept doesn’t have interest’. sion that sparks ideas, that brings people to- to be original. Find out what other gether to take initiatives and to mobilise. They organisations in the field of gender aim to achieve change at several levels within violence (and elsewhere) have done the field of gender violence: the individual, successfully. families, the community, community struc- u Build from a method. There are lots of tures and in the policies and laws that govern campaign methods that the campaign societies. concept can be built upon – such as A campaign can also develop inspiring holding a march or conducting a travelling ways of working. It may involve mass gather- campaign. Each method lends itself to a ings, marching or demonstrating in creative certain kind of campaign concept, and or militant ways, or travelling long distances, will give ideas on developing a slogan and meeting people from diverse places and back- logo. grounds. It could be a postal campaign, a media u Be proactive. It seems obvious to run a campaign, it may take place through the inter- campaign in response to a public or media net or it may be an underground campaign. outcry, but most campaigns fail because they are reactive: organisers have to pull Seven steps for a successful campaign something together in a short space of It is useful to think in steps when hoping to time, with limited resources and without achieve something: the steps on a journey or the opportunity to encourage community the steps up a mountain, leading to a higher ownership. To be effective, a campaign place. However, sometimes a winding path is needs time for thorough planning and preferable to a straight path and so the steps, community collaboration. while they all follow one after the other, may u Campaign slogan. The campaign slogan also need to be flexible. The basic steps de- is an expression of purpose. It is designed scribed here are: to familiarise people with the purpose of

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the campaign in a spontaneous way so fits in with its ongoing activities. A few that it can become popular quickly. Get paragraphs are all that is needed. the local community to come up with ideas u Aims. The statement of aims should be a and words or phrases that can be adapted. short, strong declaration of the intended u Message points. Develop a slogan from course of action, the reason for taking that campaign message points – the three or action, partners and collaborators and four main points that should be included exactly who the action is aimed at. in ALL campaign materials, media u Objectives. Go into a little more detail interviews and advocacy work. The four about the course of action and the reasons points should follow on from one another behind it. Bring this together into four or and make sense as a whole. five clear, numbered points or goals. u Activities. It may be useful to set up Message points two columns: one that shows planned activities and the other showing resources u Point 1: The ask. A brief statement of what the campaign or ‘inputs’ needed to implement these wants, is protesting about or wants to change. It should be plans. Each of the campaign’s four or five positive and inspiring. objectives can be described in this way, u Point 2: The reason for the ask. Why the campaign wants so that activities correspond directly to this, the reason behind the protest or why something has to objectives and the funder can see what is change. planned and how and what the campaign u Point 3: What is at stake. What will happen if the protest isn’t heard or if the change does not take place? will need in order to carry out its planned u Point 4: Action steps. What the campaign wants the person activities. or people it is addressing to do in support of the cause. u Inputs. Provide a detailed list of resources needed, such as hiring equipment, paying people to do certain things, stationery, Try to get all four points into every inter- transport, accommodation, telephone view or pamphlet and get everyone involved calls, printing, leaflets, banners, t-shirts in the campaign to repeat them. Don’t worry and so on. The list of resources in this that you’re being repetitive – it is important. section forms the foundation of the line u Campaign logos. The campaign logo items in the proposed budget. is a pictorial version of the title or u Outcomes. Emphasise the motivation for slogan. It becomes the unique symbol the campaign by showing what the results of the campaign that is immediately of an intended course of action will be. recognisable, so it needs to be clear and u Indicators. Show how you will measure simple. The logo needs to be used in many the outcomes. This is the most convincing different ways in many different forms. part of the entire proposal because it It should be as visible and effective in a shows the funder that the campaign small format as in a large format and from organisers are going to monitor the far away as when close up. campaign’s effectiveness. u Budget. Take the list of inputs or resources 2. Funding and say how much each of them will Whatever type of donor you’re approaching, cost. Work out how much is needed of your funding proposal should be short – five each item and how many times you will to eight pages at most – just enough to hold need it. A standard practice is then to the reader’s attention and convince them the calculate that total for each line item, campaign is worth funding. put them all together in a single total u Introduction. The introduction should and then add 15 per cent of that for speak briefly and incisively about the administrative costs and 30 per cent problems of gender-based violence in the for organisational costs. Administrative country or region in question. costs include all the campaign-related u Background. Speak briefly about the phone calls, printing, faxing, the use of organisation, covering its history, its main computers, driving around on errands and initiatives, its level of support, community so on. Organisational costs include renting involvement and how the campaign office space and salaries of staff who give

6 How to set up a gender-violence campaign

their time to the campaign without being early as possible to avoid confusion and directly involved. duplication of effort. Make sure the team u Stakeholders. Funders are interested gets feedback regularly on the progress of in collaborators, partners and other the planning committee and vice versa. networking contacts because this tells u Setting indicators. Planning provides them about the organisation’s level of another opportunity to set clear indicators support, its impact and sustainability over for the campaign’s success, combining time, how influential the group is and both quantitative and qualitative factors. how it links to other funders. If there is Set up monitoring mechanisms in more than one funder in the project, this advance and put in place tools to measure also needs to be specified. effectiveness. u Final motivation. Give the funder a u Problem solving. Anticipate logistical reason to fund by saying why it wants to problems and have possible solutions in be involved and lend its name to such a place. venture. Ask it to partner the organisation u Networking. Use networking as a primary and suggest why this would be an strategy for all phases of the campaign. advantage. Use this part of the proposal Whether it is a network of suppliers of to ask the funder to begin or to develop equipment or materials, a network of a particular kind of relationship with the key stakeholders or a network inside the organisation and the campaign. organisation itself, networking is essential. u Accompany the funding proposal with Maintaining the relationship once a covering letter signed by either the established is also crucial. director of the organisation, the fundraiser u The planned programme. Prepare the or the campaign co-ordinator – whoever programme of events as thoroughly as the funder is going to be liaising directly possible, but at the same time keep it with (the contact person). No longer than flexible. a page, this letter thanks the funder for u Last minute. There will be a lot of considering the proposal, outlines what its last-minute issues and activities, so be contents are and perhaps expresses a hope prepared. for a positive outcome. Things seldom turn out exactly as planned. 3. Planning This is, in fact, often desirable, as things go- Usually, the planning of a campaign is the ing ‘wrong’ often leads to spontaneous, crea- most time consuming and difficult part of the tive and unexpectedly good things happening process. Be patient and thorough and be aware instead. that planning often continues after implementation, evaluation and into the next cam- 4. Implementation paign. Factors to consider during the planning Factors to consider during implementation phase include: include: u The organising committee. Think u Obstacles. Once the campaign begins, about all the groups of people who will adapting to real circumstances is crucial. be involved in the campaign and have Overcome any obstacles immediately, as them represented in some way on the a team, and always keep the campaign organising committee. Do not let the goals in mind. Be resilient when things committee get too big. Once established, go wrong: it is not just the problem, but it is important to trust the team members how it is handled that makes or breaks a to do their jobs. Decide on a system of situation. regular communication and maintain that u Team leadership. Team dynamics and system well. Develop a detailed planning leadership styles are important. Creating schedule of meetings and other activities clearly-defined roles and responsibilities so that everyone knows in advance how to is a good start. A team also needs the commit and manage their time. opportunity to get to know one another u The broader team. Define the team roles before they start working together, and responsibilities as clearly and as so build this into the planning or

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implementation phases to minimise on which to reflect to plan things differently friction between team members. next time. u Briefing. ‘Briefing’ is a space where plans can be outlined and logistical information 5. Monitoring shared and checked before the start, so Monitoring is the reflecting aspect of imple- that everyone knows what to do and has mentation (and even planning); it allows clear objectives. It is also a place where learning, adaptation to circumstances and team dynamics can be spelled out and provides opportunities to plan differently resolved. One of the most empowering next time. Factors to consider during moni- things for women campaigners is toring include: personal growth, and any gender-violence u Ongoing indicators. Put monitoring tools campaign should provide plenty of and mechanisms in place right at the opportunities for this. beginning of the planning process. To find u Debriefing. In ‘debriefing’ the group meaningful indicators, set them at various reviews its actions and evaluates stages of the campaign, letting each set of them. Although it is good to do this indictors guide the next phase. at the beginning and the end of the u Monitoring methods. Use tried and implementation phase, it is also worthwhile tested or familiar monitoring methods, at intervals during the campaign. but don’t rely only on them. Look out for u Mutual and self-care. The work of a new methods as the campaign progresses, campaign can be taxing. In some countries trying to include both quantitative and it can be dangerous. Work out safety qualitative aspects of the campaign. ‘The things we measures and apply these strictly. If arrests have to learn are a risk, put legal resources in place and Include monitoring in every area of the cam- before we can do inform people of the risks. Day-to-day paign, with some being within the organisa- them, we learn stresses can be demanding on another tion’s control (evaluation forms) while others by doing them’. level. Conscious methods of self-care need are not (requests for media interviews). This Aristotle to be factored in. prevents the organisation from becoming trapped into only monitoring the campaign The implementation phase would not be through its own perceptions. Include financial meaningful if it was not a learning experi- monitoring tools, with a strict record of ex- ence. Implementation provides the substance penses and proof of expenditure. This aspect

A Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust ‘Stop the Bus’ campaigner addresses young people who have come together to find out more about the campaign – and to sing. When monitoring the success of such an event try and include both quantitative and qualitative measures.

8 How to set up a gender-violence campaign

Good newspaper coverage for ‘Stop the Bus’: the media is the number one method for communicating a message and for publicising issues that a workshop, a meeting or a pamphlet drop can only reinforce. Being able to get media coverage is also an invaluable indicator of campaign effectiveness. of monitoring is particularly important for players. Then collate all the information funders and sponsors. gathered and analyse this data against the set indicators. 6. Evaluation The basis of an evaluation may be as simple And what of the effectiveness of the monitor- as asking how something went: what worked ing tools and the mechanisms themselves? Di- well and what could have been done better and rect observation and personal reports can be how. Begin with team debriefings. Construc- useful, but people can also be very different tive criticism is useful, provided those making and have widely varying views. Documenta- critical comments are also able to acknowledge tion can get lost along the way. Photographs the things that have gone well. Complaints, and blogs can be the liveliest form of monitor- concerns and resentments should be explored, ing, but they don’t offer a critical perspective. because these are the things to change. The evaluation process is about creating an envi- 7. The way forward ronment and relationships between role play- The campaign is over. Goals have been met ers that allow for an open account. Factors to and objectives achieved, but seldom in the consider include: way originally envisaged. As a result, much has u Methods and techniques. A focus of been learned and the organisation will want all gender-violence campaigns should do things differently next time. The cam- be acceptance, nurturing and self- paigners want there to be a next time and feel development for the people implementing excited about it. the campaign. Groups feel safest when Alternatively, the goals may not have been they know each other well, so divide large achieved and the campaigners feel disap- groups into smaller ones and carry out pointed and demotivated; or they realise the exercises that help group members get to objectives were unrealistic in the first place. know each other. However, a so-called ‘failed’ campaign is a u External measures. Hold conversations very good basis from which to plan the next about the campaign with external role one – provided the monitoring methods were

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‘Without our stakeholders at local level, we would not have achieved anything. Much of the success of this campaign is due to the women who worked to organise participants, venues, catering and transport to make sure our workshops were well attended and found fertile ground for the seed they planted. Hoping to be there for harvest-time next year!’

‘A truly collaborative approach to campaigns doesn’t ask, “Did we do enough for our sound enough to inform the evaluation of ple get involved in a campaign because they community?” It what went wrong and why. feel they own it. Go back to the people who asks, “Did we Most campaigns are a combination of fail- complained the most about the campaign and do enough with ure and success, with enough accomplished to get their ideas about how they think things our community?” keep up enthusiasm – and enough mistakes could have gone better. Collaboration doesn’t to create the determination to do better next just happen; it takes times for working rela- time. tionships to develop. Start the next campaign by analysing how Campaigns – and gender-based campaigns involved the local or target community were in in particular – are not only about bringing the previous campaign. Then analyse how to about change. They are also about building get them even more involved next time. Peo- capacity.

10 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

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The following case studies come direct from rape in communities, while at the same time three WOMANKIND partners: the Rape Crisis developing the skills and abilities of the vol- Cape Town Trust, Gender and Human Rights unteers and community members involved in Documentation Centre and the Musasa Project. organising the campaign itself. In 2006, dur- All three organisations ran campaigns during ing the ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender the 16 Days of Activism to end Gender Based Violence’, RCCTT planned the ‘Stop the Bus Violence in 2006 and 2007. Campaign’.

The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust ’Stop the Bus’: background Established in 1976, the Rape Crisis Cape Town In South Africa in 2006 rape was still legally Trust is one of the most experienced organisa- defined as ‘the unlawful and intentional sexu- tions working within the sphere of violence al intercourse with a female without her con- against women in South Africa. Member activ- sent’. Even within this limited definition, the ists address the challenges of improving access South African Police Service receive 144 re- to psychosocial care, treatment and justice for ports of rape each day in the country3. Myths rape survivors. These initiatives include: and stereotypes still dominate views on rape ‘144 incidents of u successful lobbying for a change in the in South Africa, and the police and other key rape are reported country’s sexual offences legislation; role players in the criminal justice system of- every day in South u setting up specialised sexual offences ten treat reports of rape with scepticism. As a Africa’ courts; result, RCCTT believes many rape survivors do u setting up victim-support centres at police not report what has happened because of fear stations; of disbelief, the stigma suffered by rape victims u creating dedicated medical facilities as part and fear of intimidation by perpetrator(s). This of a service for rape survivors; leaves a large number of survivors with no ac- u providing counselling and support services cess to justice or future safety. to survivors and their partners, family and friends; Stop the Bus: campaign proposal u awareness interventions in schools and The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust, in collabora- communities; tion with WOMANKIND Worldwide, the West- u the continuous empowerment of women ern Cape Network on Violence Against Women, from surrounding local communities the Gender Advocacy Project and Women on through the RCCTT volunteer programme; Farms proposed to conduct an annual cam- and paign, beginning in 2006, with the aim of estab- u networking with other organisations lishing and maintaining stronger relationships in the field locally, nationally and with rural communities in the Western Cape. internationally to share information, pool The concept for the campaign was to follow resources and co-ordinate activities. the example of a previous campaign co-ordinated by the Centre for the Study of Violence RCCTT has also developed a number of small- and Reconciliation (CSVR) and to take a bus er projects to meet the needs of communi- load of volunteer trainers, community activ- ties and survivors. One of these is an annual campaign aimed at raising awareness about 3. Institute of Race Relations, 2003.

11 stop the bus! i want to get on

ists and counsellors on a tour of the rural areas u Travel out to rural areas in the Western of the Western Cape offering workshops, net- Cape where communities had been working meetings, training and counselling on identified as already dealing with issues relating to violence against women. The problems relating to rape and violence proposed theme for 2006 was The Sexual Of- against women fences Bill and the rights of survivors of sexual u Raise awareness, offer information, violence. A further important aim of 2006’s education and consultation to the campaign was to produce guidelines for part- communities that had been identified ner organisations throughout Africa on plan- u Gather information so RCCTT could ning and implementing successful campaigns. compile a needs assessment for future campaigns Campaign objectives u Create opportunities for volunteers and RCCTT wanted to implement a project in community members to develop skills those rural areas which lack access to resourc- through involvement in planning and es – and where debate around issues pertain- implementing the campaign ing to violence against women is less common u Develop a handbook of guidelines for than in urban and peri-urban areas. Rural running a successful campaign through women need good information, support and a documenting the process from start to voice in lobbying and campaigns. In this first finish campaign, RCCTT and its partners intended to focus on towns that had some NGO pres- Planning the campaign ence and definite links with the Western Cape The actual planning time for the campaign was Network on Violence Against Women4; but short – six weeks plus the two months spent they also hoped to gather information about sending out proposals and raising funds. This towns in more remote areas where they could is not a lot of time, so RCCTT formed an or- focus in the future. ganising committee, scheduled regular weekly The campaigners felt that an important ele- meetings and blocked off time to devote to ‘Something we ment of the tour was to give the volunteers an campaign tasks. found absolutely opportunity for development through prac- The committee consisted of two counsel- crucial was an tising their skills in different contexts, seeing ling co-ordinators, an advocacy co-ordinator, implicit confidence other parts of the country, learning about its a training and development co-ordinator and in ourselves and history, interacting with people from diverse two social work students from Denmark. The one another, backgrounds and getting in touch with na- director also facilitated a meeting with the trusting that ture. The organisers realised that it might also campaign partners. The organising commit- we would all do be quite stressful and disorientating for the tee produced a detailed planning schedule, what was needed volunteers (some of whom had never trav- including dates of meetings, activities and an and anything we elled beyond Cape Town), so a co-ordinator ongoing task list to be referred to at the begin- had forgotten or was employed to offer supervision and sup- ning and end of meetings. There was a stand- neglected would port on the bus and a day for personal growth ing agenda covering accommodation, venues, be automatically activities was factored in to restore the team’s networking, finance, publicity, resources, vol- picked up by energies. unteers, the programme and evaluation. someone else. As a One of the main products of the campaign To maintain good ongoing communication result our working was to be a description of how it was planned, outside of meetings, the campaigners stayed relationship co-ordinated, implemented, monitored and in touch with one another via e-mail and tel- was perfect – a evaluated, with recommendations for future ephone, and spoke to one another when they pleasure’. campaigns. met at other meetings. Keeping all this in mind, the organising The first step in the planning process was committee came up with these objectives: mapping out the logistics. The organising committee planned the two routes, and the 4. The Western Cape Network on Violence Against students took responsibility for arranging the Women is a Cape Town-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), with extensive contacts to NGOs accommodation. The committee decided on and CBOs that work in the field of gender-based violence what resources would be needed in terms of in small towns throughout the province. It has over 300 member organisations and offers networking forums or leaflets, pamphlets, banners and t-shirts – and focus groups and training and development services. developed, designed, wrote and ordered them

12 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

Day 1 of the ‘Stop the Bus’ campaign to change hearts and minds about rape in Western Cape. in good time. They compared quotes from bus in place, the teams and organisers developed companies and contracted the best one. a detailed daily schedule showing a timetable The committee divided everyone into two of events for each day including venues, con- teams to go on the bus, and outlined their tacts, payments, meals, briefings and debrief- broad roles and responsibilities. They also ings, accommodation and responsibilities. A ‘We found the contracted a professional facilitator to take the week before the first team left, the organising social workers, teams on a journey of ‘personal growth’ in the committee held a briefing for both teams. An volunteers, middle of each week. individual file designed to match each role was community The biggest challenge was establishing net- prepared for each person to take on the bus. workers and works in the rural areas to be visited, given police officers that RCCTT had no rural contacts at the time. Implementation we were referred The group used its partners, chosen for their Everyone was up very early on the day of de- to unfailingly rural connections, and government contacts, parture and the entire campaign group was welcoming and to find people in the small rural towns. there to give the first team a good send-off. generous with Once the campaigners had some initial con- An hour later, the team called to say there their time, energy tacts, they prepared and circulated an advance were only three people at the workshop in and resources.’ notice containing a programme outline. The Atlantis, the first stop! Undeterred, the team contacts then circulated this to others in the dis- went around recruiting participants and man- trict until someone agreed to take responsibility aged to get 15 people. This turned out to be a for making concrete arrangements including a very successful workshop, but then the place venue, catering and transport for participants to each meeting, workshop or pamphlet drop. Key lessons The programme was designed to be flexible. The team members decided on five ba- u It is difficult to plan from a distance for a community you sic workshop outlines. The volunteers then know nothing about and where you have no existing networks worked to draft more detailed outlines, which u There may be political issues that divide communities: if the organising committee converted into a you choose an organiser from a certain camp, that may uniform (and hence interchangeable) format. automatically exclude everyone from another camp u Some rural communities are suspicious of urban organisations. Once selected, team members began at- People know the trend in funding for rural projects and have tending meetings immediately. They each become cynical of urban organisations that tell people in small spoke about the role they imagined for them- towns what a bad job they are doing, what to do to make it selves and the formalised roles were developed better and then depart leaving little of value behind from these. As soon as the detailed plans were

13 stop the bus! i want to get on

they had been given for the pamphlet drop nator for the first week was calm and gave the was deserted. Further challenges included a group a lot of autonomy. She allowed them to flat tyre that no one knew how to change… grapple with group decisions themselves, but The team had daily briefings each morning, at the same time made sure they respected her where they looked at the plans and allocated authority. tasks for the day; and an evening debriefing There was a fair amount of conflict within where they spoke about how the day had the first group because, initially, the volunteers in the team were not able to ‘own’ the Key lessons planning stage (only one had been on the organising committee). The second problem u Briefings may turn out to be the arose because the volunteers felt the organ- crucible for problem solving and ising committee had not been sufficiently venting frustration transparent about why they planned things, u The campaign group has to become particularly budget allocations, in a certain resilient: to bounce back from any ‘Getting to know way. Thirdly, some members of the group felt difficulties in order to keep going and the communities they had not been adequately briefed and remain calm and cheerful we visited by were not clear about their exact roles and res listening to what ponsibilities. they had to say gone and dealt with any unfinished business rather than telling or problems. Key lessons them what we As the week progressed, the team found know worked very that each day carried its own set of difficulties u During the planning phase, include well.’ and they had to rise to each occasion to over- volunteers right from the beginning u come them. In spite of this, the team complet- Be absolutely transparent with volunteers (and others on the team) by ed every task and managed to have some very giving them all a copy of the budget enjoyable times – especially in the workshops and the plans, setting selection criteria Appearing on local themselves and when meeting people along together – and planning the activities radio gives a huge the bus route. boost to the number on the bus together of people listening Team dynamics and leadership styles for u Clarify roles and responsibilities way to your campaign the two teams were very different. The co-ordi- ahead of the start of the campaign messages.

When the group returned, a thorough debriefing was held. It demonstrated just how challenging such intensive work – together with the stresses of being together all the time with very little time to be alone – is going to be. Both teams found this a helpful way of debriefing from the campaign activities. The second team departed a week later. The group also experienced challenges: there was a minor accident on the bus, team members were plagued by the heat, mosquitoes and other pests in the evenings – and then they even lost their way. The second team’s leader was proactive and energetic and did not leave many deci- Key lessons sions to the group. She played an active role in problem-solving and took part in many of u The co-ordinator is in a unique place to observe the different the group’s activities. She had been a mem- dynamics of the organisation u If the campaign involves travel, the staff co-ordinator must ber of the organising committee, so she was be called regularly and have an opportunity to debrief with a able to tell the group why things were done colleague who is not with her on the trip in a certain way. There was very little conflict within the team. Nonetheless, the debriefing

14 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

‘Stop the Bus’ on the road: the team displayed the campaign banner at every stop to make sure people would come to ask questions and air their views.

The logistics of the trip were also an impor- Key lessons tant factor. The fact that the bus and accom- u Finding ways of conserving the modation were comfortable, the scenery was campaign team’s energy and supporting spectacular, and that they were given such a them emotionally is an important part warm welcome by the different communities of planning they visited really made the campaign an enjoyable experience. Overall, the Stop the Bus Campaign’s implementation was judged to be revealed that the second team was equally a success and everyone involved came away stressed by the travel, workload and being far with a great sense of achievement and satis- from home. faction. Both teams said that the day in the nature For the full story of the campaign, together reserve with a trained tour guide and personal with more photographs, go to the Stop the growth facilitator had had a profound impact. Bus Campaign blog on the RCCTT homepage at www.rapecrisis.org.za ‘Stories of birds that mate for life and bulbs that bloom only every 20 years; of the folk Monitoring legends of the region and the meanings of The organising committee decided to set indi- the names of things – these had everyone cators at various stages of the campaign, letting talking and excited and relating nature each set act as a guide towards the next phase. to their own lives. The teams also found So the funding-proposal indicators were used nature a source of challenge and they found during the planning phase, and in the final their courage through facing that challenge.’ briefing the committee asked the teams to set

Volunteers explored the ways nature enhances lives and helps them let go of stress.

15 stop the bus! i want to get on

their own indicators and outcomes just prior each workshop. In addition to people turning to implementation. up and facilitators being able to run through For example, the committee had antici- the programme in full, the teams came up pated that the teams would be able to have with the following indicators for a successful four workshops each week and set this as a workshop: campaign indicator. At the end of the plan- u a high level of interest; ning phase, when these workshops had been u active participation from all role players; arranged, the committee asked the teams to u enthusiastic questioning; set further indicators to monitor the impact of u positive feedback; u a sense that participant expectations had been met; and Stop the Bus: final campaign indicators u an expressed desire from participants for further workshops. u New relationships with stakeholders built u Clear idea of the needs of rural communities These then became the workshop indicators, u Opportunities and ideas for next year’s campaign set by the workshop facilitators. The organis- u Independent networks formed ing committee went on to do the same for all u Calls for follow-up workshops the individual campaign activities. u Lots of messages of support Once the indicators were in place, the com- u Positive feedback for workshops, meetings, events and pamphlet drops mittee had to monitor progress towards these u Ten volunteers and two to four staff members meet the goals. From the beginning the campaign had criteria for selection as bus crew broad monitoring tools and mechanisms in u Volunteers learn new skills and improve existing skills place but, as the campaign progressed, more u Volunteers feel supported were added. The basic tools were written eval- u Daily schedule well co-ordinated uation forms and needs-assessment question- u Volunteers experience exposure to nature positively naires. u Volunteers describe ways in which they grew personally But, with the rural communities being vis- as a result of the trip ited having low literacy rates, the organisers u Interesting and eye-catching website had to put verbal means of gaining feedback u Good teamwork in the face of challenges in place as well. Each workshop had a verbal u Group able to adopt a freeform approach if events exercise at the start, asking for the group’s ex- don’t go as planned u Positive feedback on counselling sessions pectations, and at the end, asking whether or u Media attention not their expectations had been met and what u Useful guidelines for future campaigns they would remember about the workshop in future. The teams asked for suggestions and recommendations at every opportunity.

In peri-urban areas people are in just as much need of awareness raising and inspiring – even though they may have slightly greater access to services and resources than their rural counterparts.

16 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

Pamphlet drops were ‘Stop the Bus’s’ ideal opportunity to talk to the ‘man on the street.’ The teams also put together packs that were delivered to local service providers, particularly clinics and local police station Victim Support Rooms

‘How do you measure a sense of accomplishment? It was there in the excitement in the room, the ease with which people spoke, their enthusiasm and their honesty’.

Key lessons Stop the Bus: full list of monitoring tools u Every person involved in the campaign and mechanisms is a monitoring ‘tool’ u Daily blog u Attendance registers u Needs-assessment forms and report There were a set number of pamphlets to u Evaluation forms and report distribute: whether or not the teams did so u Observers’ notes was a clear indicator. u Debriefing reports Every person on the campaign was, in a u Final evaluation report way, a ’monitoring tool’ and ‘mechanism’. u Messages of support – website and pamphlet drops The briefings and debriefings, the personal u Follow-up calls – one month, three months, six months accounts of everyone when they came home, u Report on monitoring and evaluating the impact of the formal evaluation workshop by the teams, campaigns the organising committee and the external fa- u Cash book, receipt book and complete file of invoices cilitator, the daily blog, the photographs, the evaluation and needs assessment forms, the messages of support, the media interviews – all these tools and mechanisms were clear Key lessons measures of the campaign’s effectiveness. u If a campaign involves travel, the team needs to establish itself, Evaluation even if briefly, in a particular area before going in and doing The simple act of asking how something went, the work: this gives it more of a presence in the area and is what worked well, and what could have been less exhausting for the team members u better (and how) was the basis of Rape Crisis The team will also need to build a particular kind of relationship with local organisers, being clear about what the Cape Town Trust’s evaluation of the ‘Stop the partnership entails Bus’ Campaign. It began with the two team debriefings and the myriad individual conver-

17 stop the bus! i want to get on

sations between people on their return. These Similar conversations were held about the ‘Rape Crisis’ debriefings didn’t look at the objective results content of the workshops, the pamphlet drops, message is for too closely, they simply offered the groups a the website, the media interviews, the resourc- the communities chance to let go of the emotions of their ex- es, the logistical arrangements, the network- where rape periences. ing, the budget, the timing, the planning, the happens and Two weeks after the second bus returned, roles and responsibilities, the personal growth where people the organising committee and teams all came process and the leadership on the campaign. feel the most together as a group and spoke about the en- The group was unanimous about doing the disempowered tire campaign and its impact. This evaluation campaign again in 2007, and most of the team and distanced workshop was the first time everyone sat down members wanted to be involved again. The from services. to speak about the success of the campaign. group’s sense of achievement was hard-won Local stakeholders The teams were critical of the campaign, of and well-deserved. But it was their complaints, are needed to help the organising committee and of the planning concerns and resentments that the organisers organise activities process itself, while still being able to acknowl- were most keen to explore, because these were in venues closer to edge the things that had gone well. This infor- the things to change. the heart of the mation taught RCCTT a great deal about how In terms of the effectiveness of the moni- communities.’ to do things differently next time. For exam- toring tools and the mechanisms themselves, ple, when the group analysed the route the bus direct observation and personal reports were useful, as was a thorough review of all the written reports. Attendance registers were well Key lessons kept, so RCCTT has excellent contacts for its u Arrange the date, time and venue for next campaign. Evaluation forms, needs-as- an event and then send out your own sessment forms and messages of support con- invitations tained much in the way of feedback and ideas. u Consider travelling door-to-door in Minutes of meetings and workshops also gave areas where people don’t have access a good idea of the verbal expectations and to information feedback of participants. u Develop some understanding of the The blog was the liveliest and most crea- local politics; you can then be strategic in the way you interact, using a tive form of monitoring, together with more particular tone than 600 photographs. While these sources do u When dealing with provincial- not offer a critical perspective, they do allow government stakeholders, ask people to watch the campaign from afar and provincial counterparts to tell their offer their support. And a picture paints 1000 local district offices to participate in the words. campaign Quite a lot of documentation was lost. The constant packing and repacking of the bus every day, with no filing system in place for followed, they said the bus should have visited storing papers, probably contributed to these fewer places and spent more time in each. problems. In some instances there were few participants because the town was divided into po- The way forward litical factions. The mayor, ward councillors, The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust felt the re- police and social workers from the Depart- sponse to the campaign was sufficiently posi- ment of Social Development did not know tive to develop a plan to do another in 2007, about the event. RCCTT also discovered that and to begin to develop this as an ongoing ‘We had so much it could have worked in a different way with annual campaign. To this end, the group has fun and it was government stakeholders. built the campaign into its strategic plans to so rewarding Most of the groups involved wanted the 2010. The organisers have been further en- that we definitely ‘Stop the Bus’ campaign to return and offer couraged by spontaneous funder interest in want to continue more workshops. The teams made recommen- the campaign. The stakeholder response was ‘Stopping the Bus’ dations about how next year’s campaign could undoubtedly there and calls have been com- to end violence use these participants to get to know the coming in steadily from most of the areas visited, against women!’ munities better, thus reaching the target group asking Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust to run more effectively. workshops or engage in shared activities.

18 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

These 2006 ‘Stop the Bus’ campaigners found that networking with community service providers was essential. The number of requests for follow- up workshops, the interest in continuing the campaign in 2007 – and the commitment to establishing local forums – was the most exciting legacy of the trip.

As we go to press, RCCTT is well on the 2007’s evaluations, it will be contacting all ex- way to launching its 2008 campaign: it is de- isting and new stakeholders, will be fundrais- veloping a full set of recommendations for its ing more intensively and is holding meetings organising committee based on 2006’s and well in advance. u u u

The Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre

Background The women of the communities appreci- Over the last 10 years, activism to challenge ated Gender Centre’s intervention to educate obstacles to the elimination of violence against them about their rights and committed them- women (VAW) has increased significantly in selves to fight violence in their communities. Ghana. However, despite widespread action, While the men were receptive and actively there are some communities where awareness- participated in the discussion, some expressed raising on the issue has failed to take place. fear that the outside intervention would give This is particularly the case for rural commu- too much power to women. The chiefs, opin- nities where information is not easily acces- ion leaders and the state agencies all wel- sible. Taking this – as well as the importance comed the intervention. The campaign has of raising public awareness to end VAW – into created a favourable environment for change consideration, the Gender Studies and Human in the long term. By collaborating with the Rights Documentation Centre (Gender Cen- media, the Gender Centre has spread the issue tre) decided to implement the 2007 ‘16 Days nationwide, reinforcing public discussion on of Activism’ campaign in rural communities. violence against women and Ghana’s newly- The aim was to break the silence around VAW enacted Domestic Violence Act. in communities where no public awareness- raising activity on the issue had been carried The Gender Centre out – and to establish relationships for similar Since its establishment in 1996, the Gender work in the future. Centre has been working to address violence The first part of this section takes you against women in Ghana from a number of through the processes involved in planning different angles. It has researched, advocat- and implementing Gender Centre’s campaign. ed, trained, and developed and documented It also shows the different tools and method- materials on VAW. Some of the projects under- ologies used to monitor and evaluate the im- taken include: pact and effectiveness of the campaign – and u Conducting the first nationwide survey highlights lessons learned for the future. The on VAW. The research gave an in-depth campaign introduced VAW as a rights issue and understanding of VAW by studying the provided a platform to discuss the issue pub- causes, consequences and the mechanisms licly for the first time in these communities. that perpetuate VAW in Ghana.

19 stop the bus! i want to get on

Gender Centre’s bus, decorated with posters calling for a stop to violence against women, took the campaign team to where the need was greatest, in the rural communities. One of the team interviews a policeman about the issues surrounding the campaign.

u The Nkyinkyim5 project, which came out awareness on VAW. The team believed that us- of this research. This project tackled VAW ing a bus decorated with a banner and posters by: training and building the capacity of carrying messages to stop VAW, and handing partner organisations, civil society and out leaflets and talking to people about VAW state agencies; establishing community- along the way would raise public awareness based anti-violence response and and attract public and media attention in an prevention programmes; and advocacy exciting and effective manner. The bus was to highlighting the issue of VAW. take the team, journalists and resource people u The Safe Schools Project, which to conduct awareness-raising seminars for the addresses gender-based violence in two rural communities selected. It was to stop schools. This project, which operates at different towns along the route, so that the in 20 communities, trains teachers and team would be able to distribute leaflets and service providers to give student-friendly talk to people about VAW. counselling support for victims of gender- The team came up with an innovative based violence in schools. campaign logo, which featured a Ghana police officer with his hand stretched out signal- As part of its objective to educate and advocate ling for VAW to stop. The police officer was on VAW issues, the Gender Centre also carries used as a symbol for the law. Under the logo out various activities during the 16 Days of the campaign slogan – ‘Stop Violence Against Activism Against Gender Violence. Women, Break the Silence’ – was printed on campaign t-shirts and banners. ‘Stop Violence Against Women, Break the Silence’: campaign concept Campaign objectives After reading the RCCTT’s ‘Stop the Bus’ cam- In rural communities where there have been paign report, the Gender Centre’s campaign no public-awareness projects on the issue, team decided to borrow the concept of trav- people’s understanding of violence against elling to rural communities on a bus to raise women is shaped by culture. In many communities, culture perpetuates VAW by dic- tating men’s superiority over women. It also 5. Nkyinkyim is a West African Adinkra symbol dating back to the 17th century Adinkra of a twisted shape relegates VAW as a ‘family’ issue that should which represents initiative, dynamism and versatility be kept private or dealt with by traditional

20 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa conflict resolution systems, which often work was also given a list of NGOs registered in the to the detriment of women. Breaking the silence district. and education are the initial steps to mobilise The plan was to work with local NGOs to community support for social change. With organise the seminars and establish new rela- this in mind, the Gender Centre set the follow- tionships. However, the Gender Centre dis- ing objectives for its 2007 ‘16 Days of Activism’ covered that none of the NGOs on the list was campaign: (see box). visibly operating on the ground apart from World Vision, which does not work on VAW Planning the campaign issues. The only alternative was to work with The organising team the district gender desk and CHRAJ officers. The time for planning and organising the cam- The two officers, both women, were keen to paign was very short – just two weeks. This had work on the campaign and helped the Gender a big bearing on deciding what to do and how to do it. The only advantage was that the Gen- Gender Centre’s ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign 2007: objectives der Centre had already secured a grant for this exercise from WOMANKIND Worldwide. All u To identify three communities that have not benefited from Gender Centre staff, an intern – plus a consult- VAW sensitisation programmes ant – had to be engaged to make effective use u To collaborate with the state agencies and district assembly of the time. They all participated throughout representatives of the selected communities to organise the planning and implementing process. participatory awareness-raising seminars u To educate and sensitise stakeholders (communities, state agencies, community leaders) on VAW and the recently Monitoring progress enacted Domestic Violence Act of Ghana (DV Act) Five planning meetings were held in the u To initiate public debate on VAW, especially on domestic preparation period. At the first two meetings violence in these communities, by engaging men and participants chose the campaign concept, de- community leaders in the sensitisation programme cided on activities, defined roles and respon- u To spread information to the general public by distributing sibilities, and set indicators for monitoring leaflets and ensuring extensive media coverage of the campaign and evaluation. A campaign co-ordinator and u To monitor and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the an assistant were selected from staff members campaign to co-ordinate the activities and handle the finance. Other staff members were assigned different tasks such as dealing with printers, Centre identify three communities: Aryetepa, organising media coverage and video record- Doryumu and Mangotosonya. These were all ing for internal documentation, and identify- communities where the officers had been un- ing NGOs that could assist in mobilising the able to conduct education on VAW due to lack community for the seminars. A Gender Centre of funding from the government. intern was to take notes during the campaign The next step was to contact the commu- and to monitor attendance at the seminars. At nity district assembly representatives who the three subsequent meetings they discussed were to assist in approaching and mobilis- progress, brainstormed alternative solutions ing the communities. The CHRAJ and gender and drew up the campaign schedule. Tele- desk officers gave GC contact details of the phone, email, regular meetings and minutes district assembly representatives of the three were used to track progress. communities. Members of the organising team travelled to meet the three representa- Networking tives to persuade them to work with the team. The first step was to identify three rural com- The representatives of Aryetepa and Doryumu munities where no activity has been carried were enthusiastic and co-operative, but Man- out to address VAW. Proximity to Accra was gotosonya community’s representative was another factor in selecting the communities. not. Mangotosonya had to be dropped, leav- Contact was made with the Dangme West ing the team to organise seminars in Aryetepa District Council and the team was referred to and Doryumu. They agreed to persuade peo- the gender desk officer of the district and the ple from the communities to act out the role officer of the Commission for Human Rights play for the seminar, and to do house-to-house and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). The team mobilisation using local drum beaters.

21 stop the bus! i want to get on

The team had to look for a local interpret- A lot of work went into convincing the me- er for the seminar; luckily one of the district dia to cover the campaign. A common excuse gender desk officers offered to do it. This was was that the communities were too far away. a big relief for the team, as the officer is an The Gender Centre offered to pick the report- experienced community worker and a trained ers up and then drop them back in Accra after paralegal on women’s rights. The team had the campaign. The radio stations and newspa- to deliver invitation letters to the local po- pers accepted the offer, while the TV stations lice stations, chiefs and opinion leaders. They agreed to broadcast a video recording of the made quite a few trips to the communities to campaign. establish these relationships and to monitor progress. Back in the Gender Centre office, Setting indicators members of the team had to secure the serv- Setting indictors to monitor and evaluate the ices of two lawyers familiar with the Domestic campaign was an important component of Violence Act to educate the communities at the planning process. The team agreed to set the seminar – and to provide counselling to indicators for two different purposes: to meas- anyone seeking this help. ure the campaign’s impact, and to measure At the same time, other members of the whether or not the campaign was implement- team were busy dealing with logo and ban- ed effectively. ner designers, printers, suppliers, contacting bus companies to compare prices and rent a Tools and methodology bus, and sending out invitations to the media. After setting the indicators, the team select- Detailed programmes for two days’ campaign ed the tools and methodologies to be used activities were drawn up. The media co-ordi- to apply the indicators and measure impact. nator had to phone TV and radio stations and The main methodology was a role play to be newspapers to identify editors before sending acted out by individuals from the community. out the invitation letters. In total, three TV The team gave the assembly representatives a and four radio stations were invited to cover scenario depicting different types of violence the campaign, along with three newspapers. against women, the causes and its impact. It

Campaign indicators Measuring the impact of the campaign: Measuring whether the campaign was these were benchmarks to assess whether implemented effectively, i.e. assessing the the campaign achieved its objectives. planning and implementation process. These They were set to assess the communities’ indicators were: awareness of the issue before and after the u Were activities well co-ordinated? intervention. They were: u Did the hired bus complete the trip? u Did knowledge on VAW issues increase? u Were t-shirts and banners printed with the u Were there positive attitudes towards campaign logo and slogan? the behaviour/attitude the campaign u Was there wide media coverage? promoted? u Was each seminar attended by a minimum u Was there recognition of the right of of 150 people, including men and women? women to be free from violence? u Did role players (police, CHRAJ and gender u Was there recognition by women of their desk officers, chiefs, opinion leaders) right to be free from violence? attend? u Was there recognition of the benefits of u Was there positive feedback for the practising non-violence? seminars and campaign? u Was there recognition of the possible risks u Were there requests for follow-up if VAW is prevalent? workshops/events/campaign activity? u Was there willingness to encourage non- u What opportunities were presented for next violence in the communities? year’s campaign? u Were new relationships with stakeholders established? u Was a complete financial record maintained?

22 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa also included myths about VAW. No script Monitoring tools was given, allowing for depiction of local attitudes, behaviours and expressions. The team The main monitoring methodology was a role play. Other also developed a set of questions based on the monitoring tools were: role play. These questions were to be discussed u A headcount to assess attendance before and after the training in order to meas- u Debriefing meetings and personal accounts of team members u ure the community members’ awareness lev- Video recording of the campaign activities u Observers’ notes els on issues of VAW before the intervention u Receipts and cash books for financial expenditure and after. Verbal communication methods u Campaign evaluation report were to be used due to the low literacy rate in the communities. The team agreed to hold debriefing sessions on its return from each trip to review the day’s activities and extract lessons learned for the next day of campaigning – as well as for future ones.

Implementation The first day of the campaign took place in the Doryumu community. The bus arrived at the Gender Centre early in the morning and the team put posters on the bus and packed it with pamphlets and other essentials. As planned, a camera operator was also on board recording the entire campaign. A reporter from one newspaper also agreed to come on the bus. The bus set off on time – it was very exciting! As well as giving out leaflets at pre-planned destinations, the team used every opportunity en route to hand them out and talk to people about VAW. The leaflets were distributed in Handing out crowded places such as ‘tro tro’ (bus) stations, out house-to-house mobilisation. Traditional leaflets led to at a university that has a strict dress code for fe- music was played to attract the crowd. Even- lots of interesting discussions! Some male students, a marketplace and a fire station. tually, a total of 110 women and 90 men men refused to take Most women and some men were more turned up. The seminar started with the role them, blaming than happy to take the leaflets. Some men play. Then, participants were asked questions women for VAW. even pointed to others whom they had seen about what they’d seen and heard. The ques- Undeterred, the campaign team kept abusing their partners and asked the team tions were designed to assess the communities’ them talking and to make sure they got the leaflets! However, knowledge about and attitude towards VAW convinced them to other men, especially the university students before the resource people led awareness-rais- take the leaflets and and fire fighters, said men are justified in beating training. After the training, the seminar find out more. ing their partners and blamed women for the participants were divided into smaller groups prevalence of VAW. The team members’ ex- and similar questions were asked to assess any perience in handling such responses enabled changes in knowledge and attitudes that the them to engage in positive debate, convinc- intervention had brought about. The groups ing the men to take and read the leaflets. The were also asked to evaluate the seminar itself. team’s enthusiasm sparked interest on the is- The seminar was a success. A debriefing sue and attracted the crowd’s attention. This session held the following day revealed that demonstrates there is still a need for aware- everyone worked as a team. There were a few ness raising in Ghana, even in urban and peri- hitches here and there, mainly attributed to urban areas. insufficient time for organising the campaign. When the bus arrived in Doryumu com- For example, the banner for the bus did not munity, there were less than 20 people at the have the right logo and was too long to fit on venue. Undeterred, the team started to carry the bus. There was no time to rectify the prob-

23 stop the bus! i want to get on

People from Doryumu acted out a role play which exemplified some types, causes and impacts of violence against women. The play was entertaining, educative and the most effective tool for monitoring and evaluating the campaign.

lem, but the team rallied round and used dif- Impact ferent posters. The role play was definitely the most effec- The second day of the campaign followed tive tool for monitoring impact. Because their a similar pattern. Some of the lessons learned neighbours in the the community were act- on the first day were incorporated and the cam- ing, people felt part of the event. By being en- paign ran more smoothly. The team was more tertaining, both men and women were much organised this time around and more confident. more interested in the serious issues being The campaign indicators for effective imple- portrayed – encouraging active participation. mentation were reflected in the second seminar Most important of all, the evaluation ques- with attendance at 100 men and 63 women. tions were based on the role play. This allowed the women to talk about violence without Monitoring impact and effectiveness having to recount their personal experiences. The indicators, tools and methodologies de- The communities’ knowledge about vio- veloped during the planning stage were all lence against women improved significantly applied to determine the campaign outcomes. as a result of the campaign. Before the train- The following were all put into use to assess ing was given, participants could identify only the campaign’s impact: the role play with beating as constituting VAW. Following the group discussion, the team’s observations and training they were able to identify economic, notes, the video footage, the debriefing ses- sexual and psychological violence: depriving sions, and one-to-one discussions with team women of chop money (money for food) de- members and external observers (the media liberately; sexual intercourse without consent, and interviews with participants). even in marriage; and forced isolation were all identified as constituting VAW. The communities’ attitudes towards the Key lessons messages of the campaign (i.e. to stop vio- u Role play is a highly effective tool for monitoring impact: it is lence against women) varied. The women entertaining, helps members feel involved, stimulates interest were grateful for the opportunity to talk about and – most importantly – allows women to talk about violence what happens to them in their everyday life. without having to recount personal experiences. Before the training they thought violence was a normal part of life. They also believed that

24 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa alcohol, poverty and other excuses were the Before the training, the communities be- underlying causes of VAW. One participant lieved domestic violence was a private matter ‘Now that we said: between a husband and wife. After the interven- know our rights, tion, they understood that the law gives third we will not let the ‘It is not good for us to have friends once we parties the right to report domestic violence men abuse us, we are married. We have been told [by society] to the police. Almost all the women and some will not let them that friends will give us bad advice.’ men said that if they witness domestic violence, force sex upon us’. they will report it to the police. They also said After the training, the women recognised that that they would educate other members of their they have the right to say no to violence. They community about what they had learned, using also understood that the Domestic Violence Act existing forums such as church groups. protects them from VAW and that they have a Apart from the role play, using resource right to report violence to the police. people with a great deal of experience in com- However, the men’s reaction was subdued. munity work helped to make the seminars in- Before the training, they said violence was teresting. The resource people who were best necessary to discipline their wives. They also able to gain the attention of the communities believed that women were to blame for violence. After the training, the men were inter- Key lessons ested to find out more about the Domestic Violence Act. They understood that the law u Using resource persons with significant experience in prohibits domestic violence and expressed community work may be more successful than using those fear that the law would take away their posi- who understand the local language. Such individuals will tion as the dominant sex. It was explained to know best how to communicate sensitive issues like violence against women and will help make events interesting. them that the aim of the Domestic Violence Act is to protect the rights of both men and women not to be abused in a domestic environment. The negative consequences of VAW were not those who understood the local lan- and the benefits of non-violence for both men guage, but those who knew best how to com- and women were highlighted. Despite feeling municate sensitive issues like VAW. threatened, the men participated actively. In In general, the campaign achieved its ob- the end, they said that more dialogue was nec- jective of ‘breaking the silence’ and creating essary to bring everyone on board. In report- an environment conducive for change in the ing the campaign, the Daily Graphic noted: long term. It initiated debate on the issue: community members, particularly the wom- ‘... interestingly, the men, who were well en, continued to discuss the matter – even af- represented, took the centre stage in the ter the close of the seminar. The communities’ discussions’.6

The chiefs and opinion leaders were more Key lessons receptive. The chiefs said that now their com- u Leafleting will be more successful and interesting if teams are munity has been educated about non-violence, able to take the time to talk to people as they hand leaflets they hope that there will be less VAW, which out: this creates interest in the issue and motivates people to will make their work easier. There was also rec- actually read the leaflet contents. ognition of the negative consequences of VAW. The chief of the Aryetepa community said: knowledge of VAW and the Domestic Violence ‘Sexual violence prevents girls from Act has also improved significantly. achieving in school. It’s not right that men The distribution of leaflets was also an ef- who abuse girls are allowed to go free, while fective way of raising awareness. It generated the girl who has become pregnant has to discussion among the public. This activity was drop out of school’. more interesting and effective when the team took time to talk to the people they were handing the leaflets to – this created interest in the 6. Daily Graphic (2007) ‘Rural Folk Educated on Domestic Violence’. Thursday, 6 December 2007, p.17 issue and motivated individuals to actually

25 stop the bus! i want to get on

read the leaflet. The team also got service pro- most widely read in Ghana, published detailed viders such as post offices and schools to stock reports of the campaign. Three FM radio sta- the leaflets. Altogether, 3,400 leaflets were dis- tions gave extensive coverage, including inter- tributed. views with participants and resource persons. However, raising awareness and education The most effective media coverage came from is just a starting point for mobilising support two TV stations, one of which has nationwide for social change. Changing attitudes, particu- coverage. The campaign made the headlines larly those of men, is a long process that can- and was repeated at least four times by each not be achieved with a one-off campaign. The TV station over a period of two days. The TV monitoring and evaluation method adopted footage included the leaflet distributions, the was able to measure the short-term impact of role plays, the discussion and interviews with this campaign. Whether or not the campaign law-enforcement agencies and the campaign will have a long-term impact in changing be- team. The campaigners later received phone haviour and reducing VAW cannot be meas- calls from people from all over the region who ured within the short period of this project. wanted to comment on the campaign and, of The Gender Centre will monitor the long-term course, debate gender issues. impact, by assessing the number of VAW cases According to the team, later on people reported. were talking about the campaign at a variety of places – from hair salons to universities. Effectiveness The media coverage definitely helped to in- The campaign was implemented successfully. crease the debate on VAW in the country and Most of the events took place as scheduled, to spread information on women’s rights and and the fact that everyone in the team partici- the newly enacted Domestic Violence Act. The pated throughout the process – from coming leaflet distribution, and the t-shirts and ban- up with a campaign concept to the evalua- ners displaying the campaign slogan, all contributed to the campaign’s appeal and ability to attract public and media attention. Key lessons There was positive feedback for the cam- u Allowing the team to participate paign and calls for follow-up events. During throughout the campaign process – the verbal evaluation, the two communities from creating a campaign concept right – particularly the women – showed their ap- up to the final evaluation – engenders preciation to the Gender Centre for educating a sense of ownership and responsibility. them about their rights. An old widow said: The team is then willing to ‘go the extra mile’ to make the campaign a success. ‘In our day, nobody bothered to come and teach us about our rights. So we had to endure abuse from our husbands. What you tion – gave the team a sense of ownership and have taught us today is very helpful for the responsibility. The team then went the extra younger generation. It will bring peace to mile to make the campaign work. their homes’. Nonetheless, lack of sufficient time and partner NGOs/CBOs in the communities A young woman commented: caused a few problems in implementation. ‘I am happy to have learned my rights The team had to rely on individual assembly before getting married. It will enable me to representatives to mobilise the communities; make the right decisions. For those friends unfortunately their expertise was in political of mine who are already married, I will tell campaigns and not in social mobilisation. As them what I have learned today’. a result, there were delays and failures in communication. A police officer in Aryetepa noted: Despite the problems, the campaign still ‘At times, we come here to make an arrest. made achievements and went beyond the They will not allow us [to do so], because minimum attendance target of 150 people they say they are family members. I am per seminar/event. There was also wide media sure the community will inform themselves coverage. Three newspapers, two of them the about today’s programme, so that when we

26 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

Key lessons u Allow ample time for planning and VAW discussions while handing them out, organising, particularly for campaigns in because this stimulates interest in the communities where NGOs/CBOs are not issue and encourages people to read the present on the ground. This will save your leaflets and to want to learn more. organisation from having to depend on u The media plays an important role in individuals who could use the campaign spreading information and shaping platform to promote their own agenda. attitudes. It is not easy to persuade u Time is also important, both in terms of the media to cover women’s rights planning your campaign monitoring and in campaigns because, like many other conducting an evaluation (quantitative and sectors, it is dominated by men. qualitative) of the situation, both before Moreover, gender issues are not usually and after the intervention. considered ‘selling stories’. So, it is u Understanding the beneficiaries/targets important to persist and make an extra of the campaign is important to identify effort to get the media on board for the appropriate campaign strategies. For campaign. example, in implementing its campaign in u In conducting public awareness rural communities, the Gender Centre used campaigns in communities, it is methodologies that suited the audience, important to use resource people with such as a role play to cue participants experience of community work. It is also to behaviours and different contexts useful to bring on board trainers with a that constitute violence against women. legal background, as once communities The role play was not only entertaining have been made aware of rights and and educational, it was also the most laws, they usually ask for legal counselling appropriate tool to measure the short-term to find out what the law says about their impact of the campaign. individual circumstances. If an interpreter u Distributing leaflets can be an interesting is necessary, it is advisable to use one who and important aspect of your campaign. understands, and is passionate about, But it is even more fruitful to engage in gender issues.

come here to make an arrest, they will allow The Musasa Project us. With this programme, our work will be made simple’. Background and summary Gender-based violence is one of the most The women were unanimous that they were common forms of violations against women happy to have attended the seminar and it in Zimbabwe. A lot of these violations are certainly hadn’t been a waste of time. Most found in intimate partner relationships – such of the community, particularly the women, as a husband and wife. A study carried out asked the Gender Centre to come back to run by the Musasa Project in 1996 indicated that similar campaigns. one in every four women had been exposed The Gender Centre has also established to domestic violence. In research conducted relationships with individuals in the media, in Mbare, a high-density suburb in Harare, on state agencies, the communities and their the prevalence of domestic violence, results representatives – all of them passionate about indicated that 80 per cent of women were sur- gender issues. Such relationships, if main- vivors of domestic violence. tained, will be useful for future campaigns as The Musasa Project’s 2007 campaign theme well as the Gender Centre’s general work on for the ‘16 days of Activism Against Gender women’s rights. Violence’ was: ‘Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End violence against Key lessons from the Gender Centre’s 2007 women’. It aimed at helping to dismantle campaign and overcome challenges posed by social at- There were a number of lessons that came out titudes and policies that continue to condone of the 2007 campaign. Many of these are rel- and perpetuate gender-based violence. In try- evant to other NGOs conducting campaigns. ing to address this issue, the Musasa Project

27 stop the bus! i want to get on

Assessing services at the one-stop-shop: women and men are looking at family planning options.

managed to reach up to 5,000 people during on aspects of planning and programming a campaign that visited the high-density sub- for the 16 days of activities – good urbs of Harare: Glen View, Budiriro, Hopely, community collaboration; Hatcliffe and Highfield, Epworth, Dombosha- u Regulate the campaign into daily va and Alaska Mine. programmes of activities; Activities were carried out using road shows, u Involve the stakeholders, especially in a gender bus and a ‘one-stop-shop’ where ser terms of encouraging stakeholder feedback vice providers like the Zimbabwe Family Plan- on the strategies and activities to be used; ning Council offered services to women. As u Facilitate a process of measuring changes part of a broader media strategy for the Musasa of attitude and behaviour towards gender- based violence following the campaign; Campaign objectives: and u Adopt campaign message points, which u To raise awareness on Zimbabwe’s Domestic Violence Act will assist in developing a campaign u To distribute information on the Domestic Violence Act and on slogan. gender-based violence u To challenge the silence on GBV and to facilitate debate on Aims of the campaign ways of ending it For the past 10 years, the Musasa Project has u To provide a platform of engagement with communities on the need to report cases of gender-based violence been lobbying in conjunction with other or- u To provide a platform where women can access services ganisations for the enactment of a Domestic u To provide on-the-spot counselling to women in the Violence Act. The Domestic Violence Bill was communities passed and came into effect on 25 October u To facilitate community taskforces to plan and implement 16 2007. With the International ‘16 days of Activ- days commemorations ism Against Gender Violence’ of 2007 coming u To produce a documentary of events for the 16 days just 30 days after the enactment of the Do- commemorations mestic Violence Act in Zimbabwe, the main goal of the campaign was to facilitate the implementation of the law against gender-based Project, two TV presentations were carried out violence by empowering communities. This, to advertise the campaign and to provide a in turn, was to be carried out through pro- brief on gender-based violence in Zimbabwe. viding information, facilitating debates and The following recommendations were iden- providing counselling. In line with the organi- tified in line with the Rape Crisis Cape Town sation’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ of domestic violence Trust’s ‘Stop the Bus’ campaign. The Musasa campaign, the 16 days of activism aimed to Project should: reinforce that gender-based violence (GBV) is u Engage and consult with the communities unacceptable to a wider audience.

28 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

Activities carried out Planned activities Road shows: Responding to the need to raise awareness on gender-based violence, the Activities Venue Musasa Project organised taskforces to co- Road show Glen View, Budiriro, Hopely, ordinate activities in their communities. The Hatcliffe, Highfield, Epworth, organisation had five taskforce units based in Domboshava and Alaska Mine Harare, at Glen View, Budiriro, Hopely, Hat- (these are all areas where there cliffe and Highfield. They organised the fol- is a high prevalence of domestic lowing activities: violence; they are also areas in u Events were advertised with posters in the which the Musasa Project has been communities three days in advance; working) u A GBV drama activity was used to mobilise Gender bus Hatcliffe, Domboshava and Alaska people to come to the centres where the Mine events were to be held; ‘One-stop-shop’ City Sports Centre, Harare. With u Presentations and open discussions were support from Padare, Zimbabwe used to facilitate dialogue; Women Lawyers Association u Competitions focusing on the Domestic (ZWLA), Zimbabwe Women’s Violence Act and ways of reducing GBV Resource Centre and Network in the communities were held: prizes (ZWRCN), Women and AIDS included aprons, bags and scarves; and Support Network (WASN), Wills u Mobile counselling was provided to those Writing Centre and the Counselling women who needed the service. Services Unit (CSU) Production of T-shirts, headscarves, pamphlets Gender bus: The idea of the gender bus was promotional and brochures borrowed from the RCCTT’s ‘Stop the Bus’ materials campaign. The intention was to travel around high-density residential areas, and to give talks and distribute pamphlets and headscarves as City Sports Centre. It was co-ordinated by the a way of passing on information to women Musasa Project with support from: (mostly) who could spare time to come to the u Zimbabwe National Family Planning meetings and gatherings. The organisation Council, which provided contraceptives succeeded in holding one bus event – they and information on family planning had hoped to have three. methods. They assisted 72 women and 11 men. One-stop-shop: On 3 December 2007 the main u Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association event of the campaign took place at Harare’s (ZWLA), which provided legal advice to 39

Delegates at the City Sports Centre celebrate 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

29 stop the bus! i want to get on

u Afro-Bead Entertainment, which provided musical entertainment. The songs they sing address such issues as violence against women. The band leader of Afro-Bead is a young women’s human rights activist.

Implementation The community groups through which the campaign was planned, developed and implemented evolved from the community taskforces that were already active in Highfield, Hopely, Hatcliffe, Glen View and Budiriro. In preparing for these campaigns, Musasa Project programme officers held an initial planning meeting with the community taskforce leaders to review work that had been carried out Women showcase over the previous year – and to assess how the their produce at the women. The following table illustrates the 16 days campaign could enhance work that one-stop-shop, the kind of advice they sought. was already underway in each of the commu- main event of the campaign. nities. Topic Number of women seeking advice Highfield community Inheritance 15 Highfield community held an awareness-rais- Divorce 3 ing campaign in Lusaka Market, informing people about the campaign issues and the re- Maintenance 17 cently passed law on domestic violence. The Will writing 4 campaign started at the bus terminus with songs, dance and drama to provide entertain- u Padare/Men’s Forum on Gender, which ment and draw people to the event. The event provided the perpetrators’ perspective. A started at 10.30am and by 11.00am around side discussion had been planned, where 600 people had gathered. Staff members from two men who used to be perpetrators of ZWLA and Women and Law in Southern Af- domestic violence had agreed to come rica (WSLA) were able to provide on-the-spot and give their own stories. However, the legal advice, while the Musasa Project facili- men felt unable to face the women – most tated counselling. Local religious leaders also of whom were survivors of domestic gave their support. violence. The demand for information was huge and u Musasa Project, which: the event organisers had underestimated how u Facilitated access to psychosocial many information packs they’d need. A hun- counselling; dred brochures on the Domestic Violence Act u Assisted women in making informed and 200 headscarves were distributed to pro- decisions on the way forward with on- vide solid information and spread the word. the-spot counselling; and u Provided a platform to de-stress. Hopely community u Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre Hopely is a community of mixed cultures. It and Network. is made up of people displaced as a result of u Individual women, some of whom Operation Murambatsvina – a ‘clean-up’ cam- showcased produce such as vegetables and paign initiated by the government that aimed fruit. to remove people living in ‘illegal home struc- u Patsimeredu Edutainment Trust, a tures’. development organisation that addresses Gender-based violence is a huge problem social and developmental issues through here. In research conducted by the Musasa theatre. Project in 2007, an estimated 73 per cent of

30 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

Gender-based violence: drama used for the 16 Days of Activism campaign

Play title: ‘Mai Wade’ Developed and produced by: Patsimeredu Edutainment Trust

Play synopsis marriages. Gender-based violence is also apparent ‘Mai Wade’ is a production that explores the gender with the husband, John, constantly physically and relations in a polygamous African marriage. John, the psychologically abusing his wives for not being able main character, is married to his first wife and for eight to give him children. The wives are treated as pieces years they are childless. He decides to take another wife, of property, brought in to work and please the who he brings into the home. After three years she still husband. As a result, the women in the story expose isn’t pregnant. Bowing to pressure from relatives and themselves to rape, extra-marital affairs and dangerous the community at large, the three decide to resort to traditional remedies, with the risk of contracting HIV whatever means necessary to bring a baby into the and other bacterial and viral infections – all for the house. John decides to marry a widow who has two sake of the husband, who is their master. Another children already, taking her as his third wife. Meanwhile, angle to the play also explores how women can be the first wife consults a traditional healer (n’anga) and the the drivers of gender-based violence and negative second wife enlists a faith healer, who proposes to sleep patriarchal behaviour, by supporting men in abusing with her as a way of solving her problem… other women. In the story, the wives compete for recognition at the expense of one another. Main themes The 30-minute play reviews issues of infertility, as they affect women while, at the same time, reflecting the burden often carried by women in instances of childless women in the community were victims of The road show was spectacular: local boys gender-based violence. As a follow up to ad- and girls from the Police Juniors gave a dis- vance the work already underway in the play of some of the activities they carry out as community on GBV, the 16 Days of Activism a means of developing their self-esteem. Most Campaign facilitated a process of getting com- of the young people learned of the impor- munity members together to discuss ways of tance and personal benefits of being involved reducing and avoiding incidences of violence in development programmes. Approximately against women. 300 people attended the road shows. Programme officers from the Musasa Project Community taskforce gave a presentation on the purpose of the Do- Impact and outcomes of the campaign members from the Hopely community, mestic Violence Act. A drama on the subject Gender-based violence has a significant nega- where gender-based of gender-based violence was performed as a tive impact on the social, economic and insti- violence is a massive combined form of entertainment and educa- problem. tion. The activities carried out were relevant to the audience. During the presentations, people took part in topical competitions for prizes including t-shirts, aprons and headscarves.

Budiriro and Glen View communities Glen View community was born out of the Budiriro community, so the two taskforces carried out their planning activities together. Both road shows were held at Current Shop- ping Centre. The events started at 11.30am with a drama group putting on a performance to attract people to the event. Presentations were then made by the police, Musasa Project and a religious leader from the community. In the box above we give a synopsis of the drama performance that was used.

31 stop the bus! i want to get on

WOMANKIND partner, the Zimbabwe Women’s Lawyers Association, provides legal aid to women at the one- stop-shop.

tutional factors of development. The ‘16 days Campaign indicators of Activism Against Gender Violence’ cam- Activities Success indicators paign had a positive impact on the aspect of raising awareness. Road shows u Around 1,500 people from the Hopely Positive outcomes of the Musasa Project community attended the events; 300 came from Budiriro; and 400 members attended campaign included: from the Glen View community u Communities demanding that the police u 2,100 brochures were given out should be more gender sensitive when u 100 posters were distributed dealing with reported cases of GBV, u 5,000 headscarves were distributed as was noted from the questions and u There were two TV interviews recommendations given to the police u 40 people won prizes in the competitions by the Highfield and Glen View u 50 t-shirts were worn by staff communities; u 50 t-shirts were given out as prizes u An increase in reported cases of GBV, Gender bus u A hired mini-bus travelled around the especially domestic violence, to the police and road Hatcliffe community and to the Musasa Project both during and show u Two counsellors provided counselling as the after the campaign; bus moved around u Reduced incidences of sexual abuse in u Records showed that 15 people received the Budiriro community compared to the counselling previous months of August and September u An estimated 1,200 people attended the show 2007; and (continued on page 34) One-stop- u Four organisations provided services to the shop women who attended Key lessons u A music group provided entertainment, u Organisations should make sure that 192 people attended staff are taught about the importance u 83 people received help from the Family of activities Planning Council u You should ensure sufficient planning u 39 women received legal aid from the meetings prior to activities/events Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association u Those who agree to take on roles need (ZWLA) to be committed to those roles u 45 women received information from the u Team building needs to be carried out Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and for staff members prior to activities/ Network events u 11 women received counselling from the u 16 days activities should be included in Musasa project: five on inheritance issues, staff members’ annual workplans two on physical abuse, one on sexual u Follow-up meetings should take place abuse and three on maintenance after all plans and activities

32 True stories: violence against women campaigning in Africa

SWOT analysis of the Musasa ‘Demanding Implementation’ campaign

Strengths Weaknesses u The Musasa Project is community based u Organisation was administration-based and has worked on GBV for 20 years rather than project-centred The Musasa Project and its staff mobilised u Planning meetings were not comprehensive the communities to participate with other u There was insufficient promotional material organisations such as t-shirts u Staff showed good teamwork, especially u No funds were available to transport during planning, and commitment – for community members to the main event, example, using private vehicles and which was too far from the target audience private funds to facilitate events and there were no back-up strategies u A good working relationship was u Delegation of duties came too late and staff established with the communities were not always committed to their duties u Staff were undeterred by low turnout at u Mobilisation of communities by programme the main event officers was poor and lacked follow up u Activities were well focused, organised u Other stakeholders/women’s organisations and conducted while, at the same time, could not participate in the planned remaining flexible, especially the role activities plays/drama and the songs; they were u Communities wanted to be more involved in also genuinely informative about the terms of administering the events issues surrounding gender-based violence u Roles were not evenly distributed, especially u Activities were motivational and at the main event energising; they helped generate lessons and facilitated dialogue within communities u Useful services were provided at the events u The activities led to a documentary being produced

Opportunities Threats u Collaboration with other organisations u The political situation meant activities could and lessons learned from them not be organised or carried out as planned. u Acceptance by communities and For example, the venue for the main event relationships developed with them was booked two months in advance, but u Engagement with communities this activity was threatened because the u Supportive artists ruling party, ZANU PF, wanted to use the u Services provided at events are seen and same venue in support of the President’s heard by other organisations candidature for the 2008 elections. A march u Possibility to engage Patsimeredu organised by the ruling party meant other Edutainment Trust to produce a drama activities had to be cancelled series on gender-based violence for u Other women’s organisations had their television own 16 Days of Activism Campaign events u Engage broadcasters to speak on the and were also holding activities on the Domestic Violence Act implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, so they were unable to support one another u Lack of resources u Fewer people came to the main event than expected

33 stop the bus! i want to get on

Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) staff give out information and answer questions at the one-stop-shop.

u An increase in requests from communities cent of the people in the groups indicated that for training and awareness-raising they were aware of the Domestic Violence Act activities, especially targeting working and its purpose. men – identified as a group that wasn’t Recommendations emerging from the around when the campaign was taking meetings indicated that more awareness rais- place. ing needs to be carried out, especially on the Act, so that more women who are abused Evaluation know about the protection they receive if they Focus-group discussions report that abuse. The discussions also pointed Six focus-group discussions were held after the out the need to have counsellors at the com- 16 days activities to assist in the evaluation of munity level, so that they are able to facilitate the campaign. During the discussions, 83 per peace initiatives at that level.

34 Summing up

u u u

WOMANKIND hopes that the experiences and movement against GBV to develop more effec- recommendations of Rape Crisis Cape Town tive change processes, backed up by evidence. Trust, the Gender Centre, and the Musasa While we do not believe it is possible to de- Project provide real food for thought for any velop a blueprint for the ‘perfect campaign’, organisation – large or small – wishing to carry we do feel that it is essential as a strategy that out campaigns against gender-based violence we become more efficient and robust in our within Africa and beyond. campaigning and seek not only to do – but There is a useful starting framework and also to learn from the doing. guidance on the key steps a campaign team WOMANKIND is uniquely placed to co- will need to take. In addition, the three case ordinate and share learning across organi- studies from WOMANKIND’s partners demon- sations, countries and regions and we hope strate the reality – both positive and negative that this ‘toolkit’ is only the beginning. As a – of attempting to implement and evaluate movement we must develop greater strength whether your campaign has been a ‘success’. and expertise towards achieving the positive This is rarely a straightforward process but change, increase in awareness and reduction it is only through trial and error and sharing in gender violence that we all work for on a what we’ve learned that we will progress as a daily basis.

35 Appendices: links and resources for campaigners

u u u

Appendix I: General information on contributing organisations

The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust was set up The Musasa Project was founded in 1988 in in 1976 and is one of the oldest and most ex- Zimbabwe as a service organisation that seeks perienced organisations working within the to empower women to challenge domestic vio sphere of violence against women in South lence and to facilitate reform within institu- Africa. Rape Crisis believes in challenging tions that perpetuate violence against women. power imbalances in society on which sexual The organisation strives to reduce the preva- violence is based. It seeks to confront and pre- lence of gender-based violence and actively vent sexual violence and empower survivors contributes to the creation of an environment through working with individuals, commu- conducive to combating the subordination of nities and other social structures in order to women. provide accessible services. Member activists The Musasa Project is the only organisation actively address the challenges of improving in Zimbabwe whose key mandate is focused access to care, treatment and justice for rape on domestic violence: it provides counselling, survivors and have recently gained significant shelter, legal advice and medical referrals to support from government to implement re- victims of domestic violence. form policies that will aid survivors. For further information visit: www.musasa. For further information see: www.rapecrisis. org or e-mail [email protected] org.za or contact [email protected] WOMANKIND Worldwide is a leading inter- The Gender Studies and Human Rights national women’s human rights and develop- Documentation Centre is a not-for-profit, ment organisation. Our vision is of a world non-governmental rights-based organisation where women are equal, secure, respected established to address the pressing need for a and proud. We work together with women’s place in Ghana where information on women organisations around the world to reduce vio- and human rights issues could be obtained. lence against women, support women to play Its main objective is to enhance the status of an active role in society and support them to women by integrating women’s concerns and fight for their rights. perspectives into mainstream programmes, projects and policies addressing social and WOMANKIND’s four strategic aims are: development issues through research, train- _ to eliminate violence against women ing, publications and documentation, as well _ to increase women’s participation in civil as through advocacy and networking. Follow- and political processes ing nationwide research on violence against _ to mobilise political will and resources for women in Ghana, the Gender Centre has been women’s rights and development and implementing a programme to reduce the in- _ to strengthen WOMANKIND to ensure cidence of such violence across Ghana in part- maximum impact. nership with six other organisations. For further information see: www.gendercen For further information go to: www.woman treghana.org kind.org.uk or e-mail [email protected]

36 Appendices

Appendix II: Legal instruments and frameworks

UN Declaration on the Elimination of International Covenant on Civil and Political Violence against Women Rights www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/ www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html [accessed 22 (Symbol)/A.RES.48.104.En?Opendocument July 2008] [accessed 22 July 2008] Beijing Platform for Action Inter-American Convention on the www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/ Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of platform/ [accessed 22 July 2008] Violence against Women www.oas.org/cim/English/Convention%20 Millennium Development Goals Violence%20Against%20Women.htm www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ [accessed 22 [accessed 22 July 2008] July 2008]

Protocol to the African Charter on Human Millennium Declaration and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ in Africa ares552e.htm [accessed 22 July 2008] http://www.achpr.org/english/_info/women_ en.html [accessed 22 July 2008]

Appendix III: Useful links and documents

WOMANKIND Worldwide (2007) ‘Tackling Moffett, Helen (2003), ‘Stemming the Tide: Violence against Women: a worldwide Countering Public Narratives of Sexual Vio- approach’. Available at: http://www.woman lence’. London: WOMANKIND Worldwide. kind.org.uk/upload/TacklingViolence.pdf Available at: [accessed 22 July 2008] http://www.womankind.org.uk/upload/Coun- tering%20Public%20Narratives%20of%20 WOMANKIND Worldwide (2007) ‘Female Sexual%20Violence%20Mar%2003%20new. Genital Mutilation – religious and legal doc [accessed 22 July 2008] perspectives’. Conference report, June 2006, Cairo, Egypt. Available at: The Center for Women’s Global http://www.womankind.org.uk/upload/ Leadership: 16 Days Of Activism Against Female%20Genital%20Mutilation%20-%20 Gender Violence. See: religious%20and%20legal%20perspectives. http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu [accessed 22 July pdf [accessed 22 July 2008] 2008]