WUNRN
AWID - Association for Women's
Rights in Development
Direct Link to 29-Page Report:
GSC
Activist Resource Final 2009.pdf 622.94 kB
COMMUNICATING CHANGE: LEARNING FROM
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS' CAMPAIGNS FOR LEGAL AND
POLICY CHANGE
How do activists communicate the need for legal and policy change through their campaigns for women’s equal rights? What are some strategies for effective communication of campaign goals? The aim of this resource is to answer these questions by analyzing activists’ experiences in campaigning for women’s equal rights. This study was inspired by the successes of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum in 2005.
"The Forum brought together over 1,800 activists, academics and funders from around the globe to pool their existing knowledge and to deepen their understanding of social transformation to advance women’s rights.
The Global Strategies for Change (GSC) Project was conducted from May 2006 to May 2008 with the support of an AWID Forum seed grant. This resource is based on the data we collected and analyzed from a sample of 70 women’s rights campaigns from around the globe. Only campaigns for women’s rights that intended to achieve either legislative or policy change at the local, national, or international levels were included in the sample. We did not include campaigns that only serve an educational or awarenessraising purpose. The data were derived from activists that completed an online survey data in English, Spanish, or French in 2006-2007 and the 2004 AWID call for case studies. In 2008, GSC project researchers conducted in-depth follow up telephone interviews with activists.
This resource report is organized around three major topics. First, we are interested in gaining an understanding of the major trends in how women’s rights activists are going about communicating their goals of legislative and policy reform in the public sphere. We pay particular attention to the way that activists have “framed” and communicated social, political, legal, and economic issues in order to improve women’s rights. Frames are used in social movements to highlight and give meaning to particular events, behaviors, or issues, while backgrounding others. Framing aims to identify the social or political problem or issue at stake, mobilize constituents for change, and may also include suggestions for action.1 By focusing on the way that issues are framed, we are able to better understand the particular ideological undercurrents of the campaign. Moreover, we are also able to identify important persuasive techniques for broadening public and official support for women’s rights campaigns."
Please note: The summary above has been adapted directly from the original source.
Report Prepared by: Alexandra Pittman, with assistance from Anna Workman
Data Analysis by: Alexandra Pittman
Date: February 2009
To access the report, please download the following pdf file
GSC
Activist Resource Final 2009.pdf 622.94 kB
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