Transcript Improving Women’s Empowerment Through Reduction of Harmful

COMMUNITY ACTIVITY IN HARMONIZING CULTURAL
PRACTICES WITH REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS PROJECT
Implemented by Creative Centre for Community
Mobilization (CRECCOM)
Funded By: Swedish Organization for Individual Relief
(SOIR)
Background Information
 Huge gender disparities prevalent; discrimination and marginalization
of girls and women, GBV
 Rooted in cultural values and practices
Projects
1. Social Mobilization Campaign for Gender Equality
;2007 - 2009
2. Elimination of Harmful Cultural Practices
;2009 - 2011
3. Community Activity In Harmonizing Cultural Practices With
Reproductive Rights Project
: 2012 – 2014
MDGs unlikely to be met
MDG 3: - Ratio of boys and girls in secondary education (Drop out due to
child marriages, pregnancies)
- Share of women in wage employment in non-Agriculture sector
MDG 5: - Maternal mortality (675/100,000 births)
- Proportion of births attended by skilled personnel
A ‘Hyena’ – ‘Fisi’
A victim of sexual cleansing
Project Goal
 To improve sexual and reproductive health for men,
women, boys and girls in targeted communities,
through a broad community dialogue challenging
gender stereotypes and harmful practices in 120
targeted villages of Thyolo district
Project objectives
 To sensitize communities on women’s rights and gender
promoting laws and policies
 Communities (including men and boys) are empowered to
engage in dialogue, take action, and demand accountability
on the reduction of harmful socio-cultural factors
 To improve women’s access to information and social skills
that enable them to claim and defend their rights
 To mobilize local structures to actively participate in
district policy and by-law formulation processes that
address harmful social cultural practices.
CRECCOM’s APPROACH TO RIGHTS AND
GENDER PERSPECTIVE
 Gender and Development (GAD) approach and
participatory approach to ensure individual and collective
empowerment towards behavioural and attitudinal change
– shifting of gender roles
PROJECT PLANNING STAGE
 Empowering participation where local women and men
set women’s and the gender agenda, independent of
outsiders
Methodology: Societies Tackling Aids through
Rights (STAR) circles
- Action research on all existing socio-cultural practices
 Tools: - Focus group discussions
- Key informant interviews e.g. initiation counsellors or
elders
- Pair wise ranking: Men and women compare problems
and list them in order of seriousness/urgency
Star Circle in Action
PROJECT PLANNING STAGE
 Tool: 1. Service and Social Network mapping: This map shows
networks or various service providers that are dealing with gender
based violence and Sexual and reproductive health issues
 2. Stakeholder analysis: identify stakeholders and duty bearers that
have the power and responsibility/influence to address the barriers
that causes exclusion of women and girls. Then come up with strategies
to address and/or support these actors.
 3. Power analysis among women: Intersection of age, class,
tribe/ethnicity, health status, socio-economic status etc of women
(shapes targeting - Initiation counsellors, PLWAs, identification of
STAR facilitators and STAR circle members)
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
 Meeting practical and strategic gender needs in order to
emancipate women and release them from their
subordinate position
Inclusiveness
 Dealing with barriers and structures of discrimination
that cause and exacerbate vulnerability of women and nonfulfilment of their rights (address root causes of gender inequality and discrimination)
 Target the cultural system and its custodians to achieve
redress of values, and commence an honest dialogue
among cultural institutions’ custodians and the whole
community to enable sensitization and review for shift of
gender roles and removal of stereotypes.
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
 Methodologies;
Workshops for cultural custodians/institutions,
Use of catalytic and female role models,
STAR circles, village meetings,
Establish support groups for marginalized women
 Tools: Gender roles identification tool
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
Involvement of men
 Shift of gender roles
 Redefine masculinity and femininity, which constitutes the roots of the
power relations between men and women, have to be dealt with
instead of just dealing with the effects which are manifested through
the persistent inequalities. ‘Masculinities’ have been defined as an
“embodiment of cultural norms and social pressures that help to
determine the roles, rights, responsibilities and relations that are
available to and imposed upon men, in contrast to women (Kimmel
2000, p 29).
 This entails the process of unravelling the dynamics in men/boys not
just as perpetuators of violence on women/girls but also as gatekeepers
of women’s/girls’ empowerment as well as victims of gender-based
violence.
 However, involvement of men should not be done to incorporate their
interests but rather it should be for the interrogation and destruction
of men’s super-ordinate gender power.
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
 Examples of methodologies;
- Theatre For Development (TFD) – ice breaker,
- Targeting conduits of definitions of masculinity e.g.
family, chiefs’ structures, male initiation institution;
- male dominated activities such as Drama and soccer;
- Men for Gender Equality Networks
 STAR CIRCLES: STAR Facilitators (50% male)
voluntarily spearhead circle meetings every fortnight
in every village for consistent dialogue in reviewing
traditions.
 Tools: PROBLEM TREE
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
Social Mobilization Campaign
 Provides extensive awareness and
conscientization of gender as a developmental
issue
 Methodologies:
1. Theatre For Development (TFD),
2. Duty bearers training as change agents,
3. community based sensitization/advocacy e.g. open
days, interface meetings, community score cards
4. Mass media interventions
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE – Theatre For
Development
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
Women’s Capabilities Enhancement
 This is when, for instance, women and girls bring
meaning, motivation and purpose to their right
(e.g. economic emancipation). Examples include
decision-making, bargaining, negotiating,
intangible cognitive processes of reflection and
analysis.
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
Questions projects should always ask:
 If girls are given an opportunity of education, to what
extent does education enhance decision-making in
girls such as how much education she should have,
what kind of livelihood and when and who to marry?
 If a woman accesses a loan, who manages her micro
business, who controls the money and who benefits
from the proceeds? How has access to loan impacted
on her decision making on other issues that affect her
life?
 How does a project avoid reproduction of existing
power imbalances between men and women?
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
 Projects should go beyond possession of the
commodity or the utility that provides proxies in
wellbeing but rather what the woman/girl actually
succeeds in doing with the commodity and its
characteristics.
 Projects should garner agency in women that would be
seen in their ability to defy long time traditions.
 Empowered choices: Power relations are expressed not
only through the exercise of agency and choice, but
also through the kinds of choices women make, which
can sometimes stem out of women’s subordinate
status. For example using proceeds from the micro
business in making boy child preferences over girls
child.
IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
Examples of methodologies
 Women workshops on leadership, assertiveness,
rights, laws and policies etc
 Establish Village Savings and Loan (VSL) scheme (that
includes marginalized women)
 Establish support groups
 Female initiation counsellors workshops
 Learning visits and role modelling
Tools: Intra-household resource allocation and
household disaggregated data (Pre and post Surveys
on rights awareness, Access, control and benefits,
division of labor etc)
PARTICIPATORY MONITORING AND
EVALUATION TOOLS
Tools: 1. POCKET CHART
 This is a tool that is used when you want to get information
on confidential issues e.g. how may people are HIV+ or
risky behaviours , how many use condoms or
contraceptives, or had gone for VCT among a group
without infringing on their right to privacy/confidentiality.
 To do this, you agree on symbols or signs that are to be used
in order to come up with the desired data. Make sure that
they are anonymous and confidentiality is maintained.
Then the scribbled papers (with symbols) are put in a box.
It is like a confidential vote where it is only you the voter
who knows whom you have voted for.
 2. Pre and post Surveys (on rights awareness, Access,
control and benefits)
Achievements
Sustained village forums/dialogue on gender and
women’s issues
2. Cultural Practices which were regarded as taboo to
be discussed are discussed openly in open forums.
- 100% of targeted communities modified at least
two harmful practices e.g. ‘fisi’ – hyena, initiation
rites
3. 80% of targeted villages have formulated bye laws
against harmful cultural practices
And monitoring systems in place
1.
2. Reporting domestic violence (village heads
relinquished power to STAR circles)
3. Increased re-enrollment of teen mothers
4. Over 300% increase in demand for
contraceptives
5. Increased number of women
making empowered choices
6. Increased community/women coordination with
service providers e.g. medical circumcision (initiation
counsellor relinquished power)
Mary takes her own profession to support the family
Improved lives
Steveria with her husband in their garden
FRESH START
Mr Bisale former fisi
Challenges
 Increased community demand versus inadequate resources and
slow response by service providers e.g. contraceptives
 Poor reception /treatment of GBV victims by some service
providers e.g. police officers, health personnel.
 Political interference into administrative structures