Overcoming Resistance to Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

 

By Joanne Creighton, SDDirect's GBV in Emergencies Lead 

 

The fourth blog in our Overcoming Resistance blog series examines the pervasive resistance feminists working to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) face when countering this form of gender inequality.  It considers forms of resistance, where resistance comes from and offers some insights and reflections on strategies for countering noxious resistance to ending VAWG and claiming women’s and girl’s rights to live lives free from violence.

 

 

 

Feminists working to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) are no strangers to resistance. Every feminist I’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with – wherever she is in the world - sadly doesn’t just have the one story of facing some form of push-back.  It appears everywhere—Everyday sexism – anyone? Over time our filters can even clog up with the toxicity of it. We experience anything from casual social pushback to coordinated online abuse, threats, violence and obstruction. Over time, this resistance becomes so routine it risks numbing us, while the deeper toxicity of patriarchy can creep inward[i] if we’re not vigilant.

 

Image credit: @illustrationsbyanniee

 

Where resistance to ending violence against women and girls comes from

Resistance continues to emanate from individuals, institutions, and even States threatened by women’s and girls’ equality and self‑determination. It is fuelled by misogynists and those aligned with them: anti‑gender movements, men’s rights activists, incels, anti‑abortionists, extremists, and authoritarians. Their motivations are familiar: retaining power, control, and the financial and social benefits of women’s unpaid labour, which silently props up failing systems and economies.

 

How resistance shows up

Resistance manifests at every level: personal, community, institutional, and societal. Some forms are overt, like backlash and harassment; others are subtler, like appeasement, co‑option, or obstruction masked as “debate” or “concern”. I find the VicHealth model is a helpful tool in naming these tactics, understanding where individuals sit along the spectrum of resistance at any given time, and identifying who sits in the “moveable middle” -the people with whom engagement may actually be productive.

I also find this model helpful because of its nuance.  The dial structure of the model helps to illustrate how oppressors - or the entrenched opposition - can swing between a range of forms and tactics to try and derail feminists from achieving their goal.

Source: VicHealth (2018). (En)countering resistance: Strategies to respond to resistance to gender equality initiatives, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne.

Feminists are effective!  Truth!

One heartening truth: we face resistance because we are effective. Feminist movements are successful. Backlash is often a response to progress. This is evident in the global rollbacks on women’s rights, LGBTQI+ rights, and broader civil liberties. Yet despite this, recent gains show what persistent feminist leadership, influencing and activism can achieve:

• 60 countries have expanded abortion rights in the past thirty years.[ii]
• Mexico and Japan have elected their first female leaders; Ireland has its third female leader. Spain and Chile now have gender‑parity cabinets.[iii]
• The UN tracks that over 540 legal and policy reforms benefiting women and girls have advanced globally between 2019-2024.[iv]
• Brazil[v], Ukraine[vi], the UK[vii] and others have introduced new protections or strategies against gender-based violence.
• Cultural norms are slowly shifting, with schools adopting anti‑misogyny lessons for boys to address toxic masculinity after the widespread viewing of Netflix show ‘Adolescence’.[viii]

These achievements matter. They are matched by countless daily acts of feminist labour: case workers supporting survivors, community leaders being supported to challenge harmful norms relating to violence against women and girls, men and boys being given alternative tools to violence and unlearning violent behaviours through sustained accountable practice. These quiet revolutions are happening all the time.

In times of despondency, I encourage you to take stock of gains made by feminist movements and activists around the world, and to document your own. Find joy in this – as joy is an act of resistance[1] in and of itself. I find it helps fuel and sustain further action, particularly in challenging times.

Counter‑strategies that work - reclaiming resistance

After 25 years in this field, resistance often feels like a tug of war. Progress isn’t linear but overall, we continue to advance. As Lyric Thompson notes, gender equality change is a continual cycle of “contest, conquest, and change.”[ix]

The VicHealth Framework offers 13 smart strategies[x] which I encourage you to explore, I will handpick just a few, (and couple with broader feminist practice), that remain essential:

1. Expect resistance. Anticipating pushback keeps us centred and less easily derailed.
2. Frame, don’t shame. Engage the moveable middle with clarity, not personal attack. Myths must be countered, even when evidence alone won’t sway the entrenched opposition.
3. Monitor impact. Feedback, whether formal or informal, helps identify resistance patterns and refine approaches.
4. Harness peers and networks. Collective thinking and collective care mitigate isolation, bolster safety, and can spark creativity.
5. Prioritise wellbeing. The cumulative toxicity of anti‑rights resistance can overwhelm us. Self‑care and organisational duty of care are not optional, they’re foundational.

Self and collective care[xi] may mean slowing down, shifting tactics, redistributing labour, or passing the baton to others in the movement. As bell hooks reminds us, care and (in her words) -love, is the antidote to domination. Building alliances across movements strengthens our collective resistance and our resilience.

“But no country can do this alone […] The backlash is coordinated. So our response must also be coordinated.  Let’s renew our commitment together. To stand beside women and girls, for their safety, their dignity, and their justice.” Remarks of Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness, and Crisis Response at a recent 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) side event – the Group of Friends gathering. Source: UN Women (16 March 2026).  Durable impact and delivery at the centre of efforts to end violence against women and girls.

Beyond the more formal strategies (such as preparing policy briefings, convening dialogues etc.), feminist resistance is also endlessly creative: marches, songs, murals, protest haircuts, joy-making, withdrawing unpaid labour to name just a few of the ways. Women and girls worldwide resist even in the harshest conditions, finding and creating connections between us. But this work cannot continue and be sustained on passion and drive alone. As the anti‑gender movement receives vast sums of money[xii] and pours it into coordinated rollbacks, feminist movements need sustained, fair resourcing equal to the scale of the challenge.  Allies and champions must double-down in calling for all States to resource and be held accountable for the commitments they have, in many cases, already made to ending violence against women and girls but, which remain unfulfilled.

 

So, whilst our individual roles within the movement may change over time, our place within it endures. Through solidarity, non‑violent resistance, collective care, and a refusal to relinquish progress, we reclaim resistance as ours—until violence against all women and girls stops.