CREA believes impact takes place when shifts occur. To achieve true impact, these shifts are necessary at multiple levels, from individual to leadership levels as well as within organizations and movements.

Framing shifts occur when women, girls, and other marginalized constituencies begin to see themselves as right bearers with the ability to make choices and decisions around their bodies and sexuality, feeling empowered to questions the norms and power structures affect their lives. For women’s rights activists, framing shifts allow the questioning of existing structures and norm around gender and sexuality and the reframing of rights around affirmative, choice and consent-based standard. Organizations and movements are impacted when they begin to include women who were previous excluded from their work and recognize gender stereotypes that influence their work.

Action shifts take place when silenced and marginalized individuals begin to resist and speak out against the violence and discrimination they face; and demand and access their rights and service at the community level. For activists and leaders, it can be the new use a feminist lens to move from identity driven work to working on larger women’s rights/sexual rights issues. Organizational impact takes place when new or improved services or work with new groups is offered.

Policy shifts influence the development and implementation of policies relating to women and other invisibilized individuals within State institutions and at the community level. CREA strives for impact at the policy level by supporting and advocating for more informed and inclusive policies and ensuring the great participation of women leaders within policy making bodies. CREA also works with organizations and movements to include a Global South perspective in policy development and ensure the laws and policies related to human rights include a gender perspective and sexual rights lens.

Collective shifts occur when women, girls, and other excluded individuals form and join networks at the local, regional and national levels. Activists personally connect to new and a greater number of individual leaders; while organizations and movements can focus less on hierarchies of injustices and instead find common ground with other organizations, expanding to new networks that use rights-based approaches.

To learn more about CREA’s impact, read our annual report.