International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Across the world, progress has been made in addressing violence against women. Closer home, many African countries have passed strong laws, and the African Union’s Maputo Protocol stands as a continental commitment to uphold women’s rights. However, even with these frameworks, the daily experiences of many women show that laws alone cannot prevent harm. The challenge lies not only in the existence of rules but in how deeply they connect with the realities of people’s lives.

From a community perspective, the roots of violence and silence are often intertwined with social expectations, family structures, and cultural understandings of gender. In many African societies, the family or clan remains the first place people turn to when problems arise. This local approach can be a source of strength, helping to preserve harmony and mutual respect. However, when cases of violence are handled quietly at home or settled through compensation, survivors may feel unseen or unsupported.

The solution is not to reject these systems outright, but to find ways to build thoughtful connections between traditional and formal justice, recognising both their strengths and their limits. In many African communities, traditional leaders, such as elders, chiefs, and religious figures, remain trusted voices who help mediate conflict and preserve social harmony. Their authority empowers them to promote fairness and protection. Yet, it can also reflect deeply rooted cultural norms that sometimes make it difficult for survivors, especially women and children, to speak openly. Formal justice systems, on the other hand, play a vital role in upholding rights and ensuring accountability, but they too face challenges of access, trust, and resources.

Actual progress comes when dialogue exists between these two approaches, where traditional leaders are supported to understand legal protections, and formal actors engage communities with respect for local realities. In this way, justice can reflect both the rule of law and the lived experiences of the people it seeks to serve.

The institutions charged with enforcing the law often face limited resources and competing priorities. Police stations may lack trained officers, court systems may be overwhelmed, and social services may be concentrated in urban areas far from where many women live. Strengthening these systems requires not just funding but also partnerships among government, local leaders, civil society, and communities working in tandem. A justice system rooted in collaboration is more likely to earn public trust and reach those most in need.

Socially and culturally, addressing violence means engaging both women and men in open dialogue. Communities across Africa already hold deep values of respect, care, and interdependence, principles that can guide collective action against abuse. When discussions about safety and dignity are framed around shared values rather than blame, change feels less imposed and more homegrown. In this sense, cultural renewal becomes a form of prevention, turning the same social bonds that sometimes shield abusers into tools that protect the vulnerable.

Although international frameworks such as the Maputo Protocol and the Sustainable Development Goals provide important direction, they are most effective when translated into local realities. Development actors can play a valuable role, not as outside experts dictating solutions, but as partners helping communities document, learn, and adapt. Supporting community-led education, survivor networks, and male engagement initiatives helps shift mindsets while respecting local knowledge.

It is also important to recognise that women are not only survivors of violence but also agents of transformation. Across the continent, women’s groups, youth movements, and traditional institutions are redefining justice from within their own cultures. They are proving that progress does not always come from new laws or external programmes, but from ordinary people finding new meaning in old traditions.

The journey to end violence against women in Africa is not about choosing between modernity and tradition, or between law and culture. It is about weaving these strands together, grounding policy in women’s lived experiences, and rooting community action in shared human values. When this balance is achieved, the law gains legitimacy, trust replaces fear, and justice becomes not an institution but a lived reality.