At the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), gender-based violence (GBV) is conceptualised as a structural and systemic phenomenon embedded in the social, economic, and political institutions that shape women’s and gender-diverse individuals ’lives. Moving beyond the narrow framing of GBV as physical or sexual harm, our approach foregrounds less visible forms of violence—such as emotional, psychological, and economic coercion—that are often normalised within familial, occupational, and state systems. We situate GBV within the world of work by interrogating the public–private divide, particularly in the context of informal labour, where home and workspace frequently overlap. Our lens draws on feminist political economy to examine how social reproduction, unpaid labour, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and dispossession constitute interlocking forms of violence. The analytical framework we employ challenges conventional victim-perpetrator binaries and instead emphasises the continuum of harm, recognising the historical and intersectional dimensions of caste, class, age, and gender that mediate experiences of violence.

ISST’s engagement with GBV is grounded in a gender-transformative research agenda that seeks to understand how structural violence constrains bodily autonomy, shapes aspirations, and limits access to decent work. Our research foregrounds the importance of co-producing knowledge with community-based actors and adopting intersectional and life-cycle approaches that reflect the complexity of lived realities. By analysing labour codes, social protection frameworks, and everyday institutional practices through the lens of GBV, ISST contributes to theoretical and policy discourses that centre justice, dignity, and the right to work while reimagining structures of care and solidarity in contexts of informality.

In addition to its research and advocacy, ISST is actively engaged in building feminist pedagogical tools and capacities through course offerings and curriculum design. The organisation has developed and delivered certificate courses on gender, work, and public policy; gender-transformative evaluation; and feminist research methodologies—targeted at practitioners, researchers, and development professionals across South Asia. As part of its knowledge translation and praxis-oriented work, ISST also undertakes the development of training manuals and learning modules on gender-based violence, women’s informal work, and community engagement, ensuring these are accessible, locally grounded, and trainer-friendly. These resources are often created in collaboration with grassroots movements and support organisations, and are used in both capacity-building programmes and research dissemination. Furthermore, ISST contributes to feminist evaluation practice by designing participatory evaluation frameworks that centre marginalised voices and challenge technocratic approaches to measuring impact, especially in programmes aimed at reducing GBV and enhancing women’s economic agency.