2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Violence

Basic DescriptiveMeasures of Girls’Status Framing ofSocial Capital andPotential ViolenceRisk• Age/documentation of age• Living arrangements• Schooling status• Marriage status• Childbearing status• Migration status• Paid and unpaid work• Savings experience• Density of friendship networks• Regular access to a place tomeet nonfamily peers• Levels of social affiliation/groupmembership• Reported comfort level in schooland community• Sexual activity status (ifpossible)—whether first sexualexperience was tricked or forcedA 2009 evaluation determined thatgirls’ social networks and safety netscan be built. Girls in the program reportincreases in friendship networks intheir neighborhoods and having placesoutside the home to meet other girls.Girls in the project site were significantlymore likely to have undergone voluntarycounseling and testing for HIV comparedwith girls in the control site. 38For further information, pleasecontact Annabel Erulkar at aerulkar@popcouncil.org.Abriendo Oportunidades:“Safescaping” with a rural girls’program in GuatemalaThe Population Council’s AbriendoOportunidades program, working with indigenousgirls’ clubs in the Mayan Highlandsof rural Guatemala, has developedan approach called “safe scaping,” whichis being piloted in 3 of 40 program villages.Safescaping facilitates adolescentgirl–centered strategies to prevent andaddress violence against girls. Youngfemale leaders (aged 15–24), with mentorsupport, use GPS technology to maptheir communities. First, they define thecommunity’s boundaries (the first timesome of these villages have ever beenmapped), then they go house to houseand identify girls who are eligible toparticipate in the program.During the mapping exercise, girls(aged 12–15) designate what partsof the community, service points, andfacilities they define as “safe,” “somewhatsafe,” and “unsafe.” They thenpresent these maps to a cross-sectionof the community (some of the elders,those on the development committee,school teachers, older and youngermales, and interested family members).This allows participants to see theworld as girls see it, including its safetyparameters. Often overlaid on the villagemaps are the common daily routesalong which girls travel (for example, toschool). Points of concern with regardto girls’ safety (e.g., unmowed fields,places where men gather, truck stops)are marked. In some instances, girlshave noted on the maps where specificacts of violence have occurred—anunderstanding of which implicitly guidestheir mobility decisions. This mappingexercise catalyzes an explicit communityprocess. Typically, one step isthe girls’ decision to walk in groups toschool. In one community, a safety commissionhas been set up.For further information, please contactPopulation Council consultant Angeldel Valle, adelvalle@popcouncil.org.A community contract that rejectsviolence: Tostan, West AfricaTostan has pioneered a form of dialoguewith communities to reject femalegenital mutilation (FGM) and, morerecently, child marriage. While thisprogram does not yet measure resultsat the level of the girl, it has catalyzedcommunity efforts to eliminate seriousforms of abuse. A principled strategy bywhich this is accomplished is designedto accelerate the abandonment of FGM.Among villages that participated in theTostan program, prevalence of FGMreportedly dropped by 70% versus 40%in control villages (results based onreports of “key informants” not girls).This strategy is founded on the understandingthat to change social normsrequires reaching a critical mass ofcommunity members, because FGMand child marriage are related to acommonly perceived standard of girlswho are considered decent for marriage.Tostan’s approach uses qualitativeevaluation to improve the strengthof program delivery. 39For further information, pleasecontact Gannon Gillespie, Director ofStrategic Development, Tostan;gannongillespie@tostan.org;212-299-1156.The Safe Cities program: TheAssociation for the Developmentand Enhancement of Women,EgyptThe Safe Cities program, now beingrolled out in various Cairo neighborhoods,aims to reduce sexual harassmentand sexual violence against girlsand women that is being committedin urban public spaces (neighborhoodsquares, alleys, abandoned buildings,construction sites). Sexual harassmentis conceived as impeding girls andwomen from carrying out their domesticresponsibilities, accessing services andjobs, and developing their skills, andcreating interference in getting to andfrom schools and a lack of safety inpublic parks. The project will work withat-risk women and girls, local authorities,other grassroots groups, and themedia to create greater access andsafety in public spaces.For further information, contactIman Bibars, ibibars@ASHOKA.ORG, atthe Association for the Developmentand Enhancement of Women.Paraprofessional Social Work TrainingProgram, International RescueCommittee (IRC), Somali Region ofEthiopiaThe Paraprofessional Social Worktraining program reaches girls andwomen living in hard-to-reach districtsin the Somali region of Ethiopia. ThisUNICEF-supported program brings twocommunity members from each village14 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION