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Creating New Social Norms for Changing the Harmful Practice

Advancement of AdolescentGirls in Nepal

Misaki Akasaka Ueda

UNICEF Nepal

12 July 2013

Context – Equity and Social Norms

Sharpening and refocusing on the equity for more equitable outcomes

MoRES - Bottleneck Analysis of social services revealed social norms are persistent drivers and determinants of inequalities and cut across many programme areas (maternal health, child nutrition, protection)

Social norm as most challenging bottleneck in the determinant framework

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Challenges of Adolescent Girls2/3 of 3.2 million adolescent girls live in poverty

Subject to multiple forms of violence, abuse and exploitation (child labour, child marriage, harmful practice)

Equity perspective - adolescent girls from poor households are disproportionately put at higher risk by harmful practices

Live at the interface between inequity, inequality, vulnerability, disparity and discrimination – at all levels, from family to community to the state level

Harmful Practice – ‘Chhaupadi’Widely followed practice across all Hindu castes groups in

NepalGirls and women stay in a shed ‘Chhaupadi’ during

menstruation; do not interact with family and community; are not allowed to go school, temple etc.

Vulnerable to snakebites, severe cold, lack of nutritious foods and sexual violence

Drop out of adolescent girls (15 - 19 years) in secondary education (44.2%)

50% of girls feel discriminated, 80% of girls live in the Chhaupadi shed or animal shed (MICS in Mid-Far Western regions, 2010)

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Women age 15-19 who experience different types of discrimination during their menstruation periods (MICS 2010)

5Source: Nepal MICS, Mid & Far Western Region, Preliminary Report 2011

Historical, Cultural and Religious Aspects

Collective behaviour associated with the strong shared belief: impurity linked to breeding (menstruation, child birth)

Religious taboo – death, birth, breedingWomen become impure and ‘untouchable’Connection with auspicious places for the gods

(home, temple, school and water sources)Blamed and sanctioned for causing any

negative events in the community and family6

Interdependence and DynamicsNormative Elements

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Patriarchal Values:Strict expectation by male to girls and women on practice and behaviourGirls are inferior to boys in terms of financial and economic contribution to family.

Personal Normative Beliefs:

I should not go to school and stay at ‘Chhaupadi’. I should not cook for family. I should not pollute home, school and public places.

Factual Beliefs (some are false):•Women need the rest during the menstruation; Girls are impure during menstruation.•Respecting this practice indicates building tie with the family and respect to them and the gods. •physical isolation protect girls from blame and sanction and doesn’t make them vulnerable and put them at risk

Empirical Expectation:

I believe all women and friends do the same over the generations across all castes in the community.

Normative Expectation:

I believe people believe that during menstruation girls and women should stay at Chhaupadi and away from school

Why girls stay in Chhaupadi and do not go to school?

Pluralistic ignorance

Web of Mutual Expectation – Reflection

A web of mutual expectations and complex relationships between factual beliefs, individual beliefs on taboo and social norms

Needs for a broader knowledge on the dynamics between the social norm elements

Go around the core belief rooted in religious beliefs – no emphasis on negative impacts of the harmful practice, rather emphasis on creation of positive image and values (schema change)

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Aim that girls continue to go to school rather than elimination of harmful practice or changing social norm

The Core beliefs of the community and people are integral part of the schema

Schema and Scripts of Adolescent Girls

Shifting schema by focusing on positive image, development of adolescent girls for future generation, detaching from impurity, uncleanness, harmful9

Desired Outcome by Social Norms Approach

Factors for Good Practice:Initiative by the District Women Development Office with the local Political leaderTwo villages became Chhaupadi Free Village in Acharm District in Far West region – Public Declaration – Public CommitmentSustainability – Institutionalization to some extent by management and involvement of the district government officials

Lessons Learned:Effective Diffusion strategyKeeping momentum after the change of political landscape in the communityRole of Media and Amplifying effectUnderstanding on the dynamics of social norm elements

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Learning and Reflection from Good Practice

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New Strategy and Interventions

Change false factual beliefs

Creation of alternative schema

Coordinated collective action by women and girls

Amplifying and praising of changes occurring

Reference network for girls, women and men

Selection of entry points for efficient diffusion strategy

Emphasis on continuation of schooling make girls developed and protected

Embracing life, womanhood and potential

Public deliberation and media campaign

Child club, women’s group, SMC, PTA, political leader, teacher, VDC secretary

Campaign, social marketing, collective initiation to change practice and use napkins - schools and women’s group

VDC near the district headquarter, Schools

CONCLUSION The change of schema - positive image of adolescent girls and

individual beliefs of girls can diffuse effectively at learning environment and among peers

In a long run through effective communication such as amplifying public commitment and deliberation through media and social mobilization by peer groups and opinion leaders.

understand the dynamics between the social norm elements and complex web of expectations

Mix of the Strategy – Extra-social and Social Norm Approach (capacity dev for quality and access and upstream work with policy and law)

Social norm perspective helps UNICEF to design effective strategy to address cross-cutting bottlenecks and barriers

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Unite for Children

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