Rethinking Power
SASA! recognizes that all people are equal in worth and value. SASA! shows us how a balance of power between women and men means healthier lives for everyone. Power can be positive or negative. Positive power means feeling the power within ourselves, the power of joining with others, the power to create change. Negative power means wealthy people having power over poor people, the educated over the less educated, one ethnic group over another, and, in most communities, men having power over women.
Negative power is so common that it often goes unquestioned. Many times, power is thought of as limited. We think that some people can and should have power while others cannot. Many men fear that they will lose power if women gain power. This is faulty thinking. Women and men can and should be able to have and use their power—which means holding their own beliefs, making their own decisions, expressing themselves as they prefer, becoming what they want to become—as long as this does not include using their power over someone else. By changing the imbalance of power between women and men, we can prevent violence against women and its connection to HIV/AIDS.
Each phase of SASA! introduces a new power concept:
Other SASA! links:
