The Drum Beat 812 - Social Norms, Equity, and Gender

• 1.Gendered Stereotypes and Norms: A Systematic Review of Interventions Designed to Shift Attitudes and Behaviour
  by Rebecca Stewart, Breanna Wright, Liam Smith, et al.
  This article systematically reviews interventions aiming to address gendered stereotypes and norms - that is, the attitudes, behavioural intentions, and enacted behaviours that are produced and reinforced by structures and systems that support inequalities. Its focus is on the areas of gender equality, prevention of violence, sexual and reproductive health, and mental health and wellbeing. The review draws out common theory and practice, as well as success factors, to strengthen the design, development, and implementation of future interventions. [Apr 2021]
  
   
• 2.Passages Project Theory of Change: Transforming Social Norms for Family Planning and Reproductive Health
  Evidence suggests that addressing the social norms enforced by peers, families, and communities is a key leverage point for enhancing young people's ability to forge healthy sexual relationships and behaviours. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Passages Project aims to address a broad range of social norms, at scale, to achieve sustained improvements in reproductive health (RH), gender equality, and family violence, particularly intimate partner violence (IPV). The report offers insights for programmers into how and why Passages interventions produce intended outcomes and discusses key considerations for planning norms-shifting interventions. [Feb 2020]
  
   

• 3.Understanding the Male Life Course: Opportunities for Gender Transformation
  Mobilising men (and boys) as "partners" to address power relations represents an opportunity for gender-transformative interventions. The challenge is how and when to engage men and boys in ways that secure sustainable social norm change for greater gender equality. To that end, the Passages Project developed a framework that conceptualises men's experiences, challenges, and opportunities across the life course. The patterns outlined here illustrate several critical points relevant to programmers and policymakers, including the challenging period of adolescence through early adulthood. [Nov 2020]
  
   
• 4.Assessing the Spectrum of Gender Norms Perceptions in Early Adolescence: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Global Early Adolescent Study
  by Caroline Moreau, Mengmeng Li, Saifuddin Ahmed, Xiayun Zuo, and Beniamino Cislaghi
  Harmful gender norms that legitimise inequalities between the sexes can have profound and persisting implications for the health and well-being of adolescents. Using data from the Global Early Adolescent Study, this paper explores the consistency of adolescents' gender norm perceptions across different dimensions (roles, traits, and relations) and describes how the patterns of these perceptions vary across 4 culturally different settings. [Jul 2021]
  
   
• 5.Growing Up GREAT! End of Project Report
  Growing Up GREAT! is a 9-month multi-level intervention that engages very young adolescents (VYAs) and adults to shift priority norms, with the goal of increasing puberty and RH knowledge, gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours, and self-efficacy of girls and boys ages 10-14. From the Passages Project, this report provides a comprehensive summary of Growing Up GREAT!, including its implementation, evaluation and learning study findings, and lessons learned from scale-up. The evaluation found that Growing Up GREAT! showed significant effects in building RH knowledge, caregiver connectedness, and gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours among VYAs. [May 2021]
  
   
• 6.Exploring Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs about Child Marriage in Bangladesh through a Transmedia Entertainment-Education Initiative
  by Michael K. Hauer and Suruchi Sood
  In 2017, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), The Government of Bangladesh's Ministry of Children and Women's Affairs, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and other partners launched a transmedia campaign, Icchedana, to address social norms around child marriage. This paper describes a study conducted to decipher the impact of Icchedana on 5 of the determinants that drive child marriage in Bangladesh. The findings show that participants exposed to Icchedana had lower disapproval of child marriage than participants who had not. [Jun 2021]
  
   
• See also:
  An Artificial Intelligence Chatbot for Young People's Sexual and Reproductive Health in India (SnehAI): Instrumental Case Study
  

• 7."A Man without Money Getting a Sexual Partner? It Doesn't Exist in Our Community": Male Partners' Perspectives on Transactional Sexual Relationships in Uganda and Eswatini
  by J. Pulerwitz, C. Valenzuela, A. Gottert, et al.
  Transactional sexual relationships, where the primary motivation is material support, take place in a context of distinct gender norms for men and women. This article draws on male voices in two sub-Saharan countries - Uganda and Eswatini - to understand men's perceptions, experiences, and motivations for transactional sexual relationships with young women. The men often attributed a need to be supported financially/taken care of, and women's interest in money, to a female identity. "HIV prevention programmes should directly address the underlying drivers of transactional relationships (e.g. gender norms) and work with men who question the practice..." [Apr 2021]
  
   
• 8.Social Norms Structuring Masculinities, Gender Roles, and Stereotypes: Iraqi Men and Boys' Common Misconceptions about Women and Girls' Participation and Empowerment
  by Dr Luisa Dietrich, Zorica Skakun, Rohlat Khaleel, and Tim Peute
  Emerging from Oxfam in Iraq's Women and Girls Rebuilding Iraq project is this report describing a study on the social norms surrounding masculinities, gender roles, and stereotypes in Kirkuk and Diyala. Oxfam and partners aim to push boundaries and challenge the accepted social norms and cultural beliefs that constrain Iraqi women and girls' participation in policy-shaping, decision-making, and peacebuilding. Among the promising pathways for change discussed here: a scalable outreach programme that involves building a nucleus of dedicated male role models. [Aug 2021]
  
   
• 9.Study of the Effects of the Husbands' School Intervention on Gender Dynamics to Improve Reproductive Health in Niger
  This exploratory study from the Passages Project was designed to understand how power-sharing was taking place between men in Niger who were members of Husbands' Schools (HS) and their wives and the broader community. The study revealed changes in what is considered appropriate men's roles. Before the implementation of HS, maternity issues, "women's issues", and men's roles were limited to the management of medical emergencies. The evaluation found that men's attitudes grew to be more favourable to their expanded involvement in RH-related actions. [Aug 2019]
  
   
• 10.Masculinité, Famille, et Foi (MFF)
  The Passages Project adapted the evidence-based, Tearfund-developed Transforming Masculinities approach to address gender-based violence, including by adding a component designed to improve family planning (FP) use, for implementation in faith communities in Kinshasa. MFF seeks to guide faith leaders, young couples, and congregations to identify, create, and embrace social norms associated with positive masculine identities and gender-equitable behaviours. MFF is being scaled up in additional congregations in Kinshasa, as well as in Rwanda.
  
   
• 11.Impact Data - Masculinities, Faith, and Peace (MFP)
  Implemented from 2018-2021, MFP was a gender-normative-focused intervention developed by the Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) at Georgetown University and partners in Plateau State, Nigeria. MFP engaged religious leaders, young couples, and their wider Christian and Muslim congregations to foster greater gender equality, promote positive masculinities, enable FP use by young couples, and improve interfaith relationships. There were several positive shifts over time and relative to control populations for personal attitudes toward male engagement in both childcare and household work, as well as in descriptive and injunctive norms.
  
   
• 12.Can a Gender Equity and Family Planning Intervention for Men Change Men's Gender Ideology?: Results from the CHARM Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural India
  by Paul J. Fleming, Jay Silverman, Mohan Ghule, et al.
  Research indicates that contraceptive use is subject to gender and power dynamics, particularly in places like India, where restrictive gender norms emphasise male decision-making. The study assesses the effect of CHARM, a gender equity and FP counseling intervention for husbands in rural India, on men's gender ideology. The marginally non-significant impact on men's gender ideology could be due to the fact that CHARM focused more on power dynamics within the household dyad; future versions of this intervention could incorporate elements on gender roles more generally. [Feb 2018]
  
   
• See also:
  State of South Africa's Fathers 2021
  

• 13.Reproductive Health Decision Making among Nomadic Pastoralists in North Eastern Kenya: A Qualitative Social Network Analysis
  by Leah Kenny, Rahma Hassan, Loraine J. Bacchus, et al.
  Unequal gender norms tend to disadvantage women, who are often not in charge of their own reproductive and sexual health (RSH) decisions. Amongst pastoralist communities in Kenya, women make decisions related to pregnancy and childbirth with others, influenced by perceived normative approval or disapproval. This paper: explores pastoralist women's views on modern FP; describes the social support networks in which pastoralist women are embedded; identifies key people within these networks who influence RSH decision making; and explores perceived versus tangible support of modern FP. [May 2021]
  
   
• 14.The Power of Women's and Men's Social Networks to Catalyse Normative and Behavioural Change: Evaluation of an Intervention Addressing Unmet Need for Family Planning in Benin
  by Theresa Y. Kim, Susan Igras Kathryn M. Barker, Mariam Diakité, and Rebecka I. Lundgren
  The Tékponon Jikuagou (TJ) intervention applied social network theory in an attempt to reduce socio-normative barriers preventing modern contraceptive use in rural Benin. TJ worked with and through existing social groups and opinion leaders to engage women and men in reflection dialogues. Statistically significant improvements were found in three of the primary outcomes: women's intentions to use modern contraception, achieve met need, and reduce perceived met need. [Apr 2022]
  
   
• See also:
  A Vignette-based Approach to Understanding Social Norms around Family Planning in Three Nigerian Cities
  

• 15.Impact Data - REAL Fathers Initiative
  The Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers programme is a community-based mentoring programme that attempts to address IPV and violence against children (VAC) by capitalising on the key period of transition when young men (aged 16-25) become fathers for the first time. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the REAL Fathers scale-up was carried out in Acholi, Nwoya, and Gulu in Northern Uganda and Loregedwat and Lolachat in the Karamoja region of Uganda. The RCT found sustained impact on 5 key indicators - e.g., at endline, REAL Fathers in Karamoja were 3.5 times more likely to not engage in IPV as control fathers; one year later, REAL Fathers were just over 3 times as likely to not engage in IPV compared to control fathers.
  
   
• 16.Effective Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence through Couples Training: A Randomised Controlled Trial of Indashyikirwa in Rwanda
  by Kristin Dunkle, Erin Stern, Sangeeta Chatterji, and Lori Heise
  Between 2015 and 2018, 3 civil society organisations in Rwanda implemented Indashyikirwa, a 4-part intervention designed to reduce IPV. This programme involved, in part, working directly with male-female couples to prevent and mitigate IPV, recognising that many such couples desire to stay together and/or women feel they have no viable economic or sociocultural alternative. This community RCT assessed the impact of the programme's gender-transformative couples' curriculum. Women in the intervention compared with control were less likely to report physical and/or sexual IPV at 24 months (adjusted relative risk (aRR)=0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.34-0.59). Men in the intervention compared with control were also significantly less likely to report perpetration of physical and/or sexual IPV at 24 months (aRR=0.54, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.75). [Dec 2020]
  
   
• 17.Decoding Bystander Behaviour: Actions To Address Violence Against Women
  by Shreya Jha and Manjusha Madhu
  Promoting positive bystander action to address violence against women (VAW) has been a consistent focus area for Breakthrough, an Indian women's rights organisation whose mission is to build a world where VAW is unacceptable by transforming gender norms. This report presents Breakthrough research on bystander interventions during incidents of VAW. The research revealed the role of social norms in enabling a survivor to speak up (or not). Passive (or absent) responses stem from a variety of factors, including but not limited to fear of being blamed or stigmatised, having one's mobility curtailed, or facing aggravated assault or aggression in the wake of confrontation. It also unearthed differences in the way men and women responded and intervened. [Mar 2021]
  
   
• 18.Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls: What Does the Evidence Say?
  by Mary Ellsberg, Diana J Arango, Matthew Morton, et al.
  This systematic review summarises the findings from more than 100 reviews and evaluations covering a broad range of intervention models and many forms of violence, including IVP. Across different forms of violence, effective programmes commonly use participatory strategies, engage multiple stakeholders, and support greater communication and shared decision-making among family members. The review suggests that, in order to transform deeply entrenched attitudes and behaviours, programmes need to go beyond challenging the acceptability of violence by also addressing the underlying risk factors for violence, including norms for gender dynamics and women's economic dependence on men. [Nov 2014]
  
   
• See also:
  Gaining Traction: Promising Shifts in Gender Norms and Intimate Partner Violence in the Context of a Community-based HIV Prevention Trial in South Africa
  

PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: THE CI SURVEY

What kinds of challenges and opportunities infuse your communication and media development, social and behavioural change work? This survey is a chance for you to let us know! We will report back on results and trends so you can gain insights from your peers in the network.
Click here to lend your voice.