Amy Watson on Violence Against Women & Girls

What if we stopped telling women how to stay safe, and started asking why violence against them keeps happening in the first place? On this episode, I’m joined for a second time, by Amy Watson, the founder of social enterprise HASSL. She’s trying to tackle violence against women and girls at its root. Not with another awareness campaign or safety app. But by building a global movement designed to shift responsibility away from women, and onto society.

Overview
When Amy first joined the podcast a year ago, we discussed the scale and reality of violence against women. A year on, she returns to talk about what it actually takes to tackle it.
In just twelve months, her social enterprise HASSL has grown into a global prevention movement: more than half a million followers, thousands of volunteers across over 120 countries, and campaigns reaching millions of people organically.

But this isn’t just a story about social media growth. It’s about culture change. In an extended and wide-ranging disucssion, we explore why laws alone don’t solve systemic problems, why “stay safe” advice can unintentionally reinforce the wrong narrative, and what happens when you apply entrepreneurial thinking to one of society’s most entrenched issues.

This is a conversation about scale, backlash, risk and moral ambition, and about what it means to build something that refuses to compromise.

Guest Bio - Amy Watson
Amy is the founder of HASSL, a global social enterprise tackling harassment at the root.

HASSL focuses on prevention — shifting responsibility for violence away from women as individuals and onto the cultural and systemic factors that enable harm. Combining research, education and partnerships, it aims to create scalable, long-term change rather than short-term fixes.

In just over a year, HASSL has grown into a global movement with hundreds of thousands of followers and volunteers across more than 120 countries.

Amy’s work sits at the intersection of social justice and entrepreneurship, applying business thinking to one of society’s most entrenched problems.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 – Intro: From Problem to Action
Christian frames this follow-up as a shift from discussing violence against women to exploring what it takes to tackle it in practice.

02:00 – What HASSL Stands For
Amy explains HASSL’s prevention-first approach: shifting responsibility away from women and onto culture, systems and male behaviour.

05:00 – Scaling a Social Enterprise
Rapid global growth, research-driven strategy, sustainable funding streams and a structured five-stage plan.

08:30 – Education & Engaging Men
Launch of free education resources, bystander tools and conversation frameworks designed to invite men into the solution.

16:00 – Entrepreneurship, Risk & Moral Ambition
Applying startup thinking to social change; sacrificing financial ambition for impact; long-term vision over quick wins.

35:00 – Values, Independence & Leadership
Why Amy avoids outside investment, refuses to compromise on inclusivity, and builds operational resilience into the organisation.

58:30 – Backlash & Online Abuse T
rolling, hate messages and the deliberate disruption of a webinar — and what that reveals about cultural normalisation.

01:05:00 – Using Criticism as Leverage
Turning recurring myths (“false accusations”, “what about men?”) into educational opportunities and narrative shifts.

01:21:00 – Barriers to Reporting Why speaking out rarely benefits women; the structural and social costs involved.

01:37:00 – Building a Movement How listeners can engage — and why lasting change requires persistence, scale and collective responsibility.

Links
Amy’s previous appearance on the show - https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/amy-watson-on-violence-against-women/

HASSL - hassl.uk

Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman - https://www.moralambition.org/book