How women steer youths away from gang violence in northeastern Nigeria

A community-based cooperative of gender-based-violence survivors in Kasuwan Magani, trained by the NGO EWEI through its "Together We Can" project, has established a local safe space and referral network, which has improved reporting and response to sexual and gender-based violence in a rural Kaduna community.

Boys Champion educates young boys on healthy masculinity, combatting cultural norms that lead to sexual and gender-based violence through various outreach initiatives, mentorship opportunities, and events held at local schools. Since 2018, the group has reached more than 10,000 young boys, teaching them ways to promote gender equality in their communities.

Richmond's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention use credible messengers, targeted intervention, and coordinated city infrastructure to interrupt cyclical gun violence. These tactics helped both cities achieve record-low homicides in 2025, with Richmond so successful it may no longer qualify for state violence-reduction grants.

The salishi (local arbitration) system operated by women's collectives in West Bengal successfully resolves about 74% of domestic violence and family disputes through community-based mediation. This has resulted in the encouragement of people following legal routes.

Roca Baltimore uses outreach and cognitive behavioral therapy to disrupt gun violence among the city's highest-risk young men. Since partnering with Baltimore's Group Violence Reduction Strategy in 2022, 93% of Roca participants have not been revictimized, and 98% have not been rearrested for violent offenses. The organization's comprehensive 18-24 month intervention model combines persistent street outreach, evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy, paid transitional employment, and connections to trade programs in an effort to reduce violence in the city.

The community networks of women defenders in Piura are organized structures that, since 2018, have provided accompaniment, training, and inter-institutional coordination to victims of gender-based violence, combining psychological support, legal pathways, and economic empowerment. Since their founding, more women have reported violence, coordination between public institutions such as police and prosecutor's offices have improved, and survivors have transformed into leaders who break cycles of violence in their communities. Read this story in Spanish here: https://solu.news/mvw1

Birmingham’s Offender Alumni Association is a group of violence intervention specialists that check in with gun violence patients at the hospital to offer mental health services and case management to prevent reinjury and retaliatory violence. Since launching, the group has taken on 144 clients, providing wrap-around services to victims and their families, including mentoring, emergency relocation and funds for medicine, groceries, rent and utilities.

The Working Group of Women for Land Ownership (WGWLO) is a group of 48 grassroots NGOs and individuals who help local women secure land ownership through raising awareness about women’s land rights and providing access to legal aid when needed. Since forming in 2002, the group estimates that it has helped as many as 20,000 women.

Groups of women, in collaboration with local charity organization Daughters of Charity, are working together to create HAL (helpful active listening) circles to help survivors of sexual and gender-based violence heal. HAL circles are women-to-women groups led by those trained in supportive communication skills, the effects of trauma on the mind and body and healthy coping methods. Over the past several years, the group has connected with 1,320 survivors.

Volunteer violence interrupters with Youth Alive — a nonprofit based in Oakland, California — are breaking cycles of violence by providing immediate support to victims and their families after a crime. They receive tips from the community, direct people to resources, mediate conflicts, and even help survivors relocate.