The fight against gender based violence

For most of us, the idea of eliminating worldwide violence against women is well and truly in the ‘too hard’ basket; but not for feminist icon Dr Emma Fulu.

Dr Emma Fulu is a feminist activist, social entrepreneur and one of the world’s leading experts on violence against women. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Equality Institute, a global feminist agency dedicated to the prevention of violence against women and girls. She is also the co-founder of VOICE, a non-profit organisation that works with women and girls in conflict and disaster settings to amplify their solutions to violence in their own communities.

In August 2020 she was interviewed by Kate Maddams. They discussed Dr Fulu’s work, the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and how medical students can help end violence against women.

COULD YOU GIVE US SOME INSIGHT INTO HOW AND WHY YOU STARTED THE EQUALITY INSTITUTE?

I’m a researcher by background, and have been researching in the field for almost 20 years now. I initially was doing a degree in International Development Studies at university where I became interested in the gender dimensions of international development. My family is actually from the Maldives, so when I finished my honours degree I went to the Maldives to work at the Ministry of Gender. One of the first things they asked me to do was look into the issue of violence against women. They had anecdotal evidence that the problem existed but didn’t really know the scale of the problem so they asked if I could try to do some research.

I ended up working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to do the study – the first national prevalence study in the Maldives.

From then on I kept working in the space, I’d found my passion. I worked with the United Nations (UN) and then moved to South Africa to lead another global program on violence prevention. In the midst of that I had three kids. So I was doing a crazy job, travelling a lot, and the truth is I burnt out. I knew I was still passionate about the work but was struggling to do the career. So I moved back to Australia to be closer to my family and to re-assess, and that’s when I started the Equality Institute.

I started it with the idea that I wanted to combine research with policy and create a space where there was nurturing and I could balance my career with my family. It started small but it has grown now to be a global agency. We’ve worked in more than 20 COULD YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AT THE EQUALITY INSTITUTE?

We’re a global feminist agency and our priority is advancing gender equality and ending violence against women. We do that through three core areas – research, creative communication, and policy and advocacy work.

So for example, we do a lot of research to try to understand violence against women and also to evaluate programs and policies to see what’s working in different settings. We then work with a lot of global organisations like the UN and Word Bank to help set the policy agenda, and then we also do work on social media to ignite the conversation around feminism and gender equality and how to end violence.

IT SOUNDS LIKE EXTREMELY REWARDING WORK YET AT THE SAME TIME THE CONTENT OF THE WORK IS ALSO DEEPLY UPSETTING, HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE NATURE OF THE WORK?

That’s a good question. The focus of our work is predominantly on primary prevention, so trying to address the root causes, and we take a very positive, strength based, empowerment approach. So even though the content of the work is very heavy, because we are working to create positive change, that keeps the work positive and engaging and it feels like you’re doing something meaningful. For me, I feel like I’d be more depressed if I wasn’t doing anything towards the issue. It’s a deep passion for me and for members of my team so I think as hard as it is some days, we all feel better for actually trying to do something to end violence against women.

I think we also see change happening, so while from a distance it can look like this issue is overwhelming, that’s not true. We are actually seeing rates of violence decrease in some countries, we are seeing programs that are actually having an impact on the ground, and we are seeing women and girls all over the world leading that change which is really inspiring. So most of the time I feel inspired more than I feel upset, but we do have to take care of ourselves as well because it is hard work.

You know, when I started in this field about 20 years ago, no one was talking about violence against women and now it’s on the global agenda. there’s the sustainable development goals which all countries have to report on. In my

THERE’S BEEN SOME CONCERNING REPORTS OF INCREASED VIOLENCE IN THE HOME DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS AROUND THE WORLD. CAN YOU EXPAND UPON THIS?

Sure. There definitely is, and while we still don’t have all of the data, what we do know is that in Australia we’re seeing increased rates of reporting around violence against women. We know that during the lockdown, home unfortunately isn’t always the safest place for some women and children. It also makes it harder for these people to seek support. We’re seeing diversity in the types of violence that women are experiencing, for example technology facilitated abuse and more controlling behaviour.

The pandemic is also impacting gender equality through risk of catching the virus. In the vast majority of countries, a higher percentage of front-line workers (health workers for example) are women, putting these women at a higher risk of being infected with COVID-19.

On top of this there have been interruptions of supply chains for medical products. For example, women’s access to contraception is being impacted because the world’s largest IUD factory has shut down. Shipping interruptions are also worsening the issue. So there’s a huge number of effects that we’re just starting to get a sense of, but we really need to collect more data to get a better understanding of the

At this point, we really need to focus on violence against women, and we also need women to be leading this response because they know the issues that they are facing. It’s a really challenging time for many, many people.

DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT IS RESPONDING TO THIS APPROPRIATELY?

I think there is definitely more that could be being done. Importantly, ensuring that response services are well funded, but also looking at other ways to protect women in vulnerable circumstances.

I think there’s the opportunity for using this time to create long term changes. It’s a complicated issue but we have some lessons from a humanitarian context, that when things fall apart, as challenging as the situation is, it also offers opportunities.

In Australia we currently have the chance to think about long term systemic and structural changes, and to improve gender equality through this process. That could be things like restructuring childcare and thinking about existing child caring responsibilities as well as norms around men and women’s work. It’s a time when all of these norms are being disrupted and I would like to see more of that long term change and investment in transformation rather than just responding to the crisis. I think we need to be thinking more holistically about what’s possible to create in the post-COVID world.

AS JUNIOR DOCTORS AND FUTURE DOCTORS, IS THERE ANYTHING IN RELATION TO GENDER BASED VIOLENCE THAT YOU THINK WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF?

Violence against women is now defined very clearly as a global public health issue. The evidence is clear that it has an impact on women’s physical, mental and reproductive health. We also know that in Australia it’s the greatest health risk factor for women in their reproductive years - greater than smoking, alcohol and obesity.

who experience violence are engaging with doctors and health professionals more often. So doctors are inevitably going to be seeing women who have experienced violence. Globally, one in three women will experience sexual or physical abuse. So you will be seeing those women. The issue is that they don’t always present as experiencing violence through injuries - they may be presenting with a variety of other health consequences and concerns.

There’s a lot of work being done globally to help health workers identify and be able to provide the right treatment for people who are experiencing violence. So I would say it’s being aware.

Alongside this awareness though, there really needs to be a whole health system response. It has one of the highest health burdens of any health issue facing people in this country.

The WHO has some great guidelines on this for healthcare professionals. And it does really require training. It’s not just about asking the basic questions, it’s also about noticing the subtle signs and symptoms that might indicate experiences of violence. It’s also about being able to ask in sensitive and safe ways and then knowing ways to support women. I think it’s an area that should definitely be introduced into medical training.

As MEDICAL STUDENTS WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUALITY, DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW YOUNG PEOPLE CAN ADVOCATE IN THESE AREAS?

A few ways! There’s a public health approach. A lot of the work globally being done in the field of violence against women is being completed by public health experts who are medically trained. So there’s always the opportunity to combine being a doctor with a public health focus and then potentially have an influence on policies and health promotion in that regard.

But I also think it doesn’t necessarily have to be through the health space, it can be through talking about these issues in your families and communities or finding local organisations working on gender issues. I recommend trying to identify the space that you’re most passionate about, finding like-minded people and going from there. We [The Equality Institute] will also be starting to develop more resources and support for people to engage with these issues.

WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR THE EQUALITY INSTITUTE?

Within our organisation, we envision a world where diversity is celebrated, all people are respected, and resources are shared. We recognise that we are one Personally, I tend to be a big dreamer. I’ve always been interested in pushing things further. I have a vision of supporting people to be themselves, because I really feel that everyone benefits from gender equality - it’s really about people having the freedom to live the lives they want to live. I personally feel like feminism is for everyone and feminist leadership can help transform the world. So I guess my big vision is expanding the reach of that type of work and broadening the people who feel engaged in this issue. For us at The Equality Institute, that manifests in lots of different forms and I’m really open to seeing where that takes us as an organisation.

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