Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Ana Maria Munoz Boudet, Patti Petesch, and Carolyn Turk with Angelica Thumala withAngelica Turk andCarolyn Petesch, Boudet, Patti Munoz Ana Maria with Women and Men in20 andMen Countries with Women about Gender Equality Conversations andAgency Norms On EDITION CONFERENCE Supported by © 2012 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2422; e-mail: pubrights@ worldbank.org. CONTENTS FOREWORD 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6 ABOUT THE AUTHORS 9 ABSTRACT 11 INTRODUCTION: THE NORMS OF POWER AND THE POWER OF NORMS 12 1. The study approach 14 2. Methodology of the study 16 3. Discussing and researching gender equality: A brief introduction to the primary study concepts 19 a. Power, empowerment, and agency 20 b. Gender inequality in agency 23 4. Creating and enforcing gender through norms, roles and beliefs 24 a. Norms and roles 24 b. Reinforcing norms 25 c. Changing norms 26 5. Overview of chapters 26 References 28 PART I: GENDER NORMS 32 CHAPTER 1 THE RULES WE LIVE BY: GENDER NORMS AND IDEAL IMAGES 36 1. Normative frameworks for household gender inequalities 36 a. The good wife 37 b. The good husband 41 2. The good girl, the good boy 42 3. Community-level views of gender norms 44 a. Views on working mothers 45 b. The good woman (not) in public 47 CHAPTER 2 NEGOTIATING THE NORMS THAT BIND: A WINDING ROAD 50 1. The quiet relaxing and changing of norms 51 2. Timing is all: Negotiating opportunities and gender-specific responsibilities 52 a. Incessant activity 53 b. The rise of the Swedish husband: An emerging male double-burden? 54 c. Open dialogue and emergence of household power sharing 56 3. Intergenerational transmission of the possibility of change 57 4. Gender norms in transition 59 5. “A woman should be beaten if she deserves punishment” 62 a. Extent and forms of domestic violence 63 b. Causes and consequences of domestic violence 66 References 68 PART II: HAVING AND MAKING CHOICES 71 CHAPTER 3 STRATEGIC LIFE DECISIONS: WHO HAS THE FINAL SAY? 73 1. Investing in education: Why should girls and boys go to school? 75 2. Why should I leave school? Not my choice! 78 3. From school to work: Getting the first job 81 a. You say, I say: The weight of adult voices on job decisions 82 4. “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage” 83 a. So he proposed... 85 b. How can a child take care of another child? 87 c. How many children is too many? 88 d. Pink or blue? Girl or boy? 91 5. What is mine is yours: Asset control and decision-making 92 a. Pocket money 95 6. When does choice mean agency? 96 References 98 PART III: EMPOWERMENT 100 CHAPTER 4 WHAT DRIVES AGENCY? WHAT CRUSHES IT? 103 1. Step by step: Climbing the “Ladder of Freedom and Power” 103 a. Defining the steps on the ladder 104 b. A representative ladder 106 2. Perceptions of factors shaping agency 109 3. Combinations of mobility factors 113 a. Moving up the ladder in the city 115 b. Moving up the ladder in the countryside 117 c. Women climbing, men tumbling in the city 119 4. Men’s and women’s interdependent agency and gender norm change 121 References 123 CHAPTER 5 STRUCTURES OF OPPORTUNITY AND STRUCTURES OF CONSTRAINT 125 1. Community factors that fuel agency 126 2. Whose jobs? 128 3. It takes a village: Local economic dynamism and empowerment 131 a. When choices disappear or stay poor 132 b. When choices grow 135 4. Impact of laws and local civic action on empowerment 137 a. Equal rights for women? 138 b. Do institutions work? Where to turn for help 139 c. Whose voice counts? Local political leadership and civic action 141 5. Change women need 143 References 146 FINAL THOUGHTS 148 APPENDIX 152 Foreword The 2012 World Development Report: Gender Equality and Development offered a critical message: that ef- fective policy making and unwavering focus on progress and persistence in achieving gender equality matter greatly for beneficial development outcomes. In the past quarter century, we have seen remarkable gains for women. Women now represent 40 percent of the global labor force. Women are living longer than men all around the world. And gender gaps in education, once prevalent, are reversing with increasing enrollment of girls and young women. But even with this progress, gender disparities still persist in access to opportunity and resources, and in terms of individual agency. This World Bank report On Norms and Agency: Conversations about Gender Equal- ity with Women and Men in 20 Countries, provides tremendous insight on gender norms - an area that has been resistant to change, and which constrains achievement of gender equality across many diverse cultures. The report synthesizes data collected from more than 4000 women and men in 93 communities across 20 countries. It is the largest data set ever collected on the topic of gender and development, providing an unprecedented opportunity to examine potential patterns across communities on social norms and gender roles, pathways of empowerment, and factors that drive acute inequalities. The analysis raises the profile of persistent social norms and their impact on agency, and catalyzes discourse on the many pathways that create opportunities for women and men to negotiate transformative change. The report is underpinned by the fact that arguably the single most important contribution to development is to unleash the full power of half the people on the planet – women. It underscores how crucial making invest- ments in learning, supporting innovations that reduce the time costs of women’s mobility, and developing a critical mass of women and men pushing the boundaries of entrenched social norms are in enhancing women’s agency and capacity to aspire. We know that women need the tools of development, but development also needs women. All the disadvan- tages that women experience around the world, from poverty to violence, from ill health to illiteracy, also limit the advancement of families, communities, and entire nations. The Rockefeller Foundation is pleased to continue our collaboration with The World Bank through this report, and proud to have supported its research and production. We commend it to all who believe in building a more equitable and resilient world for the well-being of humanity. Acknowledgments his research draws on the contributions of m any people who supported a 20-country rapid qualitative assessment entitled “Defining Gender in the 21st Century Talking with Women and Men around the T World, A Multi-Country Qualitative Study of Gender and Economic Choice.” First and foremost we need to thank the 4,000 women and men and boys and girls who joined in nearly 500 focus groups. We asked very much of them, and they graciously shared their time and opinions with us. The project was led and managed by Carolyn Turk. The core team also included Ana María Muñoz Boudet, Patti Petesch, Angelica Thumala and Maria Beatriz Orlando. Valuable research assistance was provided by Paula Barros, Greta Gober, Gwendolyn Heaner, Rudy Herrera Marmol, Bethany Timmons, and Roberto Miranda. We gratefully acknowledge the World Development Report 2012 team that initiated and supported this project throughout, including the WDR co-directors Ana Revenga and Sudhir Shetty, and the team –Luis Benveniste, Aline Coudouel, Jishnu Das, Markus Goldstein, and Carolina Sanchez Paramo. We also extend appreciation to Elisabeth Huybens of the Social Development Unit for Europe and Central Asia and Cyprian Fisiy with the Social Development Network team for hosting this publication project. The “Defining Gender” data collection effort included national research teams from around the world led by: Chona Echavez and Pierre Fallavier (AREU, Afghanistan); Ugyen Lhamo (Druk Associates, Bhutan); Jean-Fran- çois Kobiané (Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP) Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso); Magaly Pineda and Sergia Galvan (Centro de Investigacion para la Accion Femenina (CIPAF), Santo Do- mingo, the Dominican Republic); Priya Chattier (The University of South Pacific,S uva, Fiji); Sanjeev Sasmal and Sulbha Khanna (Sutra Consulting, India); Rizki Fillaili (SMERU, Jakarta, Indonesia); Gwendolyn Heaner (GK Con- sulting, research on Liberia); Dumitru Slonovschi (Magenda Consulting, Moldova); Patricia Zárate (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Peru); Samia M. Al-Botmeh and Lamis Abunahleh (Centre for Development Studies, Birzeit University, Ramallah, West Bank and Gaza); Paul Barker, Marjorie Andrew and Almah Tararia (Institute of Na- tional Affairs, Papua New Guinea); Greta Gober (Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo, research on Poland); Hana Baronijan and Sasa Jovancevic (IPSOS, Serbia); Imraan Valodia and Kruschen Govender (School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa); Mohamed Braima (Sudanese Organization for Education, Sudan); Adalbertus Kamanzi (CORDEMA, Tanzania); Giovanna Declich (Togo), Hhuat Tha Hong and Linh Tran (Institute for Social Development Studies, Hanoi Vietnam); and Ramzia Aleryani, Sabria Al-Thwar, and Mai Abdulmalik (Yemeni Women Union, Sana’a, the Republic of Yemen).