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62.2The state has primary responsibilityfor action on violence against womenand girlsThis principle isespecially relevantat the barriersand theinterventionsstages of theTheory of Change.The Theory of Change assumes that the statehas primary responsibility for action onviolence against women and girls: nationalgovernments are legally bound to, and holdthe ultimate responsibility for, theimplementation of laws, policies and servicesrelated to violence against women and girlsand can, and should be, held accountable fordoing so. They are also well placed to achievechange on violence against women and girls.The obligation for states to prevent violenceagainst women and girls and to providecomprehensive services to survivors of suchviolence was established as a ‘due diligence’standard by General Recommendation No. 19of the UN Committee on the Elimination ofDiscrimination against Women in 1992. 15 TheRecommendation also stipulates the need forstates to tackle the gender inequality that bothcauses and perpetuates violence againstwomen and girls.While there is still some work to be done(depending on the country) to reform law andpolicy, in many contexts the normativeframeworks to address violence againstwomen and girls now exist. 16 The problem liesin the implementation of these frameworks. Inreality, no state in the world is effectivelyfulfilling its obligations to prevent violenceagainst women and girls, protect women andgirls from violence or provide comprehensiveservices to survivors. 17 The reasons for thisvary and include a lack of political will and lowinstitutional capacity at local, regional andnational levels. In some cases, conservativeideologies, such as so-called ‘religiousfundamentalisms’, 18 as well as entrenchedinstitutional sexism act as further barriers.Impunity is also a problem, particularly in thejustice and security sectors. For example,systematic failures of police, armies and lawenforcement agents at the local level putwomen and girls at risk of violence andprevent access to justice. 19 In extreme cases,failures of the state can manifest as stateviolence, where the state is the perpetrator ofviolence against women and girls. 20 In additionto being a violation of rights, this can lead towomen and girls avoiding or fearing agents ofthe state who are supposed to be acting astheir access point to claiming rights andjustice. This may especially be the case forcertain groups of marginalised women such aswomen involved in the sex industry, lesbianwomen and migrant women. 21Lessons on working with the state to tackleimpunity and improve implementation of lawsand policy show targeted support can make asignificant difference. Through sector policydialogue and in joint sector reviews, missionsand sector consultative forums, DFID and itspartners can influence national programmingon violence against women and girls andprovide appropriate, targeted capacity buildingof government institutions.For example, integrating violence againstwomen and girls programming in governanceand security sector reform can build statecapacity to recognise, respond to and tackleviolence against women and girls. 22 Integratingviolence against women and girls programminginto education policy frameworks can help thestate to prevent, manage and work to eliminateviolence against girls in schools. 23 Integratingviolence against women and girls programminginto health systems strengthening can buildstate capacity to provide comprehensiveservices for survivors. 24 Integrating violenceagainst women and girls programming intohumanitarian and emergency response cansave lives and empower women to be part ofefforts to rebuild their communities. 25Direct support to women’s rights organisations,for example through providing core, long-termfunding, can also support state efforts byensuring that civil society has the resources toshare its good practice with the state, raiseawareness of rights and services amongstwomen and girls and increase their access tojustice, and hold the state to account and helptackle impunity. 26 See the Practical Guide toCommunity Programming on Violence againstWomen and Girls for more detail.As discussed in further detail under Principle2.3, efforts to support holistic and multi-sectoralstate approaches to addressing violenceagainst women and girls, for example throughestablishing National Action Plans, areparticularly effective. DFID and its partners canadd value by promoting the participation ofwomen’s rights organisations in the development,implementation and monitoring of such actionplans. It can also provide analytical andtechnical support to facilitate cross-departmentalworking, monitoring and evaluation.
72.3Holistic and multi-sectoral approachesare more likely to have impactThis principleis especiallyrelevant at theinterventionsstage of theTheory of Change.Figure 1: A Holistic and multi-sectoral approachMultiple levelsAcross sectorsIndividualEconomic lifeRelationshipEducationCommunityHealthSocietyJusticeSecuritySocial welfareMultiple time-framesShort-term(2-5 years)Medium-term(5-8 years)Long-term(8-10+ years)The Theory of Change assumes that a holisticapproach is more likely to have greaterimpact: coordinated interventions operatingat multiple levels, across sectors and overmultiple time-frames are more likely toaddress the various aspects of, and thereforehave greater impact on, tackling violenceagainst women and girls (see Figure 1 above).Violence against women and girls manifests atevery level of society, from interpersonal andfamilial relationships, through communitiesand right up throughout society, including viathe state. This is known as the ‘ecologicalmodel’. 27 Interventions that address only onelevel of the ecological model or use only oneintervention method can achieve results, butthese will be limited. Legal reform is a goodexample. Despite laws that criminalise maritalrape at the level of ‘society’, marital rape is stillwidely practised at the ‘relationship’ level in anumber of countries because social norms atthe level of ‘relationship’ have not sufficientlychanged. It is therefore necessary to pursuechange at all levels – from the family andhousehold, through to national andinternational structures and institutions.Single-sector responses can similarly achieveonly limited results. Integrated multi-sectoralapproaches that use a variety of methods tocreate change are better able to tackleviolence against women and girls, 28 especiallyin terms of ‘primary prevention’ efforts –stopping violence before it occurs andproviding protection for women at risk ofviolence. 29 In particular, there is a need torecognise the links between prevention andresponse interventions, where responses toviolence can integrate services that helpprotect women and girls from furtherviolence. For example, strengthening justicesystems without improving health andpsycho-social welfare systems could leavesurvivors unable to pursue justice orprotection from the police, because they arestruggling to cope with the physical andemotional trauma of the violence they haveexperienced.Different sorts of changes take different timeperiods to be achieved, with social changeand changes to social norms (includingbehaviours and practices) taking longer. It istherefore helpful to plan interventions overmultiple time-frames. You can read moreabout this in the Guidance on Monitoring andEvaluating for Programming on Violenceagainst Women and Girls (section 2b on p.5).
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