The first phase of the campaign focussed on increasing awareness and the promotion of reflection on violence against women among individuals and groups. Highly visible public events were used for this. ‘We Can’ at this point encouraged and stimulated change at the personal level. The Change Makers who signed on to the campaign have shown a considerable shift in their attitudes and beliefs. This is manifest in actions that they have taken in their own lives and in actions that have supported others facing violent and discriminatory situations.

The aim of phase two of the campaign is to bring different groups and relevant sectors in the community together to build momentum to the process of change. It involves preparing community members to take a public stand and action on violence against women. In this phase, old Change Makers are being mobilised/remobilised and encouraged to initiate actions/interactions at their level to in order to deepen their change and build their own informal networks in their areas of influence.

Objectives of Phase II

The thrust behind this phase is to:

• Bring realisation of the benefits of violence free relationships among individuals and communities
• Build responsibility among individuals and communities to evolve violence free relationships
• Encourage efforts of individuals and communities to bring the issue of domestic violence into the public domain
• Facilitate the growth in numbers of Change Makers so as to reach a critical mass needed to propel change
• Empower women to feel confident about opposing domestic violence

The Campaign Approach for Phase II

The campaign in this phase will aim to:

• Deepen understanding of old Change Makers about violence against women, linking violence to gender inequality
• Support women within communities and build their confidence
• Encourage formal/informal networking amongst Change Makers
• Promote an ownership to the campaign amongst Change Makers

In particular, the campaign will with the help of alliance members and Change Makers:

• Re-engage Change Makers and support them to deepen their own understanding
• Engage with institutions to sustain the campaign and the change for the future

The Highlight of Phase II: 1000 Events

This phase has been flagged off with a call to all Change Makers to initiate voluntary events/interactions within their community, family and work areas all of which would add up to 1000 events per district. In short, there will be 1000 instances/interactions or action, which Change Makers individually or a group shall initiate in a district within his /her sphere of influence.

The idea is to involve a wider audience, deepen the understanding of Change Makers about issues related to violence against women, sustain change and mobilise new change makers.

For every event, the Change Makers will:

• Identify group(s) of people within their sphere of influence – they will form a group of minimum of ten people
• Talk to them about violence against women
• Hold a minimum of an hour’s discussion on the issue of violence against women and gender based discrimination as per the agreed format

Nature of 1000 Events

The events could take the form of

• gatherings at home, street corner/shop corners
• organising of public meetings, krishi melas and village festival melas
• tapping into classrooms, clubs, entertainment centres
• tying up with meetings with the members of self help groups and village committees and also using the platforms of ward sabhas and gram sabha

Communication materials created for the campaign will be widely distributed.

The Role of the Alliance

The alliance in this phase will:

• Make clear the idea of 1000 events to the Change Makers
• Engage with the current Change Makers to initiate events
• Develop and administer easy to use monitoring systems for 1000 events
• Ensure visibility of the campaign and the events through information dissemination
• Promote the development of communication material
• Work with media
• Work with institutions