Men and Reproductive Health Programs: Influencing Gender Norms Prepared by
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ImplementationThirteen episodes of the Soul City drama series are broadcast annually on South Africa’s most popular television station over a three-month period. Sixty radio episodes air annually on nine South Africa regional radio stations. These electronic media messages are complemented by the distribution of print media covering a corresponding range of health and social development topics in partnership with several newspapers. Print supplements, magazine inserts, and other distributed advertisements are used to brand the Soul City name and spread the principles and practices “marketed” by Soul City. Content is developed through formative research processes and evaluated on a regular basis. Storylines are nondidactic in nature and structured around pro-social role modeling. Characters are presented in scenarios that the average viewer and listener can relate to and empathize with. Episodes emphasize autonomy and the ability to chose. Each installment is meant to prompt audience members to reflect on their own attitudes and actions and to emulate the positive problem-solving and coping strategies presented. Evaluation and OutcomesEvaluators conducted multivariate analyses of data gathered from rural and urban sentinel sites (KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces, respectively), as well as data from the national level, and scaled them whenever possible. About nine months elapsed between the baseline and postintervention evaluations (i.e., approximately six months after the completion of the broadcasts). General findings include: the perception of Soul City as an important source of information and inspiration, an observed amplification effect of positive change on the community if a leader responds first to the messages, and a greater reach of radio than other channels used by the mass media campaign. Quantitative analyses revealed a statistically significant dose effect on positive attitudes; persons who were exposed to greater numbers of Soul City broadcasts and materials changed more. Qualitative data suggested that more respondents in the post-intervention period perceived of entrepreneurship as a way of addressing oppressive gender-based power relations. National survey data found that exposure to Soul City is associated with acquiring or increasing gender-equitable attitudes, as measured by responses to the following items: “girls or women need to depend on their boyfriends or husbands for [a] better life,” “boys or men have the right to have sex with their girlfriend if they buy them gifts,” “if a person really loves his boyfriend or girlfriend, they [sic] will have sex with them,” and “a boy who forces his girlfriend to have sex even though she doesn’t want sex is raping her.” The same data also found that exposure to Soul City is associated with increased interpersonal communication about domestic violence. Soul City plans to expand its broadcasts and to disseminate its printed resources to eight additional African countries beyond its current reach. Funding SourcesThe Soul City series is commercially sponsored by Old Mutual Insurance Company and British Petroleum, and receives donor funding from the Department of Health, the U.K. Department for International Development, European Union, Ireland Aid, and the Royal Netherlands Embassy. Contact InformationSoul City Institute of Health & Development Communication P.O. Box 1290 Houghton 2041 South Africa Tel: 27 (0) 11 643 5852 E-mail: soulcity@soulcity.org.za www.soulcity.org.za SourcesKelly, Kevin, Warren Parker, and Salome Oyosi. 2001. Pathways to action HIV/AIDS prevention, children and young people in South Africa: A literature review. Developed for Save the Children by the Center for AIDS Development, Research and Evaluation (Cadre). Scheepers, Esca, et al. 2001. Soul City 4 evaluation results integrated summary report. Soul City—Institute for Health and Development Communication—the Heartbeat. Available at the following Web address: www.soulcity.org.za. Accessed October 12, 2003. The Strength Campaign(United States) OverviewThe Strength Campaign took place in Washington, D.C., where only 50 percent of youth are high school graduates, 36 percent live in poverty, and the teenage pregnancy rate is nearly twice the national average. Men Can Stop Rape, a self-described volunteer pro-feminist collective, launched the campaign in February 2001, fourteen years after the organization was founded. Formerly known as the Men’s Rape Prevention Project, Men Can Stop Rape was initiated to increase consciousness about gender-based violence and to build the capacity of men to be strong without being violent. ScopeApproximately 13,000 male youths in the District of Columbia were affected by the campaign. ObjectivesThe Strength Campaign seeks to challenge constructions of masculinity, curb gender-based violence (specifically date rape), and empower young men to partner with young women in order to create equitable and safe environments. AudienceMale youth enrolled in eighteen District of Columbia public high schools between the ages of 13 and 18, and residents of the ambient communities. ImplementationOne of five projects in The Strength Training Program, the Strength Campaign was executed over a one-month period in Washington D.C., public schools. Organized around the theme line “My Strength is Not for Hurting,” the campaign involves both media and youth education approaches: posters and bus ads with D.C. United athletes, the REP magazine, “Safe and Strong” workshops with youth, and handbooks for school staff. Program staff obtained the endorsement of both the superintendent of schools and the advisory board before launching the campaign to ensure institutional support and to recruit the school staff as partners. The interactive workshops were held only in select schools. During a series of three sessions, facilitators focused on deconstructing the definition of masculinity propagated by popular culture, fostering empathy for survivors of gender-based violence, and instructing young men on nonviolent strategies to confront attitudes and behaviors that enable rape. The campaign redefines the concept of strength as the crux of masculinity and monopolizes on males’ typically action-oriented approach to problem solving to endorse empathy, compassion, and meekness. A basic tenet of the campaign is that gender-equitable relationships are mutually beneficial to both genders, in that displayed appreciation and affection enhance intimate relationships. |