Take Five: “To end violence against women, an overall change in people’s mindsets is required”
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The YADA Foundation was established in 2005 by a group of social scientists and project specialists with the goal of reducing the gap between ‘theory’ and ‘everyday reality’. The organization aims to produce knowledge about different aspects of everyday life and to convert this knowledge into sustainable and practical projects. Recently, YADA started working with UN Women to assess advocacy initiatives on ending violence against women and changing gender discriminatory social norms in the Western Balkans and Turkey – under the regional programme, Implementing Norms, Changing Minds. YADA’s Executive Director, Ayşe Pınar Gürer, explains their role in the programme and how advocacy can be instrumental to ending violence against women.
Based on your experience in Turkey, how do you think civil society organizations can bring about social change?
If you look at the thematic and methodological diversity of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Turkey, you will see many similarities with developed democracies. So, at first glance, the civil society appears to be a reflection of Turkey's multicultural, multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi-religious and multi-sectarian reality. But, when you look at the relationships between CSOs and their interactions with decision makers – such as in the public administration and the private sector – this pluralistic structure tends to break down into a series of fragmented, closed clusters.
In order to bring about social change, CSOs need to become more research literate. More importantly, CSOs need to adopt a more analytical approach, particularly in terms of generating their own research. This will help improve evidence-based advocacy, which will contribute to the overall success of these organizations in terms of impact and change. In addition, CSOs should produce information about their performance, on how they are perceived and interpreted, or the effect they have on people. They need to be continuously challenged and open themselves up to outside influence. They also need to establish an ongoing and bilateral communication channel with CSOs in other fields, as well as with decision makers and wider society.
In your opinion, how can advocacy and communication initiatives contribute to ending violence against women?
Violence against women is a reflection of gender inequality. It is also strongly connected to the culture of violence within communities, which seems to be on the rise. In order to end violence against women, an overall change in people’s mindsets is required. In this regard, advocacy and communication initiatives have a major role in establishing long-term strategies to change the understanding and attitudes of people towards the issue of gender inequality and violence against women.
How do you plan to implement the research in the region?
In the first phase, we’re conducting desk research on the issue of violence against women and gender discrimination in the Western Balkans and Turkey. As part of the process, we will work with researchers and experts from these countries. In the second phase, we’ll develop our final data on best practices for advocacy initiatives to end violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey – with support from our researchers and experts in the region. Lastly, we will produce a report summarizing the data and findings generated by the research. We aim to identify the most innovative cases that have had an effective impact on the issue of violence against women in these countries, which will provide important examples for future initiatives by the women’s movement in the region.
Is there room to learn from unsuccessful practices as well?
It is critical to have an in-depth assessment of both the successes and failures in advocacy for ending violence against women. Within this project, we’ll look at the unsuccessful practices to see why they failed and which needs they were unable to meet. This is why we’re proposing to use case studies in addition to analyzing best practices.
What results can be expected by the end of the project?
By the end of the project, we aim to produce an extensive report on the issue of violence against women and gender discrimination in the region. This report will provide a background on the issue and an in-depth analysis of selected best practices, including insights from stakeholders, beneficiaries, local government, partner organizations and private sector representatives. The report will include a comprehensive proposal on how to replicate successful models of advocacy initiatives for ending violence against women in the region.