Develop Context-Specific Training Materials

Last edited: December 03, 2010

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Violence against women in cities is an issue that has been addressed by different actors in different cities around the world, that can be drawn from and adapted to different audiences. Using simple techniques and tools makes it easier for the participants and users to understand the issues and concepts that are being taught, including about different policies, legislation and conventions, as well as interventions. It is also important to use capacity development sessions as an opportunity to capture more information about the safety of women and girls in cities that can further inform the programme and future trainings or other capacity development needs. This includes sharing the results and experiences that programme partners have when they organize training sessions. Finally, it is important to make new training materials produced available, nationally and internationally to assist other safe cities for women programmers.

Provide training to public officials and service providers.

Training should be provided on the violence that women and girls suffer in cities as a consequence of the unequal power relations between men and women. This will promote a better understanding of how these relations are linked to violence.  Provide details on the factors that promote gender inequality in order to raise awareness about how they are often created and re-created in social relations and institutions. Public officials and service providers should be trained according to the role they will play in the development of a safe cities for women and girls initiative. Some government departments whose employees should receive training in a safe cities for women programme, given the role they can play in such initiatives, are planning, transit, social development, gender or women’s affairs, police, health, legal and justice personnel, among others.  In addition to formal training sessions by experts, personal testimonies by women and community members on issues of insecurity, sexual harassment and assault in training workshops, can be effective as part of the overall sensitization efforts and first-hand accounts of how gender plays  key role. Engagement of public sector personnel in public and community meetings also facilitate not only proximity to the real-life problems at hand, but serve to initiate and strengthen the process of citizen involvement in the development of national or local policy development on these issues.

Resources:

Ciudades sin violencia hacia las mujeres, ciudades seguras para todos y todas: Módulo de capacitación. [Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All: Training Module] (UNIFEM Regional Programme ‘Cities Without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All’, and implemented by Women and Habitat Network of Latin America and the Caribbean, funded by the United Nations Trust Fund, 2004). This tool was developed for use by government officials, civil society and women's organizations. It covers the basic concepts for starting awareness-raising and training activities on safe cities for women. Topics include security as a human right, the root causes of violence in cities, women’s feelings and experiences, and the different consequences of violence on the day-to-day lives of women. The training module also describes how violence against women can become invisible in society, and highlights the limitations of traditional approaches to women’s safety and security. 

Source: CISCSA-Centro de Intercambio y Servicios Cona Sur. 2004.  Ciudades sin violencia hacia las mujeres, ciudades seguras para todos y todas: Módulo de capacitación. (Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All: Training Module). Argentina. Available in Spanish.

Guía Metodológica del Manual “Herramientas para la Promoción de Ciudades Seguras desde la Perspectiva de Género” (Methodological Guide for the “Tools for the Promotion of Safe Cities from a Gender Perspective” Manual). Guatemala, 2008. This guide was created by Foundation Guatemala as part of the UNIFEM Regional Programme “Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All”, implemented by the Latin America Women and Habitat Network.  It provides worksheets and instructions for different activities and workshops that address the five conceptual modules developed in the manual Herramientas para la Promoción de Ciudades Seguras desde la Perspectiva de Género (Tools for the Promotion of Safe Cities from a Gender Perspective) (UNIFEM – Latin America Women and Habitat Network – AECID, 2006).  Each activity begins with specific objectives, the contents to be addressed, materials and equipment needed, time required, and procedure/methodology.  Even though this guide is based on the Guaemalan experience, generalised instructions have been provided so that diverse groups can adapt and use all workshops and activities.   Available in Spanish.  

Local Government Participatory Practices Manual: A Toolkit to Support Public Participation in Municipal Decision Making (Frojmovic, M., B. Elliott and L-M. Levac, 2007). Federation of Canadian Municipalities. This toolkit provides municipal governments and public servants (including urban planners) with a series of strategies to include more citizens in decision-making. These strategies include the publication and dissemination of information, the creation of resource centres, community outreach, the creation of electronic bulletin boards, public meetings, public hearings, open houses, workshops, focus groups, surveys, participatory television, mediation sessions, citizen advisory groups, and referendums. Safe cities for women programmes can use this toolkit to ensure that more women's voices (and more women's safety concerns) are heard at the municipal level. Available in  English and French.

Tools to Support Environmental Sustainability, Gender Equality and Social Cohesion (Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ International Centre for Municipal Development, 2008). This guide outlines how the issues of environmental sustainability, gender equality and social cohesion form cross-cutting themes that are essential to good municipal governance. Each section of this guide provides a checklist and tool for incorporating considerations of gender, the environment, and social cohesion into municipal government operations and municipal-level projects. Safe cities for women programmes can use this guide to help municipal governments understand how and why gender equality is important, and how and why gender equality is connected to other issues. Examples of other issues gender equality connects with include urban planning and design, raising awareness, and more. Available in English

 

Provide gender mainstreaming training for planning staff so that they understand the different ways men and women use space.  

The way a space is organized impacts men and women differently because of the different roles assigned to them. These different roles in turn impact the way they use space. It is important to promote gender mainstreaming so that urban design can be revised and the participation of women and the community considered in order to make planning more equal and inclusive for the whole community. Gender mainstreaming in planning should not only consider women who are being planned for, but also women who are active in planning (women planners can have unique insight into considerations such as women’s safety). Also, gender mainstreaming should be considered to be a concept that promotes equality and challenges people’s ideas about the roles assigned to men and women by society (Greed, C., 2007).

 

Raise awareness among public transit staff about the different ways that men and women use and experience public transit.

Women and girls experience various forms of sexual harassment and assault in public transport (in vehicles, buses, metros, trains, in stations and stops). Transit staff therefore first need to be made aware of the consequences of violence and perceptions of insecurity on the lives of women, including issues of fear and restricted mobility. Likewise, it is important to provide training regarding possible actions that transit staff and departments can implement to promote women’s and girls’ mobility and safety on public transit, as well as awareness of any policies and/or laws that may  be in place  requiring their fulfillment of related public duties. For example, training transport drivers on how to deal with possible sexual harassment and violent situations or promoting the inclusion of more women workers and drivers in public transit are among some of the actions that can be taken, as well as the launch of mass media ‘zero tolerance for sexual harassment’ campaigns. 

See the safe public transit section for more information.

 

 

CASE STUDY: Training Bus Drivers in New Delhi

From September to December 2007, JAGORI, a women’s training, documentation, communication and resource centre based in New Delhi, India, conducted training sessions on sexual harassment for bus drivers and conductors at the Nand Nagari Bus Depot. Over 3,500 bus drivers and conductors have undergone training with JAGORI as part of this initiative aimed at changing attitudes and beliefs about sexual harassment within a broader framework of gender discrimination. The sessions were conducted inside a stationary bus to give a feel of the real environment and to place the drivers and conductors literally in the shoes of passengers. The sessions were interactive and involved experience sharing, role plays and discussions with participants to finally come up with the role the participants (bus drivers and conductors) could themselves play in making bus journeys safe for women and girls. The sessions ended by emphasizing the role the of the Delhi Transport Corporation staff in ensuring safe travel for women and girls. Drivers and conductors shared their ideas regarding ways to handle situations of sexual harassment on their buses. The actions suggested varied from stopping the bus and refusing to move until the perpetrator gets out of the bus, to taking a detour to drop the woman off as close as possible to her home if required, especially late at night.

More recently, JAGORI has held train-the-trainer programmes with Delhi Transport Corporation driver trainers. During these trainings, JAGORI aimed to enhance the perspectives and knowledge of the participants to reflect on why violence and sexual harassment is all-pervasive and to find ways to eliminate it; and to enhance knowledge and communication skills to train the drivers/conductors/crew of the DTC in addressing these issues and ensuring prompt responses. A report on the training, including outline, recommendations and participant feedback, can be downloaded here. English and Hindi (in the same document).  

Source: JAGORI, New Delhi, India. No date. DTC Gender Trainings: Our Experiences.  Available in English

 

Provide training to people working in the social development sphere.

People working in such areas of social development as childhood, youth, violence, sexual diversity and culture, among others, should receive training about the causes of violence against women in the city and the impact urban violence has on the everyday lives of women and girls. Proper training will allow the staff to help make visible the many dimensions of the problem of gender-based violence. This will then make it easier to incorporate strategies that aim to promote women’s safety and equality into social development programmes. For example, cultural programmes can include components that focus on women's right to recreation in public spaces.

Provide training to departments responsible for gender or women’s affairs on safe cities for women and gender-based violence in public spaces.

The local government departments responsible for gender or women’s affairs are often charged with developing programmes for the prevention of domestic, family, and inter-family violence, and for providing aid to survivors/victims of such violence, but are not always adequately trained, including on how to ensure gender perspectives. Therefore, it is necessary to provide training that covers conceptual and practical issues, including about the impact of urban violence on the lives of women, the links between gender discrimination and gender-based violence in both public and private spaces, and about promising practices to develop  and integrated programmes with multi-faceted, multi-sectoral strategies for addressing violence against women and girls in public spaces.  For coordinating entities of such multi-sectoral efforts, such as women’s municipal offices, it is also important to consider training on strategies for how to foster, manage and monitor cooperation and response by other actors and sectors.

Provide training to police, including community police.

Police and community police are key actors in creating safe cities for women and girls due to their responsibility to work to prevent and respond to violence in public spaces. Their presence in streets, plazas, and pedestrian areas of the city means that they are often in direct contact with women and girls. Police and community police are people women should be able to look to for help when facing situations of violence. This is why it is important that they receive training on the issues related to violence against women in private and public spaces – so they can better understand and relate to women and girls when they are in contact with them.

 

Provide safe cities for women training to local women’s groups and organizations.

Providing women with information about public policy and government plans and programmes, particularly around participatory mechanisms and/or mechanisms that promote safe cities for women and girls enables women to generate knowledge for action and increases women's participation in decision-making. Giving women's groups tools to build their leadership skills and empowering them to engage in discussions with municipal officials about their demands and proposals for making their city safer is a first step to ensuring women’s contributions to municipal politics, plans and programmes. The subsequent negotiation of these proposals enables women to make themselves visible as citizens and realize their potential as agents of change; thereby exercising their right to live a life free of violence. As part of an ongoing training and empowerment process, safe cities for women programme partners should design actions that will allow the women who have received the training to share their knowledge about safe cities for women to other women’s and community groups. This facilitates the building of community strategies and networks for making gender-based violence more visible as a community problem, and for the development of more integrated proposals to address violence against women.

 

Case Study: Workshop - Between Us: A Meeting and Development Space for the Women of Santa Clara [Taller Entre Nosotras: Un lugar de encuentro y desarrollo para mujeres de la población Santa Clara]

Prepared by SUR Corporation, member of the Women and Habitat Network in Chile, this document presents the main components of a workshop that was developed with a group of women in a poor neighbourhood in the outskirts of Santiago. The main objectives of the workshop were: (1) To promote personal development, capacity development and gender awareness among the participants; (2) To promote women’s empowerment, participation and organization; and (3) To strengthen women’s voices in proposals for the physical improvement of public spaces in the neighbourhood. Overall, it was an enriching and empowering experience from which the following developments emerged:

> The workshop was a new experience for all of the participants. Although some had a long history as community leaders, none had participated in a workshop on personal development with other residents of the community. The women were very supportive of this collective experience.

> The workshop led to the development of interpersonal ties between the participants and led to increased confidence among individual women. The feeling of ‘being among friends’ was a positive step for the participants and laid the foundation for organizing the women for future action.

> The increased gender awareness enabled women to reflect on their lives using new perspectives. It also allowed them to see how gender discrimination and violence against women are part of a historical continuum. They were able to share their suffering and heal their wounds in a safe, supportive, and respectful space. It was a very restorative experience. The women were empowered through the process of learning about the strengths and the strategies used by the other women when faced with abuse.

> The fact that these women recognized that they had rights and reflected on their circumstances and positions as women within a couple, a family and a community was a very important achievement in terms of strengthening their identities.

> The workshop reaffirmed the value of using participatory methodologies that draw on women’s lived experiences and asked participants to be both reflective and playful. The workshops recognized that both the emotional and physical self are fundamental pillars of self-awareness and knowledge, the development of social skills, and the ability to interact and communicate with others (Rojas Bravo, Ximena, 2008).  

Source: Rojas Bravo, X. 2008. Taller Entre Nosotras: Un lugar de encuentro y desarrollo para mujeres de la población Santa Clara.  Edition SUR. Santiago de Chile. Available in Spanish.

 

CASE STUDY: Focus Group with the Women of Suba (Colombia)

 Thirty five women leaders of social organizations in Suba, Columbia, were selected to be part of a focus group training programme on women's rights, the causes and manifestations of violence against women in public spaces, and advocacy related to public policies, with the goal of forming a group of women dedicated to building safe cities. Specifically, this process was carried out around the following topics:

> Training in human rights and women's rights.

> Training in basic concepts of participation, knowledge of existing laws,

   opportunities and mechanisms for participation at the local and national level.

> Developing evaluation tools and policy proposals through safety audits and 

   matrices.

> Partcipating in local citizens’ committees, local congresses, and local planning

   council to influence policy-making.

A participatory evaluation was completed in which the women’s organizations assessed the different actions and programmes undertaken by the local government and developed proposals to improve the local government’s response on safe cities for women. The two main objectives of the evaluation were to promote the autonomy and strength of the participating organizations, and to improve the local government’s actions for preventing and responding to cases of violence against women.  Some achievements of the training sessions with local women leaders include:

Documentation of the different ways in which women and girls experience violence in public spaces (including the places where violence can occur) and the causes of violence;

Proposals for action;

The creation of a policy-advocacy intervention programme for safer cities for women.  This includes the following proposed actions, with responsible parties and women’s and girls’ safety objectives for cities and communities identified: 

- Regulation of the closure of public and private lots by municipalities;

- Allowing the public to use of green spaces and guaranteeing proper lighting and  

  maintenance of these spaces;

Developing educational programmes for women

Training the ecological police and the community on informal surveillance of public spaces intended for recreational use;

Building bus stops for women and girls with adequate lighting;

Giving the City of Rosario’s Office of Public Spaces tools for developing public spaces that respect gender differences; and,

Optimising public transport and bus services to avoid overcrowding.

As a result of this training, the 35 women who participated in the process became more active in the community, participating in such activities as:

The Security and Neighbourly Living Pact in the neighbourhood of Rincon;

The District Agenda of local women’s organizations, sponsored by the Secretary of Public Policy of Women and Gender;

The development of a proposal with the Local Planning Council;

The process of creating the Development Plan for the Municipality of Suba, and the District Development Plan, in which spaces for reflection and including a gender perspective was introduced and the topic of violence against women was put on the municipal and district-level public agendas.

The combination of training provided to women’s groups about the issue of women’s safety in cities, accompanied with the space provided for their overall empowerment, led to their participation in (mainstream) local public policy development on safer cities.

These actions were carried out under the framework of the UNIFEM Regional Programme “Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All” implemented by the Women and Habitat Network of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Source:  Dalmazzo, M., N. Serrano and L. Cardona. 2008. Ciudades Seguras: Violencia Contra las mujeres y Políticas Públicas: Bogotá, Colombia - Localidad de Suba. Red Mujer Y Hábitat, Colombia.  Available in Spanish.

Training community groups and organizations on issues related to women’s safety in cities increases the potential of using existing community resources, widening social networks, and developing more holistic strategies.

It is important to include community groups and other organizations as well as diverse members of the public such as men, boys, girls, and different vulnerable groups in safe cities for women and girls training sessions. Making violence against women more visible and positioning it as everyone’s problem and responsibility, rather than as an individual woman’s problem, opens the door to including the topics of women’s safety and gender equality in a variety of different but related actions. For example, organizations and groups already working to promote human rights, community participation, or the construction of more egalitarian cities could incorporate violence prevention and safe cities for women and girls actions directly into the work they are already doing.

 

 

Case Study: Simpcw First Nation (British Columbia, Canada)

Simpcw First Nation planned, delivered and evaluated three one-day workshops to introduce the topic of community safety through interventions and prevention of abuse and violence. The focus was on First Nation youth and survivors of abuse, as well as mentors and resource people who provide support for community safety. Workshops identified different resources that can be used to promote safety, created awareness about the types of abuse that exist, and developed strategies to respond to and prevent abuse and violence.

Source: Ministry of Community Services, British Columbia. 2006. Community Guide for Preventing Violence against Women. Victoria: Government of British Columbia, Canada: page 24. Available in English.

Train mass media professionals and journalists on how to report on violence against women.

The importance of the role of the media, (printed press, cinema, radio, television, and the internet, etc.) in forming public opinion cannot be underestimated. The information provided by the media, often far from neutral, can reproduce stereotypes about the behaviour and relationships between men and women. On the other hand, the media can be an important tool used to provide information and points of view that challenge these stereotypes and raise awareness about the various causes of gender-based violence, including structural causes. It is therefore important to be proactive in providing training to media professionals about the responsibility that they carry regarding the treatment of information in situations of gender-based violence in both public and private spaces. (Rodigou; 7: 2007). In a safe cities for women and girls programme, it is important to know what kind of work is already being done to improve media representation of gender-based violence in different cities. Programme partners can then try to build alliances with the people leading these actions to that they can learn from their experience and develop their own training programmes for journalists. These alliances can also strengthen a safe cities for women programme. Journalists who have received training can share their knowledge with other journalists. This will build their capacity to ensure responsible reporting on gender-based violence and on how to avoid reinforcing negative gender stereotypes. It is important to have the support of journalists in order to challenge and change the ways in which events of gender-based violence are dealt with and conveyed by the mass media.

 

Resources:

Gender

 Guide for Trainers: For a Secure Urban Environment: Training in Safety Management (Guide des formatrices et formateurs: Pour un environnement urbain sécuritaire: Formation en aménagement sécuritaire), (Comité d’action femmes et sécurité urbaine [CAFSU] and Programme Femmes et Ville, 2004). This training kit provides training guidance for public officials and private contractors, developers and architects on the creation of safe cities for women. The kit is divided into three sections, with training materials directed at sensitization/awareness raising about safe cities, sensitization/awareness raising about managing safe cities, and discussion about targetted interventions. Available in French.

Guía Metodológica del Manual “Herramientas para la Promoción de Ciudades Seguras desde la Perspectiva de Género” (Methodological Guide for the “Tools for the Promotion of Safe Cities from a Gender Perspective” Manual). Guatemala, 2008. This guide was created by Foundation Guatemala as part of the UNIFEM Regional Programme “Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All”, implemented by the Latin America Women and Habitat Network.  It provides worksheets and instructions for different activities and workshops that address the five conceptual modules developed in the manual Herramientas para la Promoción de Ciudades Seguras desde la Perspectiva de Género (Tools for the Promotion of Safe Cities from a Gender Perspective) (UNIFEM – Latin America Women and Habitat Network – AECID, 2006).  Each activity begins with specific objectives, the contents to be addressed, materials and equipment needed, time required, and procedure/methodology.  Even though this guide is based on the Guaemalan experience, generalised instructions have been provided so that diverse groups can adapt and use all workshops and activities.   Available in Spanish.

Gendersite: Gender and the Built Environment Database (2008). Gendersite is an online resource centre developed by the Women’s Design Service and intended to be used by decision-makers, architects, and planners to develop a deeper understanding about gender issues and the built environment. It provides international case studies to illustrate the link between gender and the built environment. The site also contains a searchable database of resources (books, journal articles, theses) on gender, gender equality, and the built environment. Available in English.

Capacity-Building in Family Violence Prevention, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. “City of Charlotteotwn, Prince Edward Island: Violence Prevention Program” in Women’s Safety – A Shared Global Concern: Compendium of Practices and Policies 2008 (International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, 2008): pages 15-16. In the city of Charlottetown, an educational entertainment and consciousness-building programme was instituted for municipal employees on family violence prevention. The programme offered sessions lasting from one to three hours, incorporating a video and four presentation modules that can be used individually or together, depending on the audience.  This media programme is still being used and all new employees and elected officials follow this capacity-building program. It is now incorporated within the administrative practices and politics of the Charlottetown’s Human Resources Department, which means that its long-term sustainability is assured. To complement these resources, an additional information kit was designed and given to each employee. The kit contains a small yellow reference card with the names and telephone numbers of the local authorities that offer help to victims of violence.  Currently, this kit is a permanent part of the uniform that many municipal workers are given (Travers et al., 15). Available in English, French and Spanish.

 

Police

Manual de Capacitación para la Guardia Urbana Municipal (Training Manual for the Municipal Urban Guard (GUM) (CISCSA, 2008). This training manual was developed for community police in the city of Rosario, Argentina. It brings together information covered in different training workshops given to the Municipal Urban Guard on violence against women in cities. The manual is structured in four modules and two appendices. Main topics covered include the following: making the links between urban violence and violence against women, deconstructing myths and assumptions, international conventions, national and provincial laws, and responding to and preventing gender-based violence. Each module includes theoretical and informative content as well as practical exercises for reflection and analysis that can be used as tools to evaluate the training. The manual was developed within the framework of the UNIFEM Regional and Programme ‘Cities Without Violence against Women, Safe Cities For All’, implemented by the Women Habitat Network of Latin American and the Caribbean.  Available in Spanish.

 

Civil Society

Women's Safety: From Dependence to Autonomy: CAFSU’s Toolkit (Michaud, A. in collaboration with M. Chappaz, 2001). Comité d'Action Femmes et Sécurité Urbaine, Canada. This is a toolkit for creating a comprehensive intervention model on women's urban safety. It focuses on approaches that empower women to take charge of their own security and provides information about the causes and consequences of women' fear of crime, as well as the myths and prejudices that surround them. The toolkit covers: intervention approaches; specific activities for men, women, and the general public; community mobilization strategies; and planning and design tips. Available in English, French and Spanish.

 

ACTIVITY - “Good Leader/Bad Leader” (YWCA, 2006). This activity can be used to increase leadership capacity among young women, by building self-confidence and  recognising the positive leadership skills that they already possess. Participants discuss why they do or do not admire certain leaders and are encouraged to work collectively. Results can be connected to safer cities programming by talking about what leadership qualities are needed by different actors in order to make cities safer for women and girls. Available in English, French and Spanish.

Jóvenes al Ruedo (Young People in Action) Workbook (Bruera, S. and M. González in collaboration with M. Bengoa. 2007). Red de Educación Popular entre Mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe: pages 35 – 55. This workbook can be for capacity-building with young men and women on the following themes: cities, insecurity and violence; different forms of violence in cities; young people in action; social (de)construction of (in)security; and living together in safe cities. Chapter 3 deals specifically with the different forms of gender-based violence in cities, and it includes practical activities for addressing the issue with young people. Developed by REPEM (Red de Educación Popular entre Mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe), under the UNIFEM Regional Programme “Cities without Violence against Women, Safe Cities for All” implemented by the Women and Habitat Network of Latin America and the Caribbean. Available in Spanish.

Working with Men in Preventing Gender-based Violence in the Horn, East and Southern Africa: A Regional Dialogue (Raising Voices and UN-HABITAT, Safer Cities Programme, 2004): pages 44–52. This chapter of a guide brings together the experiences of different African organizations who work with men on the issue of violence against women. Special attention is given to lessons learned and recommendations related to capacity development and/or sensitizing men and boys. In a safe cities for women and girls programme, it is important to organize activities with boys and young men in order to build more sustainable equal relations between the two genders. It is also essential for increasing respect for women's autonomy and for the non-violent resolution of conflict. Additional issues that must be addressed with men and boys are the deconstruction of traditional norms of masculinity and the greater involvement of men with the family, particularly as fathers. Available in English.    

 

Media

La Violencia hacia las mujeres en los medios de comunicación. Transformando las noticias. (Violence against Women in the Media: Transforming the News) (2007). This tool, developed in Rosario, Argentina, is intended to help journalists accurately portray gender-based violence in the media.  The tool includes a glossary of non-sexist language, a critical analysis of some news stories published in local newspapers, references to websites providing information on violence against women, and an appendix with tools aimed at avoiding the reproduction of gender stereotypes in journalistic work. Developed within the framework of the UNIFEM Regional Programme "Cities Without Violence against Women, Safe Cities For All", and implemented by the Women and Habitat Network of Latin America and the Caribbean.  Source: 2007. La Violencia hacia las mujeres en los medios de comunicación. Transformando las noticias. (Violence against Women in the Media: Transforming the News). UNIFEM, AECI, CISCSA.   Available in Spanish

Advancing a Prevention Frame Through Media (Prevention Connection: The Violence against Women Prevention Partnership, 2006). California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, USA. This tool is a short slide presentation to be used by any group of actors that wishes to ensure that the media accurately portray the seriousness of the issue of violence against women. The presentation outlines how organizations and the media can talk about violence against women in a way that communicates that the issue is important and harmful to society as a whole. Examples are given for "framing" stories about violence against women and girls in the news. Samples of different ways to approach stories are also provided. Available in English; 14:43 minutes.

Decálogo para el tratamiento periodístico de la violencia contra las mujeres (Ten Norms for the Journalistic Treatment of Violence against Women) (PAR (Periodistas de Argentina en Red por una communicación no sexista)  (Network of Argentine Journalists), 2008). This guide is designed for journalists and others who work in the media industry, and provides ten basic recommendations for covering stories about violence against women. Available in Spanish.