The We Can campaign seeks to generate a mass social movement to end violence against women by changing attitudes and behaviour.
If enough individuals mobilize for change and come together for mutual support and shared action, then a critical mass is attained that can influence and transform the institutions, communities and society of which they are a part. Policy and legislative reforms may be indirect outcomes of that process, and can often be complementary, but they are not a direct objective of We Can.
The guiding principles of the We Can campaign flow from this understanding, and are set out below.
Change is the responsibility of the individual, therefore:
- The campaign draws attention to the violence that ordinary people experience, witness or commit
- It highlights violence against women as a public not a private matter
- It provokes women and men to think about their attitudes and behaviour
- It encourages people to find their own solutions and make their own choices
- It does not prescribe how people should think or behave
- It invites people to become Change Makers- rejecting violence in their own lives and encouraging others to do the same
Change is within the power of the individual, therefore:
- The We Can campaign focuses on violence against women at a level that ordinary people have the capacity to influence
- It draws attention to the choices that ordinary people can make to accept or reject violence
- It offers encouragement to reject violence by presenting a common platform: 'We Can end all violence against women'
- It presents women and men as agents of change, and not the former as powerless victims or the latter as all-powerful tyrants
Change is a social process, therefore:
- The campaign seeks to mobilize a diverse range of individuals, communities and institutions on a significant scale to undertake, promote and sustain change
- The campaign invites people to become a Change Maker - any individual who pledges never to commit or tolerate violence against women in his/her own life and to talk to 5 more people around them to influence them to do the same
- Change Makers are encouraged to share their thinking and experience with others, thus triggering a ‘chain reaction’ by stimulating reflection and modelling change
- Change Makers are invited to network together in order to support one another, women facing violence and others seeking to end violence
- The We Can Coalition will provide a common platform and communication materials to support change