The Spotlight Initiative commissioned this knowledge brief to share lessons learned and promising practices related to its work on a comprehensive approach to ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG). This brief draws on insights and analysis from a synthesis of 126 reports from 2019 to 2021 across all Spotlight Initiative country and regional programmes, trust funds, and global conversations in 2021.
The Spotlight Initiative's comprehensive approach to EVAWG is intersectional and engages women and girls across all diversities. Using a six-pillar approach, it addresses the issues of prevention, justice, and policy work to ensure that women and girls have the support and protection they need to live a life free from violence. The Spotlight Initiative operates in a localised manner where action planning and intervention design are determined by country level assessments and analysis on the ground. To achieve long-term success the Spotlight Initiative engages in work across multiple pillars, and with a range of partners, resulting in synergistic effects of pillars whereby progress in one area affects outcomes in another pillar. There is also a focus on transformation, which means that fundamental shifts to underlying social norms and power structures that maintain gender inequalities occur through programming.
This brief highlights the high-level lessons learned using a comprehensive and transformative approach across the areas of policy development, institutional strengthening, social norms and attitude change, service provision and referral systems, stronger data and strengthened civil society and feminist movements.
