Gender-based violence in West Africa: how women’s and feminist movements are driving norm change

Gender-based violence remains a grave global issue. One of the most effective ways to tackle it is through changing the unequal gender norms that underpin such violence.

This ALIGN report provides emerging evidence from Sierra Leone and Senegal on how women’s movements and their activism to end GBV has succeeded in drawing attention to harmful gender norms. Despite strong patriarchal norms that reinforce women’s subordination to men, these two West African contexts stand out for their strong anti-GBV activism, yet the research examining how these are changing gender norms is still nascent.

This research shows that women’s and feminist activism has achieved some norm change through attitudinal shifts, more open social and policy debate around female genital cutting, and new progressive laws and policies.

Key messages:

• The report argues that we must take seriously how norm change is driven by strong women’s movements, with support from some male allies and on occasion even high-level politicians. However, activists do face backlash and social censure for their work.
• It is still difficult to ascertain levels of GBV in both countries, due to variations in the quality of data and the reluctance of victim-survivors to report incidents.
• Feminist movements operating in highly patriarchal contexts urgently need reliable data and further research to understand the dynamics of GBV. Their organizations need adequate funds and resources, to deepen their network and expand their influence.
• Achieving effective policies to reduce incidence of violence, will, ultimately, be built on transformation of the harmful gender norms which drive GBV.