GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Social empowerment interventions and economic strengthening of women.
by Michele Ruiters
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As women and children become more exposed to brutality and abuse in lockdown we need to seriously rethink how we can empower them, protect them, and change the underlying factors that allow gender based violence to continue. Governments and communities need to fund shelters, law enforcement agencies need to act decisively against perpetrators, we need men to rise up and demand respect for women because their silence is so much louder than any voice of condemnation.
We cannot shame victims but instead need to support them. We need to change what is culturally perceived as permissible so that communities are mobilized and transform harmful gender norms. Social empowerment interventions need to increase as do economic strengthening of women across the globe.
Rethinking empowerment
Dr Michele Ruiters, PhD in Political Science, Certificate in Women’s Studies from Rutgers University.
OUR SPEAKER
Michele Ruiters
Dr Michele Ruiters has a PhD in Political Science and a Certificate in Women’s Studies from Rutgers University in the United States and an International Executive Development Programme Certificate from the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria (GIBS). In 2018, she completed a Masters Degree in Commerce (Development Finance) at UCT Graduate School of Business.
Michele is on the faculty at GIBS in Johannesburg where she teaches diversity and inclusion and women and leadership courses. Michele was previously a Research Specialist at the Development Bank of Southern Africa where she works on strategy-focused research, gender mainstreaming and South-South cooperation. She has taught at universities in South Africa, the US and in Japan. Her publications are in the areas of international institutional reform; militarisation in Africa; infrastructure development; gender and development; gender and trade; identity politics; poverty reduction; and, regional integration and development.
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Individuals contributed with their image and content in a personal capacity, not as a part of their role in any institution or company listed on this website.
Resources and points of view
Domestic violence during Covid-19: we need to ask the right questions, article in the Daily Maveric
Reliable data is useful but the priority is ensuring survivors have access to high-quality support and services.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka talking about women during the pandemic, keynote for the Women's Forum
Four areas of action to tackle the shadow pandemic of violence against women, article in the Elders
The Elders’ Senior Policy Advisor on Access to Justice, Sabrina Mahtani, writes on concrete measures we need to take if we are serious about ending violence against women.
