The issue of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) sparks passionate and often polarized debates. While society rightfully questions the accountability of perpetrators, it is also relevant to consider the role that women can or should play in this struggle—not as a misplaced search for guilt, but as an exploration of possible avenues for action and transformation.
Empowerment as a Proactive Stance
Women, the primary victims of GBV, are not devoid of agency. The context calls for a redefinition of roles: rather than passively enduring the effects of patriarchal structures, they are invited to question, subvert, and sometimes reinvent them. From this perspective, a fundamental question emerges: what responsibilities do women bear in the fight against the violence they suffer?
Responsibility or Power to Act?
First, we must distinguish between responsibility and blame. Responsibility does not imply bearing the burden of acts committed by others but identifying points of influence within a collective dynamic. Whether relevant or not, in family or educational contexts within many African societies, for example, women often play a central role in transmitting norms. Raising children with values of mutual respect, fairness, and equality can serve as a radical act of prevention. But is that enough to break cycles that have been entrenched for centuries?
Speech as a Liberating Weapon
Beyond the private sphere, one of women’s key responsibilities is to make their voices heard. Denouncing violence, although risky, is crucial to breaking the silence and revealing often invisible realities. However, this requires a safe and supportive environment, which institutional and social structures must ensure. Thus, the responsibility to speak out cannot be assumed without a concurrent responsibility from protective systems.
A Shared Struggle, an Assertive Leadership
Fundamentally, one could argue that a woman’s primary responsibility is to herself: to protect her integrity, cultivate her autonomy, and assert her place in public spaces. However, this personal quest fits within a collective responsibility. Through mobilization, organization, and solidarity, women can assume leadership roles in movements for social transformation. They are already doing so, increasingly fostering sisterhood as a political means to express themselves, liberate themselves, define themselves, and project themselves into the world. It is therefore essential to structure inclusive approaches where women can continue to play leadership roles without being the sole bearers of the fight.
And What About Men?
Yet, a persistent pitfall remains: framing this responsibility as an exclusively female burden. Men, institutions, and society as a whole are equally responsible for deconstructing dynamics of domination. Women cannot stand alone on the frontlines, as that would reproduce the very imbalances they are fighting against.
Men have a crucial role to play in combating Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Their active involvement helps break the silence, affirm that those who perpetrate such acts are a minority, and create positive models of masculinity for present and future generations.
By engaging, men provide a counterbalance to overarching narratives that, while understandable, risk polarizing the debate. Their participation fosters a more nuanced and inclusive approach, where the fight against violence becomes a collective effort. Moreover, this engagement encourages men to move beyond their own perspectives to understand and support women’s social experiences, translating their feelings of love or admiration into concrete actions.
In sum, men’s involvement is essential for dismantling stereotypes, promoting equity, and building a future where respect and dignity are shared by all.
However, this ideal can only be achieved in an environment that allows both men and women to flourish. Support systems, inclusive public policies, and a collective will to dismantle oppressive norms must accompany this shared responsibility.
A Challenge for Humanity
Ultimately, women’s responsibilities in addressing GBV are less obligations than opportunities: opportunities to redefine the contours of a fairer society, where everyone—women and men alike—participates in building a world free of violence. This reflection transcends gender to become a challenge for humanity: how do we reconcile individual responsibility with collective transformation?
Because in the fight for safety, well-being, and gender equality, it is not only women who are called to act, but the collective conscience—the universal conscience—that must awaken.
© Djamile Mama Gao – Slammer – Writer – Performer – Journalist – Entrepreneur.