Changing gender norms in the prevention of violence against women and girls in India

The contribution of structural inequalities and societal legitimisation to violence against women, which 30% of women in India survived in the last year, is widely accepted. There is a consensus that interventions should aim to change gender norms, particularly through community mobilisation. How this should be done is less clear.
We did a qualitative study in a large informal settlement in Mumbai, an environment in which 41% of the population live. After reviewing the anonymised records of consultations with 1653 survivors of violence, we conducted 5 focus group discussions and 13 individual interviews with 71 women and men representing a range of age groups and communities. We based the interviews on fictitious biographical vignettes to elicit responses and develop an understanding of social norms. We hypothesised that, in trying to change norms, we might exploit the disjunction between descriptive norms (beliefs about what others actually do) and injunctive norms (beliefs about what others think one ought to do), focusing program activities on evidence that descriptive norms are changing.<p>The primary outcome for the main study will be a reduction in the incidence and prevalence of violence against women and children. The early phase study seeks to develop a theory of change identifying intermediate outcomes that could be used as indicators on the pathways to impact. Examples include increased disclosure and reporting of GBV, changes in social norms related to GBV for women, men, and young people, and improvements in mental health.</p>

结构性不平等与社会层面正当化对针对女性暴力的助推作用已获广泛认可——过去一年中，30%的印度女性经历过此类暴力。学界共识认为，干预措施应致力于改变性别规范，尤其需通过社区动员实现这一目标。然而，具体实施路径尚不明晰。

我们在孟买一处大型非正式定居点（informal settlement）开展了定性研究（qualitative study）——该地区居住着孟买41%的人口。在回顾1653名暴力幸存者的匿名咨询记录后，我们开展了5组焦点小组讨论（focus group discussion）及13次个人访谈（individual interview），涉及71名代表不同年龄组与社区的女性及男性。访谈基于虚构的传记式案例场景（fictitious biographical vignette），旨在引出反馈并深化对社会规范的理解。我们假设，在尝试改变规范时，可利用描述性规范（descriptive norm，即关于他人实际行为的认知）与指令性规范（injunctive norm，即关于他人认为个体应如何行事的认知）之间的脱节，将项目活动聚焦于描述性规范正在发生转变的证据。<p>主要研究的首要结果指标是针对妇女和儿童的暴力事件发生率（incidence）及流行率（prevalence）的降低。早期阶段研究则旨在开发变革理论（theory of change），明确可作为影响路径指标的中间结果。此类中间结果包括：性别暴力（Gender-Based Violence, GBV）披露与报告率的提高、与性别暴力相关的社会规范转变，以及心理健康状况的改善。