1. Does nonviolence work?

Yes! The 20th century has shown how effective nonviolence can be in empowering whole populations. Nonviolent struggle successfully ended British colonialism in India, stopped apartheid in South Africa, overthrew totalitarian states throughout Eastern Europe and toppled the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines.

Ends and means must be consistent—it you want to build a nonviolent and just world, then nonviolent means must be used.

2. How could nonviolence have defeated Hitler?

Early warning systems and nonviolent conflict prevention are needed to stop dictatorships before they happen. Nonviolence has been successfully used to oppose and overthrow totalitarian and aggressive regimes, as the examples given in Question 1 above show. The Versailles Treaty, imposed upon Germany by the winners of World War I, humiliated and hurt Germany economically. Hitler manipulated the German peoples’ sense of being wronged and used violence and the military to come into power. Inside Germany, Germans like Sophie and Hans Scholl, organizers of the White Rose movement, nonviolently resisted Hitler.

Nonviolence was successfully used by individuals, towns and whole countries during World War II. Outside Germany, for example, the townspeople of Le Chambon, France, saved an estimated 5,000 Jews from Nazi persecutors by their determined nonviolent resistance. Organized non-cooperation by the people of Norway and Denmark made their countries ungovernable despite Nazi control.

3. How can you use nonviolence when you are physically attacked, especially in cases of sexual assault?

Being aware of increasing tension and potential violence is important in preventing violence, from the individual level to the international level. There are many examples of how nonviolence has been used by individuals to prevent or stop violence, including sexual violence. The following are just two examples: a woman, walking home at night from work, was assaulted. She insisted on dragging the would-be rapist to the nearest street lamp, saying, “I want to see the face of the man who is going to rape me.” She kept talking to him, about how tired she was from work, about how she wanted to go home, forcing him to acknowledge her as a human being. Ashamed, he ran away.

In another example, a young woman was riding her bicycle through woods after visiting a bakery. A man jumped out from hiding and grabbed hold of her bicycle, forcing her to stop. She did something unexpected—she handed him one of the cakes from the bakery. Equally startled, the man accepted the cake, and she biked to safety.

The first woman refused to be humiliated or to humiliate the would-be rapist in turn. She insisted on recognizing both her own and his humanity. The second woman also refused to act like the victim the would-be rapist wanted. She used her imagination and responded unexpectedly. Respecting both your own and the opponent’s humanity, and imagination are hallmarks of nonviolence.

4. How is nonviolence applicable in the struggle for gender equality?

Gender equality means respecting the values, experiences and roles of both men and women. Gender equality can only come about when we live the values we want to see realized. Respect for each other is both the end and a means in nonviolent struggle, and the only way to achieve gender equality. Nonviolent strategies and tactics that have been used successfully in other social change movements can be used in the struggle for gender equality.

Nonviolence is not only important in providing a means of struggle, however. Nonviolence can also offer alternative values, norms and role models. Providing such alternatives is critical in building gender equality.

Current gender inequality and gender-based violence rest on certain ideas of what it is to be a man or a woman. Masculinity is increasingly linked to violence. Femininity is linked with passivity and obedience. Masculinity and associated male norms, such as control and dominance, are seen as normative and desirable. The acceptance of male norms has affected young girls, some of whom have started to use violent methods in their search for equality and recognition. Rather than encouraging women to become more involved in violence, men must be encouraged to redefine masculinity and break the links between being a “real” man and being violent.

5. Why do we never hear about nonviolence if it is so powerful?

Lack of media attention about nonviolence is one reason. Nonviolence requires preparation and discipline, which can be hard to portray in short news bites. Violence can be dramatic and easier to portray. The entertainment media often glorifies violence, and in particular makes a link between being violent and being a ‘real’ man.

Another reason is that many governments are not interested in empowering their citizens. Nonviolence requires good organization. Organizing ordinary people for social action is seen as a threat by many governments, and is actively undermined.

Perhaps the main reason, however, that we do not hear about nonviolence is because nonviolence underlies much of everyday life. The majority of peoples’ behavior is nonviolent. Nonviolence is so pervasive that it is often invisible or not identified as nonviolence. Important nonviolent movements such as women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery are not identified as nonviolence, nor is nonviolence taught as such in schools. Much of nonviolent conflict prevention is also behind the scenes and deliberately kept out of the media.

6. Do I have to be religious to be a nonviolent activist?

All the major spiritual traditions of the world have a message of peace and justice. The core values of nonviolence—a respect for life, including the life of an enemy, and the pursuit of justice and human dignity—reflect these concerns. Injustices like racism, sexism, ethnic and religious discrimination involve the idea that some people are inherently better than others. Challenging this belief is the beginning of building a culture based on nonviolence and peace. Anyone willing to challenge violence without using violence themselves, whether they are religious or non-religious, can be a nonviolent activist.

7. What does religion have to say about nonviolence?

Peace and justice are central values in all religions, and those who can create peace out of enmity are respected and considered role models. There is a wealth of material on the tradition of nonviolence within major world religions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism (for example, see The Nonviolence of the Brave: Nonviolence in Different Spiritual Traditions, available from IFOR). While much attention has been paid recently to the role religion has in today’s violent conflicts, less has been paid to religion’s potential for peacemaking and conflict resolution.

Each spiritual tradition, too, has adherents who are progressive and who seek positive social change, and others who want to maintain tradition and the status quo. The peace message within different religions will be interpreted differently, too, according to the political beliefs of its followers. A growing number of people are organizing within different religions in order to push for a strong stance on peace and justice issues, including issues of women’s human rights.

8. What’s the difference between nonviolence and active nonviolence?

There is a myth that nonviolence is passive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nonviolence does not mean a passive acceptance of injustice. The phrase ‘active nonviolence’ is sometimes used in English to emphasize that nonviolence confronts violence and transforms injustice. Other cultures have other words for nonviolence. During the Indian liberation struggle, Gandhi used the Sanskrit words ahimsa (non-killing) or satyagraha (clinging to the truth). In Spanish-speaking Latin America the phrase firmeza permanente (relentless persistence) is used, while the Palestinian nonviolent movement uses the Arabic word sumoud (steadfastness).

Nonviolence does not seek to avoid conflict. Conflict is a natural part of life and is necessary to change situations of injustice, for example, when a group in society faces discrimination. Nonviolence works to transform conflict from a destructive process into a constructive process. It can be used to confront many different types of violence, from individual violence to structural violence. Nonviolent struggle can mobilize large numbers of ordinary people, regardless of race, gender, age, caste, sexual orientation or other differences.

9. Is nonviolence the same as civil disobedience?

Centuries of nonviolent struggle have resulted in many tactics. Such nonviolent tactics can include strikes, boycotts, refusing military service, mass rallies, and/or refusing to pay taxes. All of these are acts of civil disobedience, or in other words, the deliberate and public nonviolent breaking of the law in order to bring about positive change. Over 198 different methods of nonviolent action have been documented, including fasts, petition campaigns, marches, pickets and silent vigils.

10. How do I find out more information about nonviolence?

Nonviolence is not a new idea. It is a way of struggling for justice and peace that has been in every culture, throughout history. Start learning more about nonviolence by looking for historical examples within your own culture. Look, too, at how the people around you, in your family, your neighborhood, your government, respond to differences among people. Are the responses violent or nonviolent? What is your definition of nonviolence?

There are many books, documentaries and websites devoted to nonviolence. Look for writings by activists such as Aung San Suu Kyi, Gandhi, Barbara Deming and Martin Luther King, Jr.. Click on the Time Line of Nonviolence or More Resources to learn more about active nonviolence, or check out websites such as www.paceebene.org or www.wri-irg.org.