This volume emphatically reminds us that violence exerted repeatedly and at scale requires a combination of intentional disempowerment, dehumanization, brutalization, exploitation, and isolation. The collective contributions expose these forms of marginalization and othering. Their works put forward a call to action; to continue advocating for the kind of transformative change that our contributors and those on the losing side of IBMV demand and deserve.
The concrete policy recommendations outlined in the volume seek to direct a much greater balance of resources toward the transformation of the structures, institutions, and systems that enable violence. This commitment to address the structural conditions forces new thinking and requires operating in new, specific, targeted, and sometimes imaginative ways.
The good news is communities are, in many ways, already doing this innovative work. It is time for us to listen harder. Learn about some of these transformational stories in the videos below.
Founder of the community-based organization The Legend Kenya, Rose Mbone shares how women have led the transformation of community and individual healing in the midst of collective trauma through their shared leadership and courage. Mbone shows how women in informal settlements of Nairobi have found healing from trauma following extrajudicial killings of loved ones—mostly men—and, from this, built stronger social ties between police and the community.
Barbara “Bobbi” Sherrod’s story about restorative practices to make schools more fair and just highlights the structural violence, especially against Black girls, that has been codified and maintained through school policies and practice. She shows how schools become unsafe spaces for some children and how racial bias and unequal responses to youth behavior have damaging consequences for individuals and communities more broadly.
Safecity is a platform that empowers girls and young women to understand and address gender-based violence. ElsaMarie D’Silva tells the story of how Safecity was founded in India and has educated and trained young women and young men on how sexual violence affects them.
In Plateros, a neighborhood in Mexico City deeply affected by violence, the Ceasefire program has helped reduce homicides by promoting a more humane and empathetic approach by law enforcement. José Luis’s story explores the difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness faced by those affected by the violence.
