On 15 January 2019, the three organisations CARE, CSAGA and iSEE launched the project Building Responsibility and Accountability for Gender-based Violence Elimination (BRAVE) via an event called “Because you are trusted”.

With funding from the Australian Government, the project focuses on dealing with gender-based violence through shifting the culture of victim blaming. The three-year project includes various activities and campaigns to look at the root causes of victim blaming, change the way the public and the media talk about survivors and perpetrators, and show how those who victims confide to can respond to the incident.

The project applies different approaches, from a discourse approach to change the way the public portrays victims and perpetrators to building a supportive environment for survivors.

Mr. Dang Tri Duc performs sand painting to tell the real-life struggles of gender-based violence survivors.

Visual storytelling at the launch event.

Visual storytelling at the launch event.

At the event, the project team also shared findings from the discourse research ‘Between the Lines’ that analysed the language used in four key media outlets and in the anonymous confessions shared on S.O.S – Share Our Stories Facebook page. At the same time, participants could feel the pain of sexual abuse victims via a mini photo exhibition and sand painting performed by artist Dang Tri Duc.