Professor Hazel Barrett - Coventry University/ Researching Female Genital Mutilation Intervention Programmes Linked to African Communities in the EU (REPLACE) - DFID Girl Summit 2014

"Clearly, as the communities move through these 9 stages [of readiness to change], the balance of power between community norms and individual agency changes, with individual agency becoming more powerful as the community becomes ready to replace its social norms." Hazel Barrett 

Panel Discussion: Spotlight on Progress - "Prevention and Safeguarding: Protecting Those at Risk"

Context: This presentation is from one of the 14 "Spotlights on Progress" video-recorded sessions from the Girl Summit 2014, London, United Kingdom (UK). The sessions were organised to share best practice between practitioners, grassroots activists, and government ministers across the issues of female genital mutilation (FGM) (also FGM/C - female genital mutilation/cutting) and child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM). Girl Summit is a project of the Department for International Development (DFID), UK.

Profile of speaker: A featured panelist of this Spotlight session was Professor Hazel Barrett, whose presentation was entitled "Approach to measuring community based behaviour change; Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and UK". Professor Barrett, Coventry University, works with Researching Female Genital Mutilation Intervention Programmes Linked to African Communities in the European Union (EU) (REPLACE). In addition, she "is the Executive Director of the Centre of Society and Social Justice at Coventry University. Her research has focused on gender, health and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa, and among African diaspora communities. She leads the European Union Daphne III multi-disciplinary REPLACE2 research project.... Partners include Coventry University, FORWARD UK, Federation of the Somali Associations in the Netherlands, European Centre of Studies and Initiatives (CESIE, Italy), Family Planning Association (APF, Portugal), Gabinet (Spain) and the International Centre for Reproductive Health, Ghent University (Belgium). This 2 year programme tests a framework in five countries in the EU putting community at the centre of change and takes into account various belief systems, barriers and motivations regarding FGM/C."

Strategy overview: A framework was presented to assess community readiness to end FGM/C. It is designed to support understanding of belief systems and social norms of African communities practicing FGM/C in the EU. The main aims are to: understand the barriers to behavioural change and the mechanisms for achieving social norm transformation; help ensure that interventions are appropriately targeted to achieve maximum effectiveness; and monitor how social norms are changing over time. The research has found that communities are pivotal in the continuation of FGM/C, overruling individual and family decisions not to have their daughters cut. However, communities can also be forces of change. REPLACE2 is testing a framework for evaluating community readiness to change.

"Barrett explained that the 2-year programme tests a framework in five countries.... REPLACE2 is evaluating the 'FGM/C Community Readiness to Change Index' that uses six community indicators to place FGM/C practising communities into one of nine stages of change which range from 'no community awareness of the issues associated with ending FGM/C' to 'high level community desire to end FGM/C'. Their findings show that it is important to assess the 'readiness to change' of FGM/C affected communities in order to ensure interventions are appropriate and applicable." Barret showed promising practices from an evaluation of the index. For example, in Sicily, Italy, where migrant Eritreans and Ethiopians arrive, there is a low readiness to change regarding FGM/C. Therefore, the strategy has been to form community groups within those populations to raise awareness of the health impacts of FGM/C, as well as the legal issues of FGM/C in the EU. In London, among the Somali and Sudanese communities, there is a mixed awareness and readiness, so the intervention is creating communication within the communities, for example "speak easies" for young people with help on inter-gender and inter-generational dialogues. In The Netherlands, within the Somali community, there is awareness and concern for change, including among Koranic teachers. The intervention involves a workshop, booklet, and DVD explaining the position of Islam on FGM/C. Run by Koranic teachers from Rotterdam University, the workshops are designed to give Koranic teachers the confidence and the evidence to speak against FGM/C.

The index has three applications: 1) to determine the stage of readiness to change of the community so that programmes can achieve maximum effectiveness; 2) to monitor and evaluate how community norms are changing over time as a result of campaigns or interventions; and, in resource-strapped communities, 3) to serve as a proxy for changes in FGM/C. It is hoped that the index can be applied beyond the EU.

 
Overview of this Summit Session: From the Girl Summit summary document: "This spotlight will share experience and discuss ways forward on measuring progress in addressing FGM and child, early and forced marriage - including measurement of changes in behaviour and the social norms which uphold these practises. Discussion will include the areas that need to be investigated; how they can be measured innovatively and ethically; and how this evidence can be effectively linked to national and international policy processes."

The session was opened by a presentation of a "Commitment Announcement: Alexander Woolcombe from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced their commitment to join the global effort to strengthen the evidence base on FGM and CEFM. This includes: (i) working with Tostan to support their monitoring, evaluation and learning programme to understand how and why they are having impact; (ii) co-funding with CIFF to support ICRW and the Work Bank on research on the economic consequences of CEFM; and (iii) work in Ethiopia to improve nutrition and reproductive health by tackling structural determinants.

The speakers, in order of appearance, are:
Dr. Anju Malhotra, Principal Advisor on Gender and Rights, UNICEF - Assessing and measuring progress in child marriage reduction.

Dr. Francesca Moneti, Senior Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF - Measuring social norm change.

Dr. Caroline Harper, Head of Programme, Social Development, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) - Measuring empowerment and social transformation in the post-2015 agenda (OECD and ODI).

Kecia Bertermann, Monitoring & Learning Director, Girl Hub - Collecting data on empowerment and change in attitudes: innovations and ethics.

Professor Hazel Barrett, Coventry University/ Researching Female Genital Mutilation Intervention Programmes Linked to African Communities in the EU (REPLACE) - Approach to measuring community based behaviour change; Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and UK.

The session is moderated by Nick Dyer, Director General for Policy and Global Programmes at the Department for International Development."

Footage of this (available below) and other "Spotlights" are available on DFID’s YouTube channel.

The Girl Summit is a project of DFID. Click here and scroll down to see the full list of individuals and organisations committed to working on girls' issues, as well as a list of Girl Summit Charter signatories.