Reflect and discuss: Prevention, mitigation, or response

[Gianna Maita-Edwards]

The activity I brainstormed was “men’s classes and mentorship groups that focus on changing masculinity norms.” This would go under universal prevention on the prevention-to-response continuum, because it is not selecting a particular group that is high-risk (it was simply targeted at “men”) but it is seeking to transform a root cause of violence. It is not responding to particular instances of VAW. Mitigation may be required to ensure that the mentorship groups do not pose other risks for escalating violence.

[Adeyinka Onabolu]

The prevention activity i brainstormed on was advocacy,awareness and campaigns targeting men,boys and community leadership.This is selective prevention.More often than not,perpetrators of IPV are male and it is important to sensitise them on the negative effects of this and build their capacity on power dynamics and conflict resolutions in the home.The community leaders wield alot of influence in the community and are a key channel to pass out these messages.

[Andisiwe]

I would place the activity under Universal Prevention . The reason I would of this is because the violence is not specific to a particular household but affects the whole community and has overtime informed what the whole community sees as a norm in terms of violence. By using Universal Prevention not only will families that have already experienced and been affected by violence gain access and information but those whose trajectories also put them at risk of either perpetrating violence or being victims of it would be saved.

[Megan Denise Smith]

I mentioned awareness raising and dialogues with community leaders (parents, teachers, religious leaders, husbands, etc). I think these will be universal prevention activities. Because these activities would not be singling our specific men who are at a higher risk of using violence, the awareness raising activities would be targeting different key groups of stakeholders but not working specifically with men who have a history of perpetrating violence for example.

[Pantaleon Shoki]

Think about the prevention activity you brainstormed in the Why prevention topic. Where would you place this activity on the prevention-to-response continuum (universal prevention, selective prevention, mitigation, or response)? Why would you place it there?

This is universal prevention as it seeks to address changes in behavior and related habits that are vital for transforming the community towards the prevention of violence against women. Such activities include working closely with the government, civil society organizations, and other policy-focused interventions that will result in eliminating violence.
Such universal activities will address core issues related to incidences of violence in the community. This will change behaviors and habits, leading to reducing if not eliminating the perpetrators in the community, hence reducing the acts of violence.

[Author]

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