Nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of physical violence. As such, nonviolence is an alternative to passive acceptance of oppression and armed struggle against it. Practitioners of nonviolence may use diverse methods in their campaigns for social change, including critical forms of education and persuasion, civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action, and targeted communication via mass media.

In modern times, nonviolence has been a powerful tool for social protest.

Mahatma Gandhi led a decades-long nonviolent struggle against British rule in India, which eventually helped India win its independence in 1947. About 10 years later, Martin Luther King adopted Gandhi's nonviolent methods in his struggle to win civil rights for African Americans. Then in the 1960s César Chávez organized a campaign of nonviolence to protest the treatment of farm workers in California. These three leaders proved that people can bring about social change without using violence. As Chavez once explained, "Nonviolence is not inaction. It is not for the timid or the weak. It is hard work, it is the patience to win."

Why Nonviolence Is The Strategy.
Traditional Nonviolence tactics have been studied and marginalized by those who control by force, disconnection and violence. Our marches and speeches are ignored by the corporate-owned media. Our letters are ignored and our emails are deleted. We are even forced into “free speech zones” where we can be more easily ignored and controlled.

"We are convinced that non-violence is more powerful than violence. We are convinced that non-violence supports you if you have a just and moral cause...If you use violence, you have to sell part of yourself for that violence. Then you are no longer a master of your own struggle."
- Cesar Chavez

"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good."
- Mohandas Gandhi

 

Examples Of violence Against Society.
Materialism and over-consumption. If someone has too much, then someone else is going without. Or as Gandhi explained, “If you have more than you need, you are stealing from someone else.” This involves a disconnection from the resources being used, from the needs of those in the future, from one’s fellow humans who are in need, and disconnection from oneself and what happiness really means.

Consuming unsustainable resources. Using resources that cannot be renewed depletes the Earth and results in suffering and want for people now and in the future. Again, this represents a disconnection from the impact of our choices.

Propaganda. Unethical and unthinking industries purposefully disconnect you from your values, your choices and the consequences of your choices. These industries use multibillion-dollar marketing campaigns to confuse you into consuming more and more things that are not in line with your true values.

Militarism. This disconnection from our brothers and sisters with whom we share the world along with the unjust belief that “might makes right” kills innocent people, kills innocent animals, destroys our environment and wastes trillions of dollars worldwide -- money and resources that could be used to feed, clothe, house and heal those in need.

"It is no longer the choice between violence and Nonviolence;
it is either Nonviolence or nonexistence."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are many reasons why violence doesn’t work in the long run:

• Nonviolence works toward a shared community and reconciliation; violence does not support that goal. violence always has a loser who will feel alienated and seek to overturn the other at the earliest opportunity.
• Nonviolence works to win the support of people and society; we want people to join us. Whereas violence has the opposite effect -- most people don't want violence in their lives.
• A conflict between a Nonviolent group and a violent group is a moral argument; if the Nonviolent group can be provoked into using violence, the violent group wins.
• Nonviolence groups are often deliberately infiltrated by members of the violent opposition hoping to dismantle the movement. It is often easy to recognize these infiltrators because they will advocate and provoke violence pretending that violence will lead to justice, but knowing it will cause society to turn against the movement. When we practice Nonviolence, we quickly expose our opponents.
• violence is easier, but it makes everyone’s job harder
• Nonviolence promotes love and compassion; violence promotes hate and fear.

You Can Build A World That Reflects Your Values.
Each of our choices in the past -- collectively billions of them every single day -- built the world we live in today. And each of our choices from this moment forward will build the world we live in tomorrow.

The world we live in right now doesn’t reflect what we truly want or need because, in the past, we've been disconnected from ourselves, others and the impact of our choices. We failed to see the connection between those choices and their impact on others. And we failed to align those choices and their impact with our values.

When we connect and each of our choices is true to our values (truth, justice, freedom, kindness, compassion, goodwill toward people, toward the planet and toward animals, etc.), that's when the world will begin to reflect those values.

“One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant
goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal.
We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”
- Anne Frank

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
- The Dalai Lama

Tools You'll Need.

Connection. Making connections will cause a fundamental shift from a society of violence to one of Nonviolence.

Truth. Truth is central to Nonviolence. There’s no need for fear or anger when talking with an opponent when your goal is truth. You can learn from your opponents. You may even learn where your opponent is disconnected and help lead them onto the path of Nonviolence.

Power. An oppressor (whether a government, an industry or an individual) has no power if we don’t give it to them. Stop giving it to them. This is a very basic component of Nonviolence -- non-cooperation with the oppressor.

Almost none of the preconditions that are needed to wage a just war can be met in our age of modern warfare where innocent civilians are too often considered collateral damage, and the use of bombs and high tech killing machines make it impossible to have any proportional sense of injury done.  Yet we continue to participate in wars of aggression in which we help invade and control sovereign nations - and in the process teach our children that violence and aggression will solve our problems - when all the lessons of history are to the contrary.

He started the awareness campaign in response to the 1989 massacre of 14 female students at the University of Montreal by gunman Marc Lepine, an avowed anti-feminist. Hancock, who discusses the issue with high school students in rural towns and major cities across Ontario, maintains women's freedom cannot be achieved until the threat of violence is eliminated in poor and sophisticated societies.

On May 19, thousands of students from 25 Greater Toronto high schools will again walk at Queen's Park in the city, following similar protests in London and Welland earlier this year. Since 1991, the march has matured into a national event, raising nearly $1 million for women's support services in Canada and Afghanistan--99 per cent of the proceeds raised by high school students. According to organizers, one-third of money will support Emily Stowe Shelter for Women in Toronto. Another third will again be donated to Nazoo Anna School for Girls in Afghanistan, where under former Taliban rule, females were not permitted to attend school or leave their homes unaccompanied by males. Tents, water

tanks, rugs, and

"I'm just a guy who planned this event on a piece of paper in the basement of a church in 1990. And now there's been numerous walks, hundreds of thousands of people have been talked to and more than $1 million has been raised for global violence against women."

In December, the Ontario government also promised $56 million for counselling and housing support for victims, as well as training for frontline workers and public education campaigns, as part of a comprehensive scheme on domestic violence against women and children. The four-year-Domestic Violence Action Plan was designed by 180 experts across the province, to better protect victims in diverse, at-risk communities.

"The action plan is a major step forward, placing a new emphasis on preventing abuse before it happens and supporting victims when it does happen." Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told the press. "Women can't build the lives they deserve when they live with the threat of violence or the reality of physical and emotional abuse. And children can't reach their full potential when they fear what happens in their own homes."

Sandra Pupatello, the Minister Responsible for Women's Issues, maintained that domestic violence is everyone's concern. "We all share a responsibility for the protection and safety of women in abusive situations. Our plan brings together a wide range of partners to improve public awareness, change attitudes and help break the cycle of violence," Pupatello said.

Labelling male violence is the first step before resisting it, according to Hancock. Although young men, in particular, oppose the term, they must realize they are either bullies or by-standers themselves, he said. They need to be challenged to break through the silence, and talk about ending the many ways they are violent towards women.  "When you look at the history of liberation struggles, the language is the key part of how people describe their reality ... "We've named this project around the perpetrators and not the victims."  Hancock said "men are as dangerous to women as cancer."

According to Amnesty International, half the world's population is singled out for rapes, sexual enslavements, "honour" killings, forced and underage marriage, pregnancies that endanger lives, genital mutilation and spousal abuse. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 40 women are sexually abused daily and cut off from medical treatment. Ninety per cent of Somali women are subjected to genital mutilation. The same percentage of Pakistani women has been abused by their male spouses, the human rights group's figures reveal. Even in industrialized countries such as Russia, women are still socially and legally disadvantaged.

These walks are a means of not raising awareness but of educating children and young adult. Walks are organized in local communities, schools or by various organizations. Two thirds of the proceeds raised go a girls school and a women's group in Afghanistan. The remainder is used to promote WAMV.

Nonviolence Training

Whether used by a community to resist a toxic waste dump or by an entire country to overthrow a military dictatorship, the methods of nonviolent action have proved powerful tools in the hands of ordinary people.

In Australia, nonviolence has a long association with the movements for environmental protection, nuclear disarmament and international solidarity. Nonviolent tactics including strikes, boycotts, marches, sit-ins and blockades have played a key role in movements for the rights of women, workers and indigenous peoples.

Nonviolence training has a role to play in all cultures because so few human institutions teach us how to deal constructively with conflict. Usually, we are taught to avoid it or leave it to the authorities. Neither of these paths are open to people who actively confront violent conflict or injustice.

Nonviolent social change requires organisation, discipline, persistence in the face of repression and strategic application. Whether oriented towards reform or revolution, these skills can be learnt and systematically applied.