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“I urge survivors of SGBV to take back control and speak up, because silence makes it worse.
When I was 11 years old, my biological father started molesting me. He would take me to his bedroom when mom was in prison, and there, he would touch my private parts, hold me tightly and, sometimes, beat me. Later, i discovered that when one of my friends came to our house for a sleep over, he molested her too.
For a long time after that night, i chose to keep quiet. To just, “deal with it.” And it seemed to be working... until the day I had a major nervous breakdown and got really sick.
At the same time, I also found out that my father was still molesting children— children I knew and children I did not know.
It was clear: I could no longer keep quiet. I had to speak up. I had to #BreakFree.
Since then, my life has become positive, and the abuse that trauma takes you through is now manageable.”
SGBV Survivor
The work of #BreakFree begins with stories:
listening to and believing survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
We gather lessons learned from stories shared by individuals and challenges experienced and best practices commissioned by institutions and/or organisations; and channel them to front-line service providers as well as other agencies where they serve as bases for implementing pragmatic interventions which inform system changes and influence policies that promote help-seeking behaviour and support for survivors and perpetrators of violence.
#BreakFree Strategic Outcomes
The #BreakFree Anti-Violence pledges were born in 2019, and ONE has distributed them through pledge mobilisation and prevention activities. Since the launch in 2019, #BreakFree has raised awareness on SGBV and has encouraged 13,264 young people to take a stance and help end the cycle of violence within their communities by signing the pledge forms.
By the numbers
24
pledge
activations
155
direct pledge mobilisation activities
50,049
pledge signatures
from schools
and teachers
The translation of the #BreakFree Anti-violence pledge into 6 Namibian vernacular languages, as well as braille and sign language.
#BreakFree pledge activation at International University of Management
#BreakFree pledge activation at International University of Management
IUM Vice Chancellor signs the pledge form during a pop-up activation
#BreakFree pledge activation at International University of Management
100,000
PLEDGE SIGNATURES
10,000
INTERACTIONS
1,000
STORIES RELATED TO VIOLENCE
100
INTERVENTIONS
10
BIG IDEAS
10,000
Interactions
#BreakFree Anti-Violence Campaign has reached over 280,000 people through case work, pledge activations, story exchanges, capacity building and training initiatives, school outreaches, numerous prevention programmes, speaking engagements, information sharing sessions, dialogues and media publications (including TV, social media and radio).
In numbers
Reached 208,000 people through 64,956 interactions.
1 962 stories collected from schools through social workers and teachers at secondary schools, dialogues and the #BreakFree ‘Dare to Share – chatter box’ initiative.
1,000
stories
#BreakFree has created numerous platforms where SGBV survivors and perpetrators of violence can share their lived experience and, ultimately, increase their ability to reframe their narratives which, in turn, enables them to in behaviour which is not only more pro-social, but also aids in managing challenges.
In numbers
Story Exchanges which give significantly useful statistics, such as:
Addictions: 1,5%
Financial abuse: 5.68%
Substance abuse: 5.68%
Self-directed violence: 3.78%
Bullying: 3.79%
Domestic violence: 25.4%
Sexual violence: 54.1%
#BreakFree continues to encourage survivors, pertrators and bystanders to break the silence and report acts of violence, through numerous interventions such as pledge activations, community outreaches, story exchanges and school-based interventions.
The interventions and the Problematic Mindsets Research Report have revealed that men are the highest number of perpetrators of violence. As such #BreakFree, has introduced the #BreakFreeWithTheBoyz to encourage men and boys to have difficult, frank and non-judgemental conversations that strengthen their interpersonal skills.
