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6. Approaching the community
( See Preparing to return to the community and Preparing a survivor to reunite with her family and social network in Part II, pages 110-111 and 112-113.)
PART III: THEORY
Interventions are needed at the level of the individual but also in the community. In the workshop notes we examined different forms of support that helpers can provide to individuals who have suffered violence and loss. We also underlined the importance of understanding the situation into which women are returning. A major challenge is to create a culture of support and respect within the community.
How to approach the community. The engagement of religious leaders, men, etc.
According to Judith Herman( 1992), a helper must remember that recovery can only take place in the context of relationships. It cannot be achieved in isolation. It is necessary to engage the wider community in a survivor’ s healing process.
The immediate response to rape in most communities is to stigmatise, reject and abandon the raped woman. This complicates and exacerbates her suffering and makes her recovery more difficult. Helpers should try to speak with community leaders( religious leaders, political leaders, military officials, other professional people) to explain that rape is an unacceptable crime in all circumstances and that victims are entitled to help and support( Herman 1992).
It is also important to discuss the unequal power relations between women and men, because these are often a root cause of violence. In many societies, male violence or the threat of violence is a means by which men dominate women. It is likely to be helpful in such discussions to draw attention to established principles of human rights, which state that in international law all people are created equal with the same essential rights. Discuss these questions with community leaders, underlining that, while women are usually the immediate victims of gender violence, its consequences extend beyond the victim to society as a whole.
•“ Gender violence threatens family structures. Children suffer emotional damage when their mothers and sisters are beaten. Two-parent homes may break up, condemning women heads of households to struggle against deeper poverty and social discrimination.
• The psychological scars of violence often prevent people from establishing healthy and rewarding relationships in the future. Victims of gender violence may vent their frustration and pain on their own children or others, thereby transmitting and intensifying the effects of violence. Children may come to think that violence is an alternative or legitimate means of conflict resolution and communication.( Advocates for Human Rights 2010.)
In these and many other ways, violence is reproduced and perpetuated.
Find out what members of the community think about what happened. Give them relevant information about trauma and possible reactions to it. Tell them that their support is vital to the recovery of survivors. If family and community members cannot be mobilised, new supportive networks can be created among the survivors. It may help to draw on human rights values and principles when you explain GBV.( Advocates for Human Rights 2010.)