POLICY/ PROGRAMMING REVIEW
A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION violence against adolescent girls: a fundamental challenge to meaningful equality
By JUDITH BRUCE
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 1 GIRLS FIRST! Perspectives on Girl-Centered Programming
The field of research and programs for adolescent girls has traditionally focused on sexuality, reproductive health, and behavior, neglecting the broader social and economic issues that underpin adolescent girls’ human rights, overall development, health, and well-being. Further, efforts to improve girls’ lives often spotlight those who control or influence their lives—parents, in-laws, boys, men, perpetrators—overlooking girls themselves.
GIRLS FIRST! Perspectives on Girl-Centered Programming is a set of five thematic Reviews, written by experts at the Population Council. They are snapshots of the knowledge base at a particular moment in this quickly changing field. They address the five strategic priorities defined in the UN Joint Statement, “Accelerating Efforts to Advance the Rights of Adolescent Girls” (March 2010), which represents the collective commitment of seven UN agencies to support governments and partners in advancing key policies and programs for the hardest-to- reach adolescent girls. The Reviews therefore: 1. Explore where to go next with education for girls; 2. Outline innovative approaches to improving girls’ health; 3. Reframe the field’s approach toviolence against girls; 4. Describe the best ways to cultivate girl leaders; and 5. Explain novel ways to collect and use data on adolescent girls.
The Reviews put forward innovative arguments for investing in girls and highlight promising practices. They express a forward-looking and evidence-based point of view on where the field must allocate resources in order to most quickly and effectively improve girls’ lives.
These Reviews—while written by experts at the Population Council, an organization that has pioneered cutting-edge research and programming for vulnerable and marginalized adolescent girls—were catalyzed with leadership support from the UN Adolescent Girls Task Force. Ad- ditional moral and material support was provided by UN Women (previously UNIFEM), the Nike Foundation, the UN Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. These Reviews add to other programmatic guidance and tool kits now available and serve as an essential reference for anyone seeking to develop successful and sustainable policies and programs for girls. We hope that they will inspire innovative approaches in efforts that realize the rights of marginalized adolescent girls worldwide.
December 2011 Population Council and UN Adolescent Girls Task Force
Disclaimer The Reviews on programming for adolescent girls in the areas of Education, Health, Reduction of Violence, Girls Leadership, and Data have been prepared by the Population Council for the UN Adolescent Girls Task Force (UN AGTF), with support from the United Nations Foundation, the Nike Foundation, the Packard Foundation, and UN Women. The views expressed in these Reviews are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their donor partners.
© 2011 The Population Council, Inc. www.popcouncil.org VIOLENCE AGAINST adolescent girls: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY By JUDITH BRUCE
Basic knowledge and premises...... 2 Resources: learning lab programs, Violence against girls: Undermining publications, and tools...... 12 society’s promise of equality...... 2 Multilevel effort to change child marriage Extreme violence affects at minimum a third of norms and support married girls: all females and a high, possibly rising, Berhane Hewan, Ethiopia...... 12 proportion of girls younger than 15...... 2 Girl spaces in school: Our girls, our future— Acceptance of violence shrinks girls’ building synergy to end violence against sense of self, the hours of the day, and their lives...... 4 girls in Zambia...... 12 Human rights frameworks are often applied in Promoting safe workspaces for women a manner geared to the realities of dominant, working in bars: Tanzania...... 13 particularly male, populations...... 6 Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future): Providing Summing up: The consequences at the individual meeting spaces, skill-building, and protective and social level of violence are so grave that assets for domestic workers, orphans, prevention is the first priority...... 7 and migrants in urban Ethiopia...... 13 Abriendo Oportunidades: “Safescaping” with a rural girls’ program in Guatemala...... 14 The current landscape...... 7 A community contract that rejects violence: Programs prioritize treatment and perpetrators Tostan, West Africa...... 14 over prevention and girls...... 7 The Safe Cities program: The Association for the Youth programs fail to reach girls often or Development and Enhancement of Women, Egypt...... 14 at all in proportion to their need...... 7 Paraprofessional Social Work Training Program, Promising research is beginning to define factors International Rescue Committee (IRC), that protect girls from violence and make them Somali Region of Ethiopia...... 14 more able to clearly see and manage their environment.....7 Growing Up Safe and Healthy (safe): Reducing the gender equality gap through gender-based Promoted policies and practices...... 9 violence prevention messages in Bangladesh...... 15 Use data to find girls at exceptionally high risk...... 9 Apne Aap: Eradicating sex-trafficking in India...... 15 Devote more resources to building It’s All One Curriculum: A unified approach to protective assets of the girls at most risk...... 9 sexuality, gender, HIV, and human rights education...... 16 Use girls’ knowledge to design prevention, mitigation, reporting procedures, and treatment programs...... 9 NOTes...... 16 Create regularly available platforms and spaces for girls, particularly those at the highest risk of exploitation...... 10 Purposefully recruit at-risk girls...... 11 Anchor programs with girls as the core client: Reach out to others selectively and based on girls’ assessments...... 11 Determine which (if any) media could make a difference based on girls’ experiences...... 11 Protecting girls as they seek justice...... 11 Measuring results at the level of the girl...... 12
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 1 Basic knowledge and premises Violence impedes girls’ access to services Violence against girls: Undermining society’s promise of equality Societies, rich and poor alike, are increasingly articulating commitments that guarantee girls safe and equal access to entitlements, services, social participation, and economic opportunities. Yet threats of violence in many forms—culturally affirmed (child marriage, female genital mutilation), in- timate (carried out by family members and partners), casual (carried out by strangers), and planned (trafficking)— intervene to prevent girls from claiming their rights. Many countries are signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and stipulate equality between males and females in their constitutions. Theo- retically, safe access to resources and facilities is equally afforded to girls and boys, however a far higher proportion of boys and a smaller subset of usually more privileged girls may actually claim their rights and opportunities. The graphic on the right provides a general illustration of how violence impedes structural access. Girls’ lives are often conditioned around the possibility of violence. And Extreme violence affects at mini- tell someone about the abuse. (Boys acts of violence exert additional power mum a third of all females and a are also reluctant to report sexual over girls because the stigma of violence high, possibly rising, proportion of violence.) The process through which often attaches more to a girl than to her girls younger than 15 girls must report violence can re- 2 perpetrator. The experience of violence Physical violence, including being traumatize them. In some settings, is devastating at the individual emo- beaten, raped, or otherwise mistreated access to services is a barrier in and of itself, as many communities have few tional and physical level. Its power to is reported by a third of women world- or no services for survivors of violence. interrupt or fully disable girls’ access to wide. The perpetrators are usually entitlements, social participation, and— Authorities and service providers rarely family members or partners (Ellesberg crucially—safe and decent livelihoods is have training on how to treat cases of and Heise).1 Accepting the challenges an equally compelling reason to stop it. violence and even fewer people are of collecting such sensitive data, in- Violence is so pervasive in many trained on how to treat girl survivors of cluding underreporting, it is noted that societies that it has the feeling of being violence. Being treated with doubt and an active “plan” or even an opposing a high proportion of reported sexual blame by service providers can cause sector undermining the investments assaults, often a majority, are experi- immense psychological damage to made by other sectors in girls’ well- enced by girls younger than 19 years. adolescent girls and delay or impede being. Part of the “plan” to deny the In some places as many as half of re- the healing process. rights of girls, even when society has ported sexual assaults are perpetrated Recent surveys conducted by the made progress, is to condition them to on girls younger than 15. (See Table 1.) governments of Swaziland and Tanza- avoid opportunity in order to manage The proportion of affected girls nia, with support from the US Centers risk. As girls internalize their responsi- who report sexual violence is very low; for Disease Control and Prevention bility for managing this risk, they begin in some settings, only about half of (CDC) and UNICEF, are documenting to precensor their potential. girls who experience sexual violence systematic levels of violence against
2 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION children. The surveys found extremely Table 1 a high proportion of sexual high levels of violence. About a third of assaults among girls girls in both countries reported being abused before they reached 18. The Age Profile of Female Sexual- Swaziland report noted that about 40% Place Assault Survivors of girls who experienced violence were likely to experience it again (Reza).3 Copperbelt, Zambia 49% are younger than 14, 85% are younger Further, the perpetrators of violence than 19* were those who tended to be close to girls (mainly males who lived in the Limpopo, South Africa 56% of people presenting at trauma centers same households and neighborhoods; were minor girls and 31% were preteen girls* a smaller percentage were teachers or religious authorities). The most frequent Malawi A national study showed that 50% of child venue of violence was the girls’ home. sexual-assault cases were among children Stranger violence represented less than 2–13 years of age* 15% of all violence in Swaziland and Liberia Half of all reported rapes are experienced by 32% in Tanzania.4 girls younger than 15** Child marriage, one of the most grievous forms of violence—and usu- *Keesbury, Jill and Ian Askew. 2010. “Comprehensive responses to gender-based violence in ally excluded in statistics of rape and low-resource settings: Lessons learned from implementation.” New York, NY: Population Council. abuse—continues at shocking levels **Personal communications, Ministry of Youth and Adolescent Girls Working Group meeting, in some communities. (See Figure 1.) Liberia, June 2008. If present trends continue, more than
FIGure 1 child marriage among females aged 18–24 in sub-national hotspots
58.0 Zinder, Niger 88.2 47.8 Amhara, Ethiopia 74.4 45.0 Rajshani, Bangladesh 82.2 44.7 Khulna, Bangladesh 84.1 44.6 Kayes, Mali 86.9 44.1 Diffa, Niger 88.7 36.9 North East Nigeria 68.3 347 North West Nigeria 68.3 24.8 RAAN, Nicaragua 58.7 21.8 Andhra Pradesh, India 54.7 20.9 Jharkand, India 61.2 19.5 Jinotega, Nicaragua 52.2 18.3 Bihar, India 60.3 13.7 Midwestern Nepal 58.8
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.080.0 90.0 100.0 % married by 15 % married by 18
Source: Data compiled by Adam Weiner, Population Council, August 2011. Source: Population Council. 2009. The Adolescent Experience In-depth: Using Data to Identify and Reach the Most Vulnerable Young People. Country Reports. New York: Population Council.
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 3 100 million girls in the developing world Health Surveys ask (in many, but not all shows that marriages between young will be subjected to this brutal rupture countries) if the first sexual experience women and older men are less equi- of their lives. Child marriage transits was forced or tricked. The prevalence of table. (See Table 2.) them forcibly into sexual slavery, which nonconsensual sex is often overlooked carries with it an elevated risk of poor when conventional sexual education Acceptance of violence shrinks outcomes, such as reproductive tract programs are designed. girls’ sense of self, the hours of infections and HIV acquisition. Girls who the day, and their lives are in and out of such marriages by the Girls who have experienced forced The role that violence plays in shaping age of 20 (and child marriages are as- first-sex and report large age girls’ lives on a daily, weekly, and sea- sociated with marital disruption) have a differences with partners sonal basis is quantifiable. Girls grow particularly high risk of acquiring HIV.5 The large age gap between girls and As young females seek more their partners or husbands often puts up within norms of constrained mobility autonomy in sexual-marital decisions, in these girls at a disadvantage in avoid- defined by violence. The “decent” girl some settings arising in the context of ing violence and in negotiating healthy is submissive; failure to submit is met a “modern dating culture” (Jejeebhoy),6 sexual behavior. The age difference with force, which she may come to they may be subject to forced or tricked between partners—whether married or believe is justified. This cultural submis- sex and may lack the negotiation skills not—has implications for the woman’s sion has deep roots in family traditions, and sheer physical power to protect ability to negotiate voluntary, safe, and asymmetrical spousal relations, and themselves. The Demographic and protected sexual relations. Research community norms, and is often sup-
Table 2 partner age difference and girls’ vulnerability
% of females aged % OF females aged 15–24 15–24 whose AGE WHOSE age difference % of females difference with HER WITH her current aged 15–24 WHOSE FIRST sexual PARTNER SPOUSE/partner IS first sex was FORCED WAS 10 years or MORE MORE than 10 years
Country DHS Year National Hotspot National Hotspot National Hotspot
Benin 2006 27.2 47.6 18.9 32.0 30.2 43.5 (Ouémé) (Atacora) (Donga) DRC 2007 63.8 84.4 14.9 25.3 26.2 35.6 (Maniema) (Kasai Oriental) (Kasai Oriental) India 2005–06 N/A N/A 14.8 42.4 13.6 34.6 (Assam) (Assam) Liberia 2007 9.5 13.3 38.4 53.8 30.3 35.6 (South Eastern A) (South Eastern A) (South Eastern A) Mali 2006 24.9 33.4 45.5 65.0 53.4 73.0 (Sikasso) (Timbuktu) (Timbuktu) Nepal 2006 N/A N/A 3.0 5.4 8.1 11.7 (Western) (Western) Rwanda 2005 N/A N/A 27.0 N/A 17.3 30.9 (Ville de Kigali) Uganda 2006 25.2 35.2 17.5 28.6 20.1 27.9 (Southwest) (Western) (East Central) Zambia 2007 N/A N/A 7.8 14.2 15.5 17.3 (Northern) (Copperbelt)
Source: Data compiled by Adam Weiner, Population Council, August 2011. Source: Population Council. 2009. The Adolescent Experience In-depth: Using Data to Identify and Reach the Most Vulnerable Young People. Country Reports. New York: Population Council.
4 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION ported directly and indirectly by local A shocking proportion of girls will justify many girls can define few moments in and even national policies or interpreta- violence against them in all circum- which they feel completely safe and can tions of major religious tenets. stances. (See Table 3.) identify virtually no spaces that they Girls with a weak sense of identity can inhabit with confidence. Systematic in empirically violent circumstances Justification and experience of violence inquiries (Hallman, Erulkar, Amin)9 turn become conditioned to accepting and While men and boys may face some lev- up very different sets of places where defending the use of force against el of violence (in Tanzania 30 percent of young males and females can move them.7 Looking across the data from girls, compared to about 14 percent of with both security and social accep- the Demographic and Health Surveys, a boys, experience sexual violence before tance. (See Tables 4 and 5.) high proportion of girls justify violence age 18)8 and may change daily patterns The same 24 hours that young against them for one or more reasons. in small ways to improve their security, males and females share have a very
Table 3 justification and experience of violence
% of females aged 15–24 % of females aged 15–24 who think wife beating who have experienced is justified under physical violence since age 15 certain circumstances Region/ DHS Hotspot Country yEAR National Hotspot National Hotspot (Ever-married)
Sub-saharan Africa
Benin 2006 44.6 74.2 N/A N/A N/A (Atacora) DRC 2007 82.6 89.3 59.7 75.4 88.4 (Equateur) (Equateur) (Kinshasa) Liberia 2007 60.6 74.4 32.5 40.5 48.1 (North Central) (Monrovia) (Monrovia) Mail 2006 77.3 88.9 N/A N/A N/A (Kayes) Rwanda 2005 50.6 71.9 22.9 35.7 48.7 (Cyangugu) (Umutara) (Ville de Kigali) Uganda 2006 72.4 87.7 55.4 71.3 73.5 (West Nile) (Eastern) (Eastern) Zambia 2007 63.1 83.5 40.6 N/A 59.5 (Luapula) (Copper Belt)
Asia
Bangladesh* 2007 31.4 47.5 26.7 N/A 36.7 (Barisal) (Rajshahi) Cambodia 2005 55.6 84.9 10.1 24.3 N/A (Svay Rieng) (Pursat) India 2005–06 47.3 83.2 14.7 28.8 41.1 (Manipur) (Tripura) (West Bengal) Indonesia* 2002–03 29.6 55.5 N/A N/A N/A (W. Nusa Tenggara) Nepal 2006 23.6 30.6 N/A N/A N/A (Midwestern) Philippines 2003 24.8 66.1 N/A N/A N/A (ARMM)
*Ever-married survey. Source: Data compiled by Adam Weiner, Population Council, August 2011. Source: Population Council. 2009. The Adolescent Experience In-depth: Using Data to Identify and Reach the Most Vulnerable Young People. Country Reports. New York: Population Council.
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 5 Table 4 Girls’ relative access to social safety nets and comfort in the communities (kebeles) around the bus station in Addis Ababa Indicators of vulnerability and sense of well-being, by sex and working status
Males Females Working NON- Domestic Vulnerability Not working Working Not workING DOMESTIC WORkers Category (n = 285) (n = 111) (n = 545) (n = 30) (n = 99)
Never been to school 0.7 4.5 4.3 13.3 37.8*** Not living with parents 26.0 41.4 45.9 66.7 97.0*** Migrated into Addis 18.9 35.1 35.1 46.7 97.0*** Have many friends 62.4 51.4 26.9 23.2 7.1*** Feel scared of being beaten by someone in neighborhood 13.9 20.7 30.3 26.7 39.4***
Differences between groups significant at *<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001. Source: Erulkar A. and Mekbib T. 2007. “Invisible and vulnerable: Adolescent domestic workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,” Vulnerable Child and Youth Studies 2(3): 246–256.
such violence had been incorporated Table 5 community support, perceptions into their daily plans and their response of safety, and experience of crime, by sex was to “stay home.” Girls’ withdrawal from opportunities, playing it safe by limiting options, and crossing out whole Boys Girls parts of the environment (markets, statement (n = 400) (n = 676) industries, jobs, social entitlements at health clinics) all arise because of fears Experience of social support in the neighborhood about safety. You have many friends in the neighborhood 59.0*** 23.8 Human rights frameworks are If you didn’t have a place to sleep, someone in often applied in a manner geared your neighborhood would take you in 33.3*** 18.9 toward the realities of dominant, If you needed money urgently, there is someone particularly male, populations in your neighborhood who you could borrow from 22.0* 16.0 Official attempts to protect girls and You have a place in the neighborhood (other than women from violence—such as human home or school) to meet your same-sex friends 47.5*** 13.0 rights’ frameworks and violence-reduc- tion policies and procedures—often over- Differences between groups significant at *<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001. look the protective and supportive infra- Source: Erulkar, Annabel. “Adolescent life in low income and slum areas in Addis Ababa, structures that males have but females Ethiopia.” 2004. Population Council. lack. Girls and women, to a much lesser extent than males, cannot freely and different feel, with girls in some set- categories (and may provide systematic regularly gather with one another, be- tings unable to identify even an hour comparisons with males as well). cause their movements are controlled by in which they feel safe.10 Girls’ safety, A study of strategies that girls in others. The venues in which females are both absolutely and relative to males, in Zambia use to protect themselves from most likely to experience violence are in- 13 the household, community, and school, HIV was telling. Perhaps the most timate spaces and places with nominal and the amount of fear of harassment striking findings were not the high levels protection. The most likely perpetrators experienced, can be quantified (Hall- of violence (more than one-third of the or complicit adults are duty-bearers 11 man, Erulkar, Amin). Safety scans girls knew a girl who had been abused (such as males who are residents of the 12 (Bruce, Austrian), offered in workshop by a teacher and almost half knew a girl household/neighborhood, those who settings or as part of formally con- who had been abused by an intimate would be romantic partners, parents, ducted surveys, can reveal perceptions male in the household) but the fact that teachers, employers, legal authorities, of safety among girls in different social 86 percent noted that their response to and sometimes religious figures).
6 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION Summing up: The consequences tives, seen in isolation, seem worthy in school than girls aged 10–14 who at the individual and social level of enough, but when put in context, they were out of school.16 (See Table 7.) violence are so grave that preven- may be substantially over-resourced tion is the first priority relative to practical and strategic needs. Promising research is beginning The individual experience of violence Recently, a large sub-Saharan country to define factors that protect girls carries well-documented devastating enacted an ambitious program to pre- from violence and make them more and long-term—both over the life course vent gender-based violence and noted able to clearly see and manage and intergenerational—physical, psycho- that a very high proportion of violence their environment logical, sexual, and economic results. was among adolescent girls and young Hallman found that girls’ friendship net- Studying violence at the individual women. Yet the plan proposed spend- works were much less developed than level may be usefully conceptualized ing less than 5% of total resources on boys’ (typically, in South Africa the poor- as an attack on a core “stock”—human direct engagement with young popula- est boys had more friends and regular capital and dignity—from which there tions, mixing boys and girls in benefi- access to them than the richest girls) may be no real “recovery.” While many ciary groups, and it did not have distinct and crucially that greater social isolation females bravely reclaim a valued life, a performance benchmarks for males and was strongly correlated with experienc- substantial population will not achieve females. Table 6 gives some sense of ing forced sex.17, 18 (See Figure 2.) a full return to confident agency and the current allocation of resources and Cross-sectional data (Lloyd)19 for bodily integrity. Long after the treat- which groups are primarily engaged. many countries suggest that girls who ment or repair of the body, survivors of are in school during adolescence (espe- Youth programs fail to reach girls of- cially those at grade for age) are less like- violence may have difficulty regaining a ten or at all in proportion to their need sense of control over their lives. Female ly to be sexually active and to experience survivors of violence exhibit long-term Many child health, civic participation, sexual coercion, reproductive tract infec- health effects, including chronic-pain social development programs, and most tions, unwanted pregnancies, or HIV. A syndromes, drug and alcohol abuse, especially youth programs have been recent survey in Swaziland demonstrated unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy com- mounted in the name of addressing that the risk of childhood sexual violence plications, sexually transmitted infec- young peoples’ vulnerability in late child- is greatest among those who were not tions (including HIV), increased rates of hood and early adolescence, and provid- attending school at the time of the study, morbidity and mortality, mental health ing a safety net and pathway into civic suggesting that greater educational problems, gynecological problems, and participation. Strikingly, those segments opportunities could help prevent sexual decreased functioning (Campbell).14 So- of the child and adolescent population violence (Breiding et al.).20 Findings from cial and economic effects are reflected at highest risk and with the least social several studies suggest that the risk in increased absenteeism, decreased assets are the least likely to be benefi- of childhood sexual violence is higher labor force participation, and reduced ciaries of conventionally configured pro- among girls whose relationship with their productivity. These outcomes lower girls’ grams and policies. (See quote below.) biological mothers had not been close, ability to earn in ways commensurate For example, because youth and suggesting that a strong mother–daugh- with their skills and to take physical other safety net programs rely upon ter relationship may protect a girl from control of earnings. A recent review in demand rather than on purposeful experiencing sexual violence. (Breiding et Swaziland, impressive in the depth and recruitment, there is “elite capture” al.).21 Being in a two-parent household is breadth of its inquiry, concluded that not simply of adult males, but also of similarly protective. Being an orphan, on the short-term and long-term effects some females. Girls in domestic service the other hand, puts a girl at significantly were so devastating that the priority in Addis Ababa have almost no access higher risk for experiencing violence. must simply be prevention (Reza).15 to “youth services.” A youth program Having specific knowledge of your com- in Monrovia, Liberia, served almost 12 munity as opposed to general knowledge The current landscape times more girls aged 15–19 who were of services is protective. Health and social and economic assets are closely Programs prioritize treatment and linked. Girls who had a financial goal, in perpetrators over prevention and girls There is a persistent failure a South Africa study, were more likely It is consistent with the human rights- to invest in girls’ protective to realistically assess HIV risk and more based approach to prioritize the assets. Imagine a Civil Rights likely to have an HIV test.22 engagement of the most directly af- Movement that failed to Whereas programs cannot restore fected individuals. Many gender-based register African Americans families, they can create social support, violence-prevention programs, including to vote. Can one imagine an specific knowledge, and new skills. Even those that note the young age at which the most disadvantaged girls (girls in many violations take place, have more effective effort to raise domestic service long detached from planned engagement with authority wages that simply made their families) can build their social figures and perpetrators than with girls appeals to executives and capital and protective assets in ways themselves. They are working “on behalf never mobilized the workers? that increase their prospects of both a of girls” but not with girls. These initia- safer and a more decent life.
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 7 Table 6 resources available
Prevention Treatment: Access program subject and building to and effective reintegration categories protective assets Mitigation provision and Recovery
Girls at risk (girls in domestic service, oldest girls/ Negligible Negligible Some Negligible primary school, young- resources resources resources resources est girls/secondary school, out-of school girls aged 10–14
Police N/A N/A More resources N/A
Lawyers N/A N/A More resources N/A
Judges N/A N/A More resources N/A
Health workers N/A N/A More resources N/A
Teachers N/A N/A More resources N/A
Males as potential abusers or allies ( e.g., Some N/A N/A N/A intimates, brothers, resources fathers, partners, unrelated males)
Source: Bruce, Judith. Interagency Youth Working Group Presentation, 3 June 2010.
Table 7 Older girls in secondary school were ALMOST NINE times more likely to participate in a community-based program than younger out-of-school girls
in in out With Without Age and Type Primary Secondary OF School Child Child
10–14 Reached 45 12 8 1 64 Eligible 1,942 236 558 N/A N/A Percent reached 2.3 5.1 1.4 N/A N/A
15–19 Reached 54 94 37 63 122 Eligible 686 786 505 379 1,651 Percent reached 7.9 12.0 7.3 16.6 7.4
20–24 Reached 9 62 41 89 24 Eligible 112 592 990 1,304 586 Percent reached 8.0 10.5 4.1 6.8 4.1
Source: Tabulations by Adam Weiner. 2007 Liberia DHS and 2008–2009 Liberia Coverage Exercise with pilot coverage exercise data from four community-based programs.
8 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION enced forced sexual relations and An Inversion of Care Promoted policies and practices in other circumstances that starkly raise vulnerability, such as girls aged Those at lesser risk, with greater Use data to find girls at 10–14 who are out of school and living social assets (stable homes, school- exceptionally high risk apart from parents or are in domestic ing) are receiving the majority share Data exist to identify specific places service.25 In sum, there is enough data of youth-serving resources where there are high concentrations to establish in most locations a basic • In school (older) boys of females at high risk for experiencing epidemiology of violence, and existing • Unmarried males violence (e.g., the Multiple Indicator data can facilitate the identification • Urban born, living in two-parent Cluster Survey (MICS), Demographic in advance, of populations of females household and Health Surveys (DHS), and the who are at elevated risk for suffering • Older adolescents, youth 20+, National Centers for Disease Con- violence. (See Map, page 10.) even 24+ trol and Prevention (CDC) Surveys completed for Swaziland, Tanzania, Devote more resources to Those at greatest risk, with least Zimbabwe, and planned for Haiti). building protective assets of the social assets (migrant, less stable Culturally prescribed violence such as girls at most risk families, lesser or no schooling, ex- child marriage or female genital mutila- Violence-reduction programs should periencing the most frequent unpro- tion (FGM) is often concentrated in engage the constituency at the base— tected sexual relations) are receiving specific geographic locations or ethnic/ in this case, adolescent girls—offering a negligible share of youth-serving religious communities. There is often them the right to information and oppor- resources subnational variation in the proportion tunities for assembly and expression of • Out of school (younger) girls of young women who accept violence. their views. These rights of participation • Married girls For example, in Benin,23 though the are not well understood or implemented • Migrant, rural origin, living apart national average of girls who think and are the most challenging rights from parents wife beating is justified under certain to secure, especially for marginalized • Youngest adolescents, 10–14 circumstances is almost 45%, there are and vulnerable populations. Imagine also hotspots where as many as 74% a Civil Rights Movement that failed Source: Bruce, Judith. November 2006. “Us- of girls think wife beating is justified. In to register African Americans to vote. ing data to count, advocate for, and invest in 24 adolescent girls: An Ethiopian case study.” Haiti (DHS 2006), almost double the Can one imagine an effective effort to Additional Source: Mekbib, T., A. Erulkar, proportion of girls in the north as in the raise wages that simply made appeals and F. Belete. 2005. “Who are the targets of south justify violence. to executives and never mobilized the youth programs: Results of a capacity build- ing exercise in Ethiopia,” Ethiopian Journal of There are similar variations in the workers? Health Development 19(1): 60–62. proportion of girls who have experi- Job One is to develop the protec- tive assets of the youngest females at highest risk of the most severe Figure 2 Those with fewer social connections violence. If this value is served, the ma- jority of resources would be allocated are more likely to experience forced sex to building the protective assets of vul- (Ever-been-physically-forced 14–16-year-old females) nerable populations and, concurrently, appropriate but lesser resources could 8 be allocated to second-tier clients, for example, building the professional 6 skills of established authority figures or addressing potential perpetrator
t populations. 4
Percen Use girls’ knowledge to design prevention, mitigation, reporting 2 procedures, and treatment programs Few current programs are incorporat- 0 ing girls’ perspectives, even as sur- Low Mid High vivors of violence, in program design Social connectedness and implementation. The vast majority Sources: Hallman, K. 2004. “Socioeconomic disadvantage and unsafe sexual behaviors among of resources build the social capital young women and men in South Africa,” Policy Research Division Working Paper No. 190. New and knowledge of people who have York: Population Council. Bruce, Judith and Kelly Hallman. 2008. “Reaching the girls left behind,” Gender & Development 16(2): 227–245. authority over girls, such as teachers
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 9 those females who are at high risk of percent of girls 10–14 not in school violence: 10–14-year-olds who are out and not living with either parent in of school, 10–14-year-olds living with one or no parent, and underage girls in mozambique (137,768) exploitative work.26, 27 The Population Council has de- veloped a safety scan tool for use by girls and boys to define times of the day, week, season, or situation that are sources of threat. Girls themselves should be asked to identify when they feel at risk, according to: • Days of the week • Seasons • Situations (like asking for a grade or walking to or from school) • Hours of the day • Economically lean times and better times Girls can be asked to identify situ- ations and special events that bring heightened risk. Examples of this include school vacations, times when men have money, festivals, or sporting events (World Cup). In South Africa, girls identified November and December as months when they felt they were more under pressure to exchange sex for gifts and money, because school fees were due then (Hallman).28 This exercise has been conducted in a number of settings, including Burkina Faso, Haiti, Tanzania, and Zambia. In Haiti, girls were very clear that there were no times during which members of any of three categories of vulnerable females (domestic work- Source: “The Adolescent Experience In-Depth: Using Data to Identify and Reach the Most ers, 10–14-year-old out-of-school girls, Vulnerable Young People: Mozambique 2006.” New York: Population Council, 2009.
10 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION FIGURE 3 safety scan tool
SEASONS THAT BRING RISK WHY THE SEASON BRINGS RISK WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE RISK
Harvesting Rainy season Migration for work School fees are due Holidays When school is in session (Other) (Other) (Other)
Conceptualized by Judith Bruce and Karen Austrian. Published by Austrian, K. and D. Ghati. 2010. Girl Centered Program Design: A Toolkit to Develop, Strengthen and Expand Adolescent Girls Programs. Population Council
Other girls have left their community, Anchor programs with girls as the the first place (radio, television) or the often forcibly. core client: Reach out to others meaningfulness of the messages. This All human beings need friendship selectively and based on girls’ is often a simple way to spend money and social support. Social support and assessments and appear to be advocating, but it is friendship not only reduce girls’ suscep- Effective programs must navigate not clear that these campaigns build tibility to violence but can also serve many gatekeepers and limiting struc- girls’ protective assets. In general, as platforms from which to increase tures so that girls remain the key, for behavior change and certainly for knowledge about rights, develop specific anchoring client. While others—reli- vulnerable groups, specific access safety plans, and provide safe spaces gious authorities, teachers, parents, to information is far more effective in which they can discuss the sensitive male peers, and older males—may be than generalized messages. Girls, for and threatening elements in their lives. engaged, the girls must be assured instance, need to know specific risky A family of peers with a mentor is a vital their central place as the core clients. scenarios. As an example of a risky asset in and of itself. It is also a means Consistent with any human rights scenario, girls in the Haitian workshop by which a girl can learn her rights, come agenda, the affected population, the identified “sharp guys” who lure inse- to understand teacher codes of conduct, girls themselves, must be the central cure, younger girls out on dates that have access to services and support, participants in the program and major- often end in gang abuse. In Zambia, and obtain justice when she needs it. ity beneficiaries. To the extent that girls identified teachers who insist that Creating regularly available venues girls come to their homes to receive a will likely increase the level of reporting grade. This behavior should be covered about violence; girls in this environ- Even the most disadvantaged in a teachers’ code; girls are currently ment may have an increased sense of girls can increase their unaware of these codes because they what constitutes violence, and accept prospects of both a safer are not posted or discussed with them. it less. They may also feel more trusting and more decent life. Perhaps the most well-known experi- in disclosing difficult situations they are ment was one in Kenya in which high facing.30 school girls were informed that older other actors are engaged as allies, partners were more likely to have HIV Purposefully recruit at-risk girls girls’ perspectives should inform pro- than younger partners. This led to a As observed earlier, assuring the par- gram directions and messages. change in both attitudes and partner 32 ticipation of the girls at the highest risk selection. (measured by social exclusion, family Determine which (if any) media living arrangements, work and school could make a difference based on Protecting girls as they seek justice status, prevalence of cultural norms, girls’ experiences For survivors of violence, seeking and migration status, for example) will There’s often a rush to move to media justice can be difficult and can often require their purposeful recruitment. with the notion that violence can be re-traumatize adolescent girls. Girl Mapping the community of girls is es- reduced with some sort of social mar- survivors often face doubting authorities sential and allows the identification of keting campaign. These campaigns are who do not know how to properly treat the most vulnerable, such as girls in often undertaken with no investigation them; there have been reports of clini- domestic service.31 as to girls’ relative access to media in cians inserting a speculum in girls—even
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 11 prepuberty—which is a forbidden and Measuring results at the level Resources: dangerous clinical process. Mistreat- of the girl Learning lab programs, ment by medical providers often means Judging from programmatic efforts publications, and tools further medical complications and little thus far, there appears to be a deep access to necessary medical treatment resistance to center violence-reduction Multilevel effort to change child including post-exposure prophylaxis programs on building the assets of girls marriage norms and support for HIV and other sexually transmitted themselves, even as a first step. Indeed married girls: Berhane Hewan, infections and emergency contraception the failure to measure any change at Ethiopia36 to decrease risk of pregnancy. Because the level of the girl is an indicator of The Population Council’s Berhane of their age, girls are required to be how off-track we have been. There is Hewan program in Ethiopia measured accompanied by a trusted guardian or a strong bias to measuring inputs (like its success at the level of the girl. ombudsman for many services. This can radio messages and number of police The program assessed levels of child hinder justice because a high proportion trained) rather than girl-level change. marriage, girls’ social isolation and of perpetrators are family members and While it is important to document the attitudes, along with girls’ comfort in other people who are close to families. thoroughness of the implementation, different parts of the community and Sometimes culpable or complicit adults the most salient results are the returns access to different degrees of social must give consent for medical treatment to the core client population. 33 participation. The program specifically for the initiation of legal processes. A clear indication that a program addressed the interrelated factors that Furthermore, legal systems are complex is girl-centered is that it has girl-level made a girl liable to be married as a and difficult to navigate, even for adults. measures. Existing research suggests child—these included her exclusion Many countries lack laws to protect and that there are a number of types of from school, her lack of friendship net- promote the rights of women and girls. social capital (friendship networks, af- The Adolescent Girls Legal Defense filiations to groups that meet regularly) works, her lack of access to a mentor Fund has developed guidelines for bet- and safety nets35 (someone to turn to in or any kind of safety net (someone to ter addressing violations of girls’ rights an emergency or a place to spend the turn to in an emergency). At the same and equipping legal systems to meet night) that are protective. time, the program engaged gatekeep- the needs of adolescent girls. Among There is a final, methodological ers and actively discussed child mar- their recommendations: reason to measure results at the level riage. It incentivized communities to • Require gender-sensitivity training of the girl. As girls (and the general com- support a high proportion of girls going for all personnel (police, prosecutors, munity) become sensitized, many things to school on a regular basis. For those clinicians, and judges) who deal with that were previously defined as accept- girls above school age (often by early adolescent girls’ legal needs. able may be redefined as unacceptable adolescence with a lack of schooling), girls clubs were established, and the • Ensure that medical exams are and reported as violent. Negative re- girls who were already married (regard- quick, minimally invasive, and carry ports about quality of services increase less of age) attended girls clubs once a few reporting requirements. when clients are informed about their rights or appropriate expectations about week. The result of this program was to • Take special measures for adoles- care. Similarly, we can expect that ado- delay the age at marriage by two years, cent girls in trials, such as: lescent girls who are sensitized and sup- reducing the acceptance and practice ° Providing separate waiting ported may initially report more abuse. of an extreme form of sexual violence, rooms for survivors and wit- Programs cannot guarantee a girl’s and to provide health and social sup- nesses to avoid contact with safety, but they can measure how well port to married girls. perpetrators. prepared she is to deal with violence, For more information, see ° Being sensitive during cross- by assessing her protective assets, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/ examination to counter harass- such as having someone to turn to in a journals/3500609.pdf, or contact ment of survivors. crisis and having specific safety plans. Dr. Annabel Erulkar at aerulkar@ popcouncil.org. ° Allowing the use of screens or Programs can most likely measure shift- in-camera testimony to avoid ing levels of comfort with violence within Girl spaces in school: Our girls, our contact with perpetrators. the community, and they can document expanding areas and times of day in future—building synergy to end keeping girls informed about ° which girls feel safe. Many of the short- violence against girls in Zambia the legal process and its term measures of protective assets A program underway in Zambia pur- outcomes. should be achievable within relatively posefully builds girls’ protective assets. ° Limiting the number of times a short periods of time. For example, girls Currently, in six schools, four different survivor must testify. can acquire personal documentation organizations are experimenting with the ° Enforcing time limits within and a more explicit sense of risk in their creation of girls’ clubs with an emphasis which legal proceedings must environment, and can evolve specific on the oldest girls in primary school and be initiated and concluded.34 plans and knowledge to avoid it. the youngest girls in secondary school, in
12 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION an environment in which bar owners, girls’ safe spaces can offer: male co-workers, and patrons expect them to submit to sexual harassment (fondling, slapping, etc.), and if they fail • A safe, reliably available space apart from home and formal to submit they are in danger of losing schooling in which to meet friends their jobs. Most bar owners are not • Friends: A dense network of nonfamily peers committed to ensuring that these young • Mentors and role models to learn from, and who can intercede women are covered by such workplace policies as health insurance, protection • Experience being part of a team, cooperating and leading against abuse and harassment, legisla- • Literacy, health knowledge, social mobility: Foundations of au- tion on the minimum wage, or even HIV tonomy workplace interventions. TAMASHA is • Financial literacy and savings creating a network to increase these young women’s social support and • Documentation for health, work, citizenship could, under Tanzanian law, include a • A place to conduct and post safety scans union of bar workers to protect their • Develop specific girls’ self-protection plans and crisis- rights and negotiate appropriate working management options conditions and protection. The biweekly • Know teacher and other professional codes of conduct meetings of the girls/young women will give them a chance to explore their lives • Referral and management of challenges and crises (harassment, together in a supportive environment. threats of child marriage, FGM, pregnancy, rape, Other stakeholders such as bar owners violence) will be included in the conversations • Accessing entitlements, including HIV-related to develop and implement minimum • Planning for seasonal stresses, like school fees and food short- standards of payment and treatment in ages, which often increase pressure to exchange sex for gifts or this risky industry. They will individually money and collectively fight for a safe environ- ment, zero harassment, and acceptable • Dealing with prolonged illness, death, inheritance, succession working conditions. planning For further information, please • Participation, activity, fun contact Richard Mabala, rmabala@ yahoo.com. Bruce, Judith. “Reaching The Girls Left Behind: Targeting Adolescent Programming for Equity, Social Inclusion, Health, and Poverty Alleviation.” April 2007. Prepared for “Financing Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future): Gender Equality: A Commonwealth Perspective,” Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Providing meeting spaces, skill- Ministers’ Meeting, Uganda, June 2007. building, and protective assets for domestic workers, orphans, and migrants in urban Ethiopia This project—a collaboration between light of the fact that girls around the time from a concern about rape and redress the Population Council, the Addis Ababa of puberty appear to be the most vulner- to prevention and engaged young males Youth and Sport Commission, and the able. The girls clubs meet once a week who were identified in parallel locations Ethiopia Ministry of Youth and Sport— where they were working with girls to on school premises, led by pairs of teach- has reached up to 20,000 girls across ers, mothers, or peer mentors, and work maximize synergistic benefits. six cities in Ethiopia, recruiting the out-of through a wide-ranging curriculum that For further information, please school girl population at highest risk. covers health, social issues, and financial contact Caroline Muthoni Muriithi at Girls meet in existing community halls literacy. The clubs also deploy suggestion [email protected]. and facilities donated by local adminis- boxes where girls can leave messages, trations. Meetings are held 3–5 times and teachers learn a code of conduct Promoting safe workspaces for a week. Biruh Tesfa aims to address and post it so the girls (and everybody women working in bars: Tanzania adolescent girls’ social isolation by build- else) can see it.37 A girl should know, as The TAMASHA project, which is underway ing their social capital and participation a teacher should know, that it is unac- in Dar es Salaam and being rolled out and giving them access to basic literacy, ceptable for a teacher to ask a student in Arusha, addresses the vulnerability life skills, HIV and reproductive health to visit his home to receive a grade or to of young women (officially aged 18–24, education, and specific knowledge of engage with them personally in any way but sometimes 16 and younger) working resources in their catchment areas. outside of the classroom. This program in bars. Bar workers receive salaries All participating girls receive a project is innovative insofar as it has moved well below minimum wage and work in identification (ID) card with their photo.
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 13 lages. Safescaping facilitates adolescent reportedly dropped by 70% versus 40% Basic Descriptive girl–centered strategies to prevent and in control villages (results based on Measures of Girls’ address violence against girls. Young reports of “key informants” not girls). Status Framing of female leaders (aged 15–24), with men- This strategy is founded on the under- Social Capital and tor support, use GPS technology to map standing that to change social norms Potential Violence their communities. First, they define the requires reaching a critical mass of community’s boundaries (the first time community members, because FGM Risk some of these villages have ever been and child marriage are related to a mapped), then they go house to house commonly perceived standard of girls • Age/documentation of age and identify girls who are eligible to who are considered decent for mar- participate in the program. riage. Tostan’s approach uses qualita- • Living arrangements During the mapping exercise, girls tive evaluation to improve the strength • Schooling status (aged 12–15) designate what parts of program delivery.39 of the community, service points, and For further information, please • Marriage status facilities they define as “safe,” “some- contact Gannon Gillespie, Director of • Childbearing status what safe,” and “unsafe.” They then Strategic Development, Tostan; • Migration status present these maps to a cross-section [email protected]; of the community (some of the elders, 212-299-1156. • Paid and unpaid work those on the development committee, • Savings experience school teachers, older and younger The Safe Cities program: The males, and interested family members). Association for the Development • Density of friendship networks This allows participants to see the and Enhancement of Women, • Regular access to a place to world as girls see it, including its safety Egypt meet nonfamily peers parameters. Often overlaid on the vil- The Safe Cities program, now being lage maps are the common daily routes rolled out in various Cairo neighbor- • Levels of social affiliation/group along which girls travel (for example, to membership hoods, aims to reduce sexual harass- school). Points of concern with regard ment and sexual violence against girls • Reported comfort level in school to girls’ safety (e.g., unmowed fields, and women that is being committed and community places where men gather, truck stops) in urban public spaces (neighborhood • Sexual activity status (if are marked. In some instances, girls squares, alleys, abandoned buildings, possible)—whether first sexual have noted on the maps where specific construction sites). Sexual harassment experience was tricked or forced acts of violence have occurred—an is conceived as impeding girls and understanding of which implicitly guides women from carrying out their domestic their mobility decisions. This mapping responsibilities, accessing services and A 2009 evaluation determined that exercise catalyzes an explicit com- jobs, and developing their skills, and girls’ social networks and safety nets munity process. Typically, one step is creating interference in getting to and can be built. Girls in the program report the girls’ decision to walk in groups to from schools and a lack of safety in increases in friendship networks in school. In one community, a safety com- public parks. The project will work with their neighborhoods and having places mission has been set up. at-risk women and girls, local authori- outside the home to meet other girls. For further information, please con- ties, other grassroots groups, and the Girls in the project site were significantly tact Population Council consultant Angel media to create greater access and more likely to have undergone voluntary del Valle, [email protected]. safety in public spaces. counseling and testing for HIV compared For further information, contact with girls in the control site.38 A community contract that rejects Iman Bibars, [email protected], at For further information, please violence: Tostan, West Africa the Association for the Development contact Annabel Erulkar at aerulkar@ Tostan has pioneered a form of dia- and Enhancement of Women. popcouncil.org. logue with communities to reject female genital mutilation (FGM) and, more Paraprofessional Social Work Train- Abriendo Oportunidades: recently, child marriage. While this ing Program, International Rescue “Safescaping” with a rural girls’ program does not yet measure results Committee (IRC), Somali Region of program in Guatemala at the level of the girl, it has catalyzed Ethiopia The Population Council’s Abriendo community efforts to eliminate serious The Paraprofessional Social Work Oportunidades program, working with in- forms of abuse. A principled strategy by training program reaches girls and digenous girls’ clubs in the Mayan High- which this is accomplished is designed women living in hard-to-reach districts lands of rural Guatemala, has developed to accelerate the abandonment of FGM. in the Somali region of Ethiopia. This an approach called “safescaping,” which Among villages that participated in the UNICEF-supported program brings two is being piloted in 3 of 40 program vil- Tostan program, prevalence of FGM community members from each village
14 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION lescent girls’ heightened vulnerability More Specific Measures to Avoid Existing and marginalization by targeting child Potential Threats marriage and gender-based violence is- sues through service-delivery programs that raise awareness of violations of • Safety nets women’s rights through a combination • Someone to turn to in case of an emergency of sexual and reproductive health mes- sages (bodily integrity, issues of con- • Place to spend the night in an emergency sent and choice, and promoting overall • Someone from whom to borrow money in an emergency self-determination of their lives). SAFE also creates strong links and networks • Self esteem/sense of agency/aspirations between legal services and reproduc- • Personal documentation/recognition of membership in the tive and sexual health service providers community located near the slums, human rights • Context-specific knowledge of services (placement, hours, evidence and women’s rights advocates, re- of registration) search organizations, and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Women and Children’s • Specific knowledge of risky people, seasons, events Affairs. At the legal and health-service • Specific safety/emergency plans centers, SAFE employees instruct girls and women on how to protect them- Source: Erulkar, Annabel S.; Muthengi, Eunice. Evaluation of Berhane Hewan: A program selves against sexual and reproductive to delay child marriage in rural Ethiopia. International Perspectives on Sexual and health risks and gender-based violence. Reproductive Health 35(1): 6-14 . Erulkar, Annabel S.; Mekbib, Tekle-Ab; Tegegne, Mesfin. For further information, contact Biruh Tesfa: Creating a ‘Bright Future’ for migrant girls in urban areas of Ethiopia. Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief. 2008 Adolescent and Sajeda Amin at [email protected]. Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health: Charting Directions for a Second Generation of Programming-Background Documents for the Meeting, pp. 77-89 2003. Bruce, Judith; Apne Aap: Eradicating sex- Hallman, Kelly. Reaching the girls left behind. Gender and Development 16(2): 227-245. trafficking in India 2008. Hallman, Kelly. Program. Apne Aap, founded by investigative journalist Ruchira Gupta, is a grassroots organization in Mumbai, India (with other (one female/one male) to be trained service providers, to establish the roles program sites in Bhiwandi, Bihar, Delhi, over the course of one year as social and responsibilities of each sector, and West Bengal) that reaches the most workers. The social workers come from outline a referral pathway, and stream- isolated and at-risk women and children villages where conflict is pervasive and line the response process. This program who are trapped in or are at-risk of it is likely girls suffer from high levels of allows girls and women access to sup- prostitution in India’s red-light areas and sexual, psychological, and physical vio- port, whether they have experienced slums. Apne Aap mobilizes and mentors lence as a result of the conflict and tra- violence or the threat of violence, or community-based groups of trafficked ditional Somali cultural norms. Over the need a social connection. In a noncon- and vulnerable girls and women so they course of one year, as a part of a larger flict setting with easier to access popu- social work program, IRC provides the lations, this intervention could be more can empower one another. Apne Aap students with a series of four one-week comprehensive, however this form of provides a safe space and opportuni- trainings on responses to gender-based the model can be used in conflict areas ties for legal, educational, and livelihood violence. Topics include case manage- where humanitarian agencies have dif- training to girls and women so they ment, providing general psychosocial ficulty accessing the target population. can develop the skills and abilities to support, active listening, confidentiality, For further information, contact resist traffickers. The organization has and referrals. The social work students Jody Myrum at [email protected]. reached over 10,000 women and girls, convene in the regional capital each and of these, 812 girls are in regular quarter for training and spend the rest Growing Up Safe and Healthy schools, 1,200 women have formed of their time in the field practicing their (SAFE): Reducing the gender small business cooperatives known as new skills. This psychosocial training equality gap through gender-based self-help groups, and 3,042 women have program is complemented by a training violence prevention messages in submitted a petition to Indian Parliament program for justice, health, and legal Bangladesh asking for a change in the anti-trafficking service providers to build the capacity The Growing Up Safe and Healthy law, Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act of those in other sectors to respond to (SAFE) project aims to promote gender (ITPA), to punish buyers and protect survivors of violence. The next phase equity for 10–17-year-old unmarried women and girls. of this project will include developing and married girls living in urban slums For further information, please a standard operating procedure for in Bangladesh. SAFE addresses ado- contact Zoe Young at [email protected].
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 15 It’s All One Curriculum: A unified surveys on the magnitude and impact cence conducted by the Guttmacher approach to sexuality, gender, HIV, of violence against children, particularly Institute and country partners in Burkina and human rights education focused on sexual violence against girls; Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda supporting coordinated program actions revealed data on density of friendship It’s All One Curriculum is a resource kit in response to the data; and leading networks, showing that across all groups for developing a unified curriculum on global advocacy and public awareness (rural/urban, schooling achievement), sexuality, gender, HIV, and human rights. efforts to draw attention to the problem boys have more close friends on average It is based on global research on risks and promote evidence-based solutions. than girls. (A. Biddlecom 2008 corre- to sexual health. It responds to the Mil- Please contact Together for Girls through spondence with researcher.) lennium Development Goals and related Jennifer Kim, [email protected]. 10 Haiti Safety Exercise. Maternowska, policy mandates and brings a much- The partnership’s website is
16 A GIRLS FIRST! PUBLICATION 19 Lloyd, Cynthia. “Growing Up Global: The Erulkar, and F. Belete. 2005. “Who are 33 Jody Myrum, Nike Foundation, personal Changing Transitions to Adulthood in De- the targets of youth programs: Results of communication. veloping Countries.” National Academies a capacity building exercise in Ethiopia,” 34 Adolescent Girls Legal Defense Fund. Press, 2005. Ethiopian Journal of Health Develop- Forthcoming. “Equality Now Adolescent 20 Breiding, Matthew J. and Avid Reza. ment 19(1): 60–62. Macro International. Girls Legal Defense Fund Learning from “Risk factors associated with sexual 2011. MEASURE DHS STATcompiler. Cases of Girls’ Rights.” For more details, violence towards girls in Swaziland.”
VIOLENCE AGAINST ADOLESCENT GIRLS: A FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE TO MEANINGFUL EQUALITY 17 The Population Council confronts critical health and development issues—from stopping the spread of HIV to improving reproductive health and ensuring that young people lead full and productive lives. Through biomedical, social science, and public health research in 50 countries, the Council works with our partners to deliver solutions that lead to more effective policies, programs, and technologies that improve lives around the world. Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York, the Council is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization governed by an international board of trustees. www.popcouncil.org