SASA! Act now against violence
Themes:
Methods:
SASA! is an exploration of power—what it is, who has it, how it is used, how it is abused and how power dynamics between women and men can change for the better. SASA! demonstrates how understanding power and its effects can help us prevent violence against women and HIV infection.SASA! Activist Kit
SASA! means ‘now!’ in Kiswahili. This comprehensive approach combines tools and a systematic process for community mobilisation to prevent violence against women and HIV. SASA! was developed by Raising Voices and is being implemented in Kampala, Uganda by the Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention (CEDOVIP).
The SASA! Study, a cluster randomised controlled trial, assesses the impact of the SASA! programme on violence and HIV prevention. The SASA! Study is designed to measures changes in:
- attitudes towards gender roles and norms
- levels of intimate-partner violence (IPV)
- HIV-related behaviours
- community responses to violence against women.
SASA! and the SASA! study are part of a broader portfolio of research being undertake by STRIVE and the Gender, Violence and Health Centre at LSHTM. The research aims to identify effective interventions to prevent intimate partner violence, and to address gender inequality as a structural driver of HIV.
Addressing the underlying causes of HIV
SASA! takes an innovative approach to community mobilisation. Rather than providing factual information on violence and HIV risk, SASA! addresses the imbalance of power between women and men that underlies both epidemics.
SASA! is an acronym for a four-phase process:
- Start thinking about violence against women and HIV/AIDS as interconnected issues and the need to personally address these issues
- Raise awareness about communities’ acceptance of men’s use of power over women, which fuels HIV/AIDS and violence against women
- Support women and men directly affected by or involved in these issues to change
- Take action to prevent HIV/AIDS and violence against women.
Resources
Publications
- Ecological pathways to prevention: How does the SASA! community mobilisation model work to prevent physical intimate partner violence against women?
- Cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of a community mobilisation intervention to reduce IPV in Kampala, Uganda
- The impact of SASA!, a community mobilisation intervention, on women’s experiences of intimate partner violence: secondary findings from a cluster randomised trial in Kampala, Uganda
- A community mobilisation intervention to prevent violence against women and reduce HIV/AIDS risk in Kampala, Uganda (the SASA! Study): study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
- Violence against women and HIV risk behaviours in Kampala, Uganda: Baseline findings from the SASA! study
- Findings from the SASA! Study: a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a community mobilization intervention to prevent violence against women and reduce HIV risk in Kampala, Uganda
- The impact of SASA!, a community mobilization intervention, on reported HIV-related risk behaviours and relationship dynamics in Kampala, Uganda
- 'SASA! is the medicine that treats violence'. Qualitative findings on how a community mobilisation intervention to prevent violence against women created change in Kampala, Uganda
- Changing the norms that drive intimate partner violence: findings from a cluster randomised trial on what predisposes bystanders to take action in Kampala, Uganda
Reports
Videos
- SASA! An introduction
- SASA! An introduction (subtitled)
- STRIVE’s video about SASA!, fimed in Uganda in December 2012
News
- STRIVE and SASA! at the UN Commission for the Status of Women
- STRIVE and SASA! at the UN Commission for the Status of Women 2013 - photo gallery
- STRIVE workshop on social norms theory and practice: Resources available to download
- Presentation by Lori Michau from STRIVE's meeting on social norms
- World Bank launches Voice and Agency: Empowering women and girls for shared prosperity
- 'Beating your wife is sign of love' - article by Tanya Abramsky for the Guardian
- The Drum Beat 688 - HIV Communication: Focus on Evidence, Impact
- Violence Prevention Centre launched
Other resources
SASA! is an exploration of power—what it is, who has it, how it is used, how it is abused and how power dynamics between women and men can change for the better. SASA! demonstrates how understanding power and its effects can help us prevent violence against women and HIV infection.SASA! Activist Kit
