AIR FOR AFRICA

AMPLIFY

Politicizing self-care: Jessica Horn on AWID’s Friday File

Senior Advisor to AIR, Jessica Horn, was interviewed for the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)'s Friday File where she speaks about AIR's work on (re)conceptualizing trauma, the need to defend defenders, and the value of integrated approaches. In women’s rights organizations and movements we’re not acknowledging fully that our work involves constantly bearing witness to violations and violence, and that often the violence is close to us – it is being inflicted either on Read more [...]

AIR film series on (re)conceptualizing trauma

"We were taught when we were trained that trauma is a sudden, unexpected event that has got the ability to horrify the person and the person feels a danger and you work with it one, two, three, you’re done. We have been able to be able to be creative and say we need to walk with people through the different levels of trauma and through the different traumas that they face. Sometimes it’s just one thing after another, which is traumatic." - Mpumi Zondi, Clinical Director, Sophiatown Community Read more [...]

Inaugural issue of AIR Thoughts: Breaking the Walls of Trauma Counselling

The inaugural edition of AIR Thoughts is out! The AIR Thoughts series profiles fresh analysis by African practitioners around how to tackle the interrelated issues of violence against women and girls, HIV/AIDS and emotional wellbeing and mental health. In Issue 1, Breaking the Walls of Trauma Counselling, South African social worker Mpumi Zondi explores the complexities of working on trauma. Drawing on experiences and case studies from the work of Sophiatown Community Clinical Psychological Read more [...]

A victory for preventing violence against women and the gendered spread of HIV: The SASA! study results

The results of groundbreaking study on the SASA! model (profiled in AIR Tools here) are now published and show that it is possible to prevent violence against women and changing gendered risk behaviors around HIV. The research itself was a collaboration between Uganda-based Raising Voices and its national partner the Center for Domestic Violence Prevention (CEDOVIP), and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Makerere University. Using a randomized control method, 8 communities Read more [...]

Responding to the attack on Dr. Mukwege, Panzi Hospital

In the wake of the attempted assassination of Dr. Denis Mukwege, Medical Director of Panzi Hopsital, and AIR Steering Committee member in October 2012, Jessica Horn and Leah Teklemariam reflect on the meaning of solidarity and the importance of both Dr. Mukwege and Panzi as African leadership. The article was originally published on 18 March 2013 on the Our Africa platform of open Democracy 50:50. Panzi hospital: a critical pulse for justice, peace and health Congo's women survivors, standing Read more [...]