Prevention is Possible with Dr. Emma Fulu

Men’s violence against women and girls remains one of the most urgent challenges of our time. In Australia, on average, one woman a week is killed by her intimate partner. Globally, more than one billion women and girls have been subjected to violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. 

But violence against women and girls is not inevitable. Across the world, evidence-based prevention programs have reduced rates of violence in communities by up to 50 percent. The evidence is clear: prevention is possible. 

Prevention takes many forms. While early intervention, response and recovery are essential for supporting victim-survivors and preventing further harm, primary prevention focuses on stopping violence before it begins. This means addressing the social, cultural and structural drivers of violence across the whole population – from the norms we learn growing up, to the policies, institutions and systems that shape our lives. Achieving long-term change requires action across the entire prevention spectrum, with sustained investment in approaches that are evidence-based and designed to reach all communities. 

As an organisation dedicated to preventing violence against women and girls, and one that has the privilege of working alongside researchers, advocates and practitioners around the world, we wanted to create a space to amplify the voices of those driving this work forward. 

Through Prevention is Possible, our new interview series, we speak with leaders across the global prevention movement to explore the current landscape and how we can work together to end violence against women and girls. 

First up? Our very own Founder and Co-CEO, Doctor Emma Fulu… 

EQI: Emma, can you share how you first came to work in gender-based violence prevention? 

EMMA: I was drawn to this work because of my personal life experiences, but I specifically started my work on violence against women in my early twenties, when I went to work in the Maldives, where my family is from, as a local government employee.  

I was working at the Ministry of Gender, and they asked me to conduct research around domestic violence. So, I started the first prevalence study to look at women’s experiences of violence in the Maldives, using the WHO methodology, and spent many years focusing on that.  

Then I did my PHD research around the issue of understanding women’s experiences of violence, which sort of set the stage for my career, as it made me realise we were looking at victimisation and women’s experiences and health consequences – all those things, which were informing health and justice response efforts, which we needed – but I could see it wasn’t addressing the root causes of the problem. It wasn’t stopping it happening in the first place.

After my time in the Maldives, and after I got my PHD, I went and worked for the United Nations at an organisation called Partners for Prevention. It was an organisation specifically focused on preventing gender-based violence, with a strong angle around working with men and boys. That’s where I designed the UN multi-country study on men and violence. I’d done all this research with women but felt like we needed to understand men’s own experiences, and their use of violence, to be able to stop it happening in the first place. That led me to focus on prevention, and I’ve stayed with that focus because, I fundamentally want to see an end to violence against women. For me, prevention is that positive approach where we can see real change at a structural level and focus on ending it. 

EQI: What do you see as the major challenges to GBV prevention in 2026?  

EMMA: I’m sure everyone’s talking about funding. There’s been a rollback in resourcing around these issues, so that’s putting a lot of pressure on people working in this space. Rollbacks are a reality; however, I think there’s opportunities to expand where we get funding from. Not just looking at philanthropy or government, but thinking about the private sector and tech, for example – who I think have an important role to play as a sector profiting from environments that are often unsafe and causing harm, but also have the potential to drive positive social impact and change. So, I think there are opportunities to find those other sectors, but that’s one area where there’s some challenges.  

There’s a rollback around women rights in general, too, and in the general equality discourse. There’s a resistance to the work that is fundamental to prevention.  

The other thing is, there’s a whole lot of competing interests, whether it’s climate change, or conflict, or AI. But I would argue – and we have argued, in the All In Position Paper and in many other places – that GBV prevention is kind of at the epicenter of all of that. Climate change is related to gender-based violence. So is conflict. So is tech. And, actually, if we can solve this problem, it means we’ll be more effective in addressing those things as well. It’s a catalytic issue that, if we address it, it’ll have multiple benefits, in pregnancy, heath, etc. We also know there’s a strong relationship between national security and violence against women. So, it will have a significant return on investment.  

Finally, I guess I would say there’s just a whole lot of instability and the field feels overwhelmed. Under-resourced and overwhelmed. 

If I think back over decades being in this field, I see people who – despite experiencing some of the worst, tragic things – use their experiences to create meaningful change. That’s what galvanises me, is seeing the efforts of people who do this work on the ground and the positive change they create and the progress we’ve made. 

EQI: How do these challenges, and the state of the sector right now, compare to when you first began working in it? 

EMMA: Generally, I would say things have improved. When I started working in the sector people didn’t even know what violence against women was. Or they considered it more of a government issue. It certainly wasn’t considered a public health issue. I’d come back to Australia in my early career, and get in the taxi, and people would ask what I do. I’d say I work on this issue, and they would say, ‘Oh, that’s a real big problem over there.’ As in, over there in the so-called developing world. But now, if you hop in a taxi and you said this people will say, ‘Oh yeah that’s a real problem here.’ In Australia. The level of understanding, of it being an issue that affects everyone, has changed significantly. It just wasn’t on the agenda twenty-five years ago. Now we have sustainable development goals targeted. It’s understood as a public health crisis. There’s more evidence than before, and we’ve proven it’s actually preventable.

While the resources are limited, there’s more being invested now than there was years ago. I tend to see the optimistic progress.  

Although, you know, the flip side is there’s increasing levels of misogyny and new forms of violence like online violence, that weren’t there 20 years ago. Or not to the same extent. 

EQI: What’s working well to prevent GBV, and what would you like to see more of a focus on in the future?  

EMMA: I would refer again to the Position Paper we wrote for All In. When writing that paper, we spent a lot of time trying to consolidate and precisely explain what works in preventing violence against women. We tried to move away from a long laundry list of recommendations, to focus on three core pillars that we need to integrate

The pillars are Broad, Deep, and Resourced.  

Broad means that we need to integrate GBV prevention across sectors. Like the health sector, education sector, transport sector etc. – that’s the only way we’ll get impact at scale. We know individual programs work, and if you’re changing the lives of a thousand people in a community, that’s amazing. But the scale of this problem is such that we need to drive impact at scale too. So, that’s Broad.  

Deep is the work, the deep work required to actually change social norms – through education, media, parenting, school, work etc. The Respect Ballarat Saturation Model is an interesting one that’s trying to do that.  

Finally, third, is Resourcing. Resourcing the work in a sustainable way, including resourcing feminist movements.  

EQI: What galvanises you through the times this work feels particularly tough? 

EMMA: I’m fortunate that in the work we do we get to see a lot of positive change. Yes, sometimes it seems like rates of violence aren’t changing, or things are going backwards, but I often get to see programs and work with communities all over the world where you are seeing real change. Significant decreases in violence.  

If I think back over decades being in this field, I see people who – despite experiencing some of the worst, tragic things – use their experiences to create meaningful change. That’s what galvanises me, is seeing the efforts of people who do this work on the ground and the positive change they create and the progress we’ve made. I really do believe it is possible. 

I do think there’s been a real shift in the last couple of years, and this initiative with All In has encouraged a lot of momentum and a shift in the narrative from this being an inevitable thing that we have to experience, to a recognition that this is actually something we can change and that we all have a role to play in changing

EQI: What advice would you give to emerging leaders and activists in the violence prevention space? 

EMMA: I would say to be yourself. Try and find out what drives you as an individual. What parts of this work get you excited and feel authentic to you. I think we are the most impactful when we’re aligned with our inner kind of guidance of what we’re supposed to be doing. You might be an artist, or you might be focused on data. Try working in a way that aligns with your own passions.  

That can change as well. My journey has evolved from being a very direct, hands-on researcher, to much more in the policy and thought-leadership space. Being flexible and having your career evolve as your interests change is part of it.  

The second thing is just to take care of yourself and know that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  

There’s a never-ending amount of work to do, and I believe – and this is a really hard thing to teach – but I do genuinely believe that our state of mind, our state of being, has an impact. I don’t know that it’s possible to create peace coming from a state of extreme stress. I think we create peace and nonviolence by being internally in a state of peace. That is my very philosophical perspective. 

EQI: Have there been any particularly profound moments over the years that have significantly changed the dynamic of your work? 

EMMA: My mental health breakdown is probably the most significant one, which catalysed me starting the Equality Institute. I’ve spoken about that a lot in the past, so I won’t go into detail here, but that definitely changed the way I think about this work. 

EQI: What gives you the most hope about the mission to end violence against women and girls? 

EMMA: I just think it’s possible. I’ve always had hope. It’s just how I am. I do think there’s been a real shift in the last couple of years, and this initiative with All In has encouraged a lot of momentum and a shift in the narrative from this being an inevitable thing that we have to experience, to a recognition that this is actually something we can change and that we all have a role to play in changing.  

What gives me hope is that I feel a shift in everyone seeing that this is a solvable problem. 

EQI: What’s one thing someone reading this can do to help make a difference in preventing GBV? 

EMMA: Everyone has a role to play. All the little things matter. Whether that’s the books that you read to your kids or conversations with them about gender issues or misogyny online or everyday sexism. Whether that’s in your sports club, working to make sure there’s healthy cultures of respect or in the way you show up in your own relationships. Whether it’s in your workplace thinking about who speaks in the room and who is part of decision making. It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about asking questions and having open conversations and dialogue. All of those things matter in creating a more equitable world and reducing rates of violence.