2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Violence

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Basic DescriptiveMeasures of Girls’Status Framing ofSocial Capital andPotential <strong>Violence</strong>Risk• 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
More Specific Measures to Avoid ExistingPotential Threats• Safety nets• Someone to turn to in case of an emergency• Place to spend the night in an emergency• Someone from whom to borrow money in an emergency• Self esteem/sense of agency/aspirations• Personal documentation/recognition of membership in thecommunity• Context-specific knowledge of services (placement, hours, evidenceof registration)• Specific knowledge of risky people, seasons, events• Specific safety/emergency plansSource: Erulkar, Annabel S.; Muthengi, Eunice. Evaluation of Berhane Hewan: A programto delay child marriage in rural Ethiopia. International Perspectives on Sexual andReproductive Health 35(1): 6-14 . Erulkar, Annabel S.; Mekbib, Tekle-Ab; Tegegne, Mesfin.Biruh Tesfa: Creating a ‘Bright Future’ for migrant girls in urban areas of Ethiopia. PromotingHealthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief. 2008 Adolescent andYouth Sexual and Reproductive Health: Charting Directions for a Second Generation ofProgramming-Background Documents for the Meeting, pp. 77-89 2003. Bruce, Judith;Hallman, Kelly. Reaching the girls left behind. Gender and Development 16(2): 227-245.2008. Hallman, Kelly. Program.(one female/one male) to be trainedover the course of one year as socialworkers. The social workers come fromvillages where conflict is pervasive andit is likely girls suffer from high levels ofsexual, psychological, and physical violenceas a result of the conflict and traditionalSomali cultural norms. Over thecourse of one year, as a part of a largersocial work program, IRC provides thestudents with a series of four one-weektrainings on responses to gender-basedviolence. Topics include case management,providing general psychosocialsupport, active listening, confidentiality,and referrals. The social work studentsconvene in the regional capital eachquarter for training and spend the restof their time in the field practicing theirnew skills. This psychosocial trainingprogram is complemented by a trainingprogram for justice, health, and legalservice providers to build the capacityof those in other sectors to respond tosurvivors of violence. The next phaseof this project will include developinga standard operating procedure forservice providers, to establish the rolesand responsibilities of each sector,outline a referral pathway, and streamlinethe response process. This programallows girls and women access to support,whether they have experiencedviolence or the threat of violence, orneed a social connection. In a nonconflictsetting with easier to access populations,this intervention could be morecomprehensive, however this form ofthe model can be used in conflict areaswhere humanitarian agencies have difficultyaccessing the target population.For further information, contactJody Myrum at Jody.Myrum@nike.com.Growing Up Safe and Healthy(SAFE): Reducing the genderequality gap through gender-basedviolence prevention messages inBangladeshThe Growing Up Safe and Healthy(SAFE) project aims to promote genderequity for 10–17-year-old unmarriedand married girls living in urban slumsin Bangladesh. SAFE addresses adolescentgirls’ heightened vulnerabilityand marginalization by targeting childmarriage and gender-based violence issuesthrough service-delivery programsthat raise awareness of violations ofwomen’s rights through a combinationof sexual and reproductive health messages(bodily integrity, issues of consentand choice, and promoting overallself-determination of their lives). SAFEalso creates strong links and networksbetween legal services and reproductiveand sexual health service providerslocated near the slums, human rightsand women’s rights advocates, researchorganizations, and Bangladesh’sMinistry of Women and Children’sAffairs. At the legal and health-servicecenters, SAFE employees instruct girlsand women on how to protect themselvesagainst sexual and reproductivehealth risks and gender-based violence.For further information, contactSajeda Amin at samin@popcouncil.org.Apne Aap: Eradicating sextraffickingin IndiaApne Aap, founded by investigativejournalist Ruchira Gupta, is a grassrootsorganization in Mumbai, India (with otherprogram sites in Bhiwandi, Bihar, Delhi,and West Bengal) that reaches the mostisolated and at-risk women and childrenwho are trapped in or are at-risk ofprostitution in India’s red-light areas andslums. Apne Aap mobilizes and mentorscommunity-based groups of traffickedand vulnerable girls and women so theycan empower one another. Apne Aapprovides a safe space and opportunitiesfor legal, educational, and livelihoodtraining to girls and women so theycan develop the skills and abilities toresist traffickers. The organization hasreached over 10,000 women and girls,and of these, 812 girls are in regularschools, 1,200 women have formedsmall business cooperatives known asself-help groups, and 3,042 women havesubmitted a petition to Indian Parliamentasking for a change in the anti-traffickinglaw, Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act(ITPA), to punish buyers and protectwomen and girls.For further information, pleasecontact Zoe Young at zoe@apneaap.org.VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 15
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2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Violence

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