Transcript Gender Transformative Norms Programming

Gender Transformative
Norms Programming
Bafana Khumalo
Sonke Gender Justice Network, South Africa
Outline
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Rationale and principles and rationale for the work
Overview of Sonke’s / MenEngage intervention
strategy
Promising approaches
 Strategies
 Community Mobilisation
 Policy Advocacy
 Communication for behaviour change
Why work with men and boys?
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Gender injustices and related concerns become more than just a ‘women’s issue’
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Helps to address the causes and not just the consequences
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Creates space to confront patriarchal notions of being male: the root cause of gender
inequality and negative/risky masculinities.
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Mobilises men as gender justice advocates: including policy makers and leaders
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Makes HIV (and GBV) a societal, not just a women’s issue: creating an opportunity to
address the behaviours that lead to violence.
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Promotes behaviour change in men and boys through the identification and
promotion of positive notions of masculinities
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Shifts to a focus on prevention and changing attitudes and behaviour
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There is an international mandate for engaging men and boys in achieving gender
equality and health equity.
It works
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World Health Organization review of MI progs (2007).
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Mentors in Violence Prevention (US),
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exposure to TV shows led to more gender-equitable attitudes and increased
communication related to GBV
Program H in Brazil/India:
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Changes in attitudes after participation
Soul City in South Africa:
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small sample w/ comparison/control group, increased knowledge (correctly identifying
sexual violence, GBV)
MAP in South Africa:
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A quarter successful in changing harmful gender attitudes and behaviour
Group education + community campaign led to increased condom use, lower STIs rates,
attitude change
One Man Can (South Africa)
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Workshop based training and awareness campaigns led to increased HIV testing,
increased condom use and increased reporting of GBV
Guiding Principles
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Recognize the gains made by the women’s rights movement
Promote women’s and girls’ rights
Work must be evidence based
See men as part of the solution, and not just the problem
Recognize relational nature of gender.
Be inclusive of and responsive to diversities among men
Address the underlying social and structural determinants of
gender inequalities and injustice
Understand that the work is about sustainable BEHAVIOR
change and requires long term commitments
“True and lasting changes in gender norms will be
achieved only when it is widely recognized that
gender is relational, that it is short-sighted to
seek to empower women without engaging
men, and that it is difficult if not impossible to
change what manhood means without engaging
...women.”
(Gary Barker)
Engaging Men
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Points of engagement best seen as a continuum
 As partners:
 Allies who support women and girl empowerment
initiatives
 As clients :
 Targets and recipients of state services such as health,
educationand psycho-social support
 As agents of change:
 Activists who work for gender equality and equity
Gender challenges in the region
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Early marriages,
Virginity testing
“ukuthwala” / Bride kidnapping
GBV
Wife inheritance,
Hate crimes related to the LGBTI sector
Forced arranged marriage, etc…
Gender Integration
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Refers to strategies applied in program
assessment, design, implementation,
and evaluation to take gender norms
into account and to compensate for
gender inequalities.
Gender Integration Continuum
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A way of measuring how successful we
are in integrating gender into our
programs
Gender Integration Continuum
Gender synchronized
Percentage of women who think violence against them is
acceptable and sometimes justified
Advances for Women in the Past 20 Years
 Greater parity in education
 Women’s economic empowerment
 Women’s political advancement
 Improvements in legislation in support
of women’s rights
Limits to those advances have something to do with
patriarchal tendencies
 Limits of educational parity
– dangerous schools, sexual
violence,
 Women’s economic
empowerment
 Political improvements –
tokenism, failure to
implement
Gender-Transformative Programs with Women
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Change the gendered power
dynamics between men and
women
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Provide access to education and
skills
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Provide access to economic
resources and assets
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Build social capital and support
Gender-Transformative Programs with Men
• Allow men to come together and
discuss masculinity
• Examine the costs of negative
masculinities
• Engage men in social action to
challenge existing gender norms
• Encourages men to focus on being
allies to women & the agenda for
change
What is Missing from These
Single-Sex Approaches?
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The broader awareness of how gender
norms are reinforced by everyone in the
community.
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Recognition that true social change has to
come from work with both sexes – with
everyone.
Defining Gender-Synchronized
Programs
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The intentional intersection of gender transformative work with
men and with women
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Engage both sexes in challenging harmful constructions of
masculinity and femininity
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Equalize the balance of power between men and women in order
to ensure gender equality and transform social norms that lead to
gender-related vulnerabilities
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View all actors in society in relation to each other
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Identify and create shared values that promote human rights, nonviolence, equality and gender justice
Some Paradigms for Gender Work
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Women’s Empowerment enhances the status of women, increasing women’s
power and access to resources relative to men
Constructive Men’s Engagement (CME) promotes gender equity, increases
men’s support for women’s SRH and children’s well being, and advances the
health of men, women, and children.
Gender Transformative Approaches questioning, and changing inequitable
gender norms and imbalance of power as a means of reaching gender equity
objectives.
Gender Synchronized Approaches intentional intersections of gendertransformative efforts reaching both men and boys and women and girls.
Thank You!
Asante!
Siyabonga!
O Brigado!