The Community-based prevention of gender-based violence: knowledge from the global south and shared responsibility
This essay undertakes a critical reflection on gender-based violence prevention models through the lens of clinical-community praxis in Southern Chile. We advocate for a community-oriented and decolonial shift that tran-scends purely clinical-individual approaches. Grounded in intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) and the critique of the coloniality of power (Quijano, 2000), the analysis examines how participatory methodologies and interventions based on the pedagogy of good treatment (Barudy, 1998; Heilman & Barker, 2018) enhance social agency to deconstruct hegemonic norms. The text introduces the concept of local co-responsibility as an ethical, political, and strategic principle for prevention. This framework articulates professional knowledge with territorial epistemologies, such as the Mapu-che Nütram. It provides a critical analysis of men's inclusion through a model of decolonial co-responsible masculinities (Kaufman, 1999), moving beyond purely egalitarian approaches. Finally, it redefines the professional role towards that of a humble and culturally competent facilitator, committed to a devolu-tive politics of knowledge. We conclude that sustainable prevention resides in co-created, culturally coherent, and ethically grounded strategies originating from the Global South.