Voice Agency A and Voice Agency A and Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Jeni Klugman, Lucia Hanmer, Sarah Twigg, Tazeen Hasan, Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Julieth Santamaria © 2014 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved 1 2 3 4 17 16 15 14 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. 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Cover photo: A woman raises her hand to speak at a community meeting in Aurangabad, India. © Simone D. McCourtie/ World Bank. Used with permission, further permission required for reuse. Additional photos: Used with permission, further permission required for reuse. Overview: High school students in La Ceja, Department of Antioquía, Colombia. © Charlotte Kesl/World Bank. Chapter 1: A group of women play soccer; Vila Da Canoas in the Amazon region of Brazil, near Manaus. © Julio Pantoja/World Bank. Chapter 2: Women’s empowerment workshop, Nepal. © Mary Ellsberg. Chapter 3: Many residents of Delmas 32, a neighborhood in Haiti, are beneficiaries of the PRODEPUR- Habitat project. The neighborhood now has electricity until 11 p.m. with new improvements to sidewalks and homes. © Dominic Chavez/World Bank. Chapter 4: A young boy smiles at the camera as his mother holds him, Nepal. © Aisha Faquir/World Bank. Chapter 5: Woman in doorway, India. © Curt Carnemark/World Bank. Chapter 6: Women’s group, Kenya. © Curt Carnemark/World Bank. Chapter 7: Mumbai, India. © Simone D. McCourtie/World Bank. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Klugman, Jeni, 1964- Voice and agency : empowering women and girls for shared prosperity / Jeni Klugman, Lucia Hanmer, Sarah Twigg, Tazeen Hasan, Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Julieth Santamaria. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4648-0359-8 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4648-0360-4 (electronic : alk. paper) 1. Women—Developing countries—Economic conditions. 2. Women--Developing countries—Social conditions. 3. Women’s rights—Developing countries. 4. Economic development—Developing countries. I. World Bank. II. Title. HQ1870.9.K62 2014 305.409172´4—dc23 2014026059 Section Sexual and reproductive health and rights | v Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................................ xi Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. xiii About the Authors ............................................................................................................. xv Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... xvii OVERVIEW Why voice and agency? ...................................................................................................... 1 Context............................................................................................................................... 2 Where do we stand? .......................................................................................................... 3 Determinants and drivers .................................................................................................. 4 Overlapping disadvantages and agency deprivations ...................................................... 5 Overarching policies and measuring progress .................................................................. 6 Promising interventions targeting agency deprivations ................................................... 8 Data gaps and the way ahead ............................................................................................ 9 References........................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 FRAMING THE CHALLENGE: NORMS, CONSTRAINTS, AND DEPRIVATIONS Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 11 Why agency? ...................................................................................................................... 12 Why does agency matter for development? ..................................................................... 14 Our conceptual framework ............................................................................................... 16 Overlapping disadvantages and deprivations ................................................................... 18 Overlapping disadvantages ................................................................................................ 19 Multiple deprivations .......................................................................................................... 22 Focus on key drivers: Social norms and the law ................................................................ 25 Social norms ........................................................................................................................ 25 Norms and the law .............................................................................................................. 28 Notes ................................................................................................................................... 31 References........................................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 2 ENHANCING WOMEN’S AGENCY: A CROSS-CUTTING AGENDA The role of cross-cutting public actions............................................................................. 37 vi | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Changing social norms ........................................................................................................ 38 Changing norms by working with men and boys, households, and communities ................ 38 Using broadcast media ................................................................................................................. 41 A progressive legal framework ........................................................................................... 43 Evolving constitutions and principles of equality ...................................................................... 44 Supporting effective implementation and enforcement.......................................................... 45 Expanding access to justice through customary processes .................................................... 47 Increasing women’s agency through sectoral policies and programs................................ 47 Expanding economic opportunities and training ..................................................................... 48 Designing gender-responsive social protection ....................................................................... 51 Increasing gender equality in education .................................................................................... 53 Notes .............................................................................................................................................. 56 References...................................................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 3 FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE Gender-based violence as a development challenge ......................................................... 63 How large is the challenge? ................................................................................................ 66 Prevalence of intimate partner violence ..................................................................................... 66 Reporting and responses ............................................................................................................. 71 Costs of violence ................................................................................................................ 73 Individual-level effects.................................................................................................................. 73 Family-level effects ....................................................................................................................... 75 Economywide effects ................................................................................................................... 75 Who is worst affected? ................................................................................................................. 77 The state of the evidence: What works?............................................................................. 80 Boosting of positive gender norms ............................................................................................ 80 Legal reform and responses ....................................................................................................... 83 Social support and services ........................................................................................................ 86 Economic empowerment (plus) ................................................................................................... 88 Integration of violence prevention into other sectoral interventions...................................... 89 Notes .............................................................................................................................................. 91 References...................................................................................................................................... 91 CHAPTER 4 CONTROL OVER SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS The nature of the challenge ................................................................................................ 101 How great is the challenge?................................................................................................ 103 Fertility choices.............................................................................................................................. 104 Contents Section Sexual and reproductive health and rights | vii Early sexual activity and pregnancy ............................................................................................ 106 Child marriage ............................................................................................................................... 109 Program and policy evidence: What works? ....................................................................... 112 Engaging men and other gatekeepers ...................................................................................... 112 Improving access to and quality of information and services .................................................. 113 Promoting alternatives to early marriage ................................................................................... 116 Implementing legal responses .................................................................................................... 119 Notes .............................................................................................................................................. 120 References...................................................................................................................................... 121 CHAPTER 5 CONTROL OVER LAND AND HOUSING Women’s control over land and housing as a development challenge .............................. 130 Potentially transformative effects ................................................................................................ 131 What do ownership and control mean? ...................................................................................... 132 How large is the challenge? ................................................................................................ 134 Existing disparities ........................................................................................................................ 135 Marital status and work ................................................................................................................ 137 Laws and norms ............................................................................................................................ 138 Default marital property regimes ................................................................................................ 140 Weak implementation of laws ............................................................................................. 142 The state of the evidence: What works?............................................................................. 143 Ensuring gender equality under the law .................................................................................... 144 Ensuring effective implementation of laws and land policies .................................................. 146 Notes .............................................................................................................................................. 149 References...................................................................................................................................... 149 CHAPTER 6 AMPLIFYING VOICES Why women’s voice and participation matter .................................................................... 155 Driving social change for women’s agency: The role of ICTs ............................................ 157 Using ICTs to increase voice and participation .......................................................................... 157 Addressing the digital divide....................................................................................................... 158 Collective action as a catalyst for change .......................................................................... 159 The potential of women’s political voice and participation ............................................... 162 Underrepresentation and biased gender norms ....................................................................... 163 Attitudes toward female leadership that affect women’s political participation .................. 166 Quotas that reduce barriers to women’s participation ............................................................. 167 viii | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Implications for policy ......................................................................................................... 168 Increasing access to ICTs and making content relevant .......................................................... 168 Supporting collective action........................................................................................................ 169 Increasing accountability ............................................................................................................. 169 Finding opportunities to expand women’s political participation ......................................... 172 Notes .............................................................................................................................................. 174 References...................................................................................................................................... 174 CHAPTER 7 CLOSING GAPS IN DATA AND EVIDENCE Monitoring change and assessing progress ....................................................................... 181 Country-level data............................................................................................................... 182 Internationally agreed gender indicators ................................................................................... 182 Available data and indicators....................................................................................................... 185 Initiatives to close data and evidence gaps ............................................................................... 185 Composite indices ........................................................................................................................ 190 Program- and project-level indicators and emerging good practice ................................. 191 Notes .............................................................................................................................................. 195 References...................................................................................................................................... 195 Appendix: Background Papers ........................................................................................... 199 Index.................................................................................................................................... 201 BOXES 1.1 What is agency? ................................................................................................................ 13 1.2 Women’s mobility: Evidence on freedom of movement .............................................. 15 1.3 Multiple disadvantages among adolescent Hmong girls ............................................. 21 1.4 Norms about masculinity shape men’s behavior .......................................................... 26 2.1 In Tostan’s footsteps ......................................................................................................... 42 2.2 New African constitutions reshaping gender norms: South Africa and Kenya .......... 44 2.3 How the Adolescent Girls Initiative is helping to overcome agency constraints ....... 50 2.4 Promoting gender equality in school and improving the learning environment ...... 54 2.5 Curriculum reform to promote gender equality through education ........................... 55 3.1 What is gender-based violence? Stories from survivors in Tonga ............................... 64 3.2 The domestic violence module of the Demographic and Health Surveys ................. 69 3.3 Serving survivors and empowering women in the Great Lakes ................................... 74 3.4 Mobilizing communities against violence: Lessons from SASA! .................................. 83 3.5 Increasing women’s access to justice in Papua New Guinea ........................................ 86 3.6 Coordinated support for survivors of violence in the Solomon Islands ...................... 87 3.7 Integrating responses to violence: Innovations in a transport project in Brazil ......... 90 Contents Section Sexual and reproductive health and rights | ix 4.1 Engaging traditional gatekeepers in adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Malawi ................................................................................................................ 113 4.2 Social accountability and service delivery ..................................................................... 114 4.3 A promising approach to delaying marriage in Ethiopia ............................................. 117 4.4 Closing the gap between laws and practice in the Arab Republic of Egypt .............. 119 5.1 Can control over land reduce gender-based violence? ................................................ 133 5.2 What do we mean by ownership and control? ............................................................... 134 5.3 Main types of marital property regimes ......................................................................... 141 5.4 Expanding women’s access to land rights in Honduras ................................................ 143 5.5 Tools to guide gender land assessments ....................................................................... 146 5.6 Lessons from Vietnam’s land reform process ................................................................. 147 6.1 “I believe in the power of the voice of women” ............................................................. 157 6.2 Women’s movements that drive reforms ........................................................................ 161 6.3 “If anyone listens, I have a lot of plans”: Women in Afghanistan ................................. 163 6.4 Underrepresentation of women at senior levels in the justice sector ......................... 165 6.5 Differing levels of political engagement ........................................................................ 166 6.6 Mapping and creating safe spaces for girls in South Africa ......................................... 170 6.7 Working with civil society to prevent gender-based violence in Haiti ........................ 171 7.1 Selected internationally agreed indicators on agency.................................................. 183 7.2 Internationally agreed indicators for measuring violence against women ................. 184 7.3 Measuring and expanding agency in Latin America and the Caribbean.................... 190 7.4 Using new measures of women’s autonomy in Chad: The Relative Autonomy Index .... 192 7.5 Examples of World Bank Group project indicators related to women’s agency........ 194 FIGURES O.1 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains ............................................................................................................... 7 O.2 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains in Niger................................................................................................................ 7 O.3 Correlation between education levels and deprivations in control over resources, child marriage, and condoning of wife beating ............................................................. 7 1.1 Agency, endowments, economic opportunities, and drivers of change ................... 17 1.2 Share of 15- to 19-year-olds completing school grades (current cohort), by wealth quintile and gender ......................................................................................... 20 1.3 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains ............................................................................................................... 23 1.4 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains in Niger................................................................................................................ 23 1.5 Correlation between education levels and deprivations in control over resources, child marriage, and condoning of wife beating ............................................................. 23 1.6 Correlation between women’s work and lack of control over household resources .................................................................................................... 24 1.7 Correlation between women’s level of education and lack of sexual autonomy ....... 24 x | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity 3.1 Change in the percentage of women who agree that wife beating can be justified, by situation and country ......................................................................... 65 3.2 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner, by ethnic group, in selected countries ........ 68 3.3 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner and at least one control on their behavior ...... 70 3.4 Why don’t women seek help? ............................................................................................. 73 3.5 Economywide costs of intimate partner violence in selected countries ..................... 76 3.6 Share of women who condone wife beating, by age of respondent ........................... 81 3.7 Cumulative number of countries with legislation against domestic violence ............ 84 4.1 Education as a key driver of women’s ability to exercise choice in sexual relationships ........................................................................................................... 103 4.2 Pregnancy desires of married adolescent girls ............................................................. 107 5.1 Correlation between women’s property ownership and gender equality.................. 133 5.2 Share of women and men who report owning housing and land ................................ 136 5.3 Joint and sole reported ownership of land, by gender ................................................. 136 5.4 Probability of rural land ownership, by marital and working status ............................. 137 5.5 Probability that a woman will report owning housing or land in rural areas, conditional on type of property regime and marital status.......................................... 142 6.1 Share of women in national parliaments, by region and world, 1997–2013................. 164 B6.5.1 Rate of participation in political discussion with friends ............................................... 166 6.2 Attitudes toward women leaders reflected in the share of women in parliament ..... 167 B6.6.1 Accessible urban area, by sex and grade ....................................................................... 170 MAPS O.1 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner .......................................................................... 4 3.1 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner .......................................................................... 67 3.2 Countries with specific legislation criminalizing marital rape....................................... 85 4.1 Child marriage prevalence in 111 countries .................................................................... 110 5.1 Women’s reported ownership of housing or land, by type of marital property regime ................................................................................................................. 141 B6.4.1 Share of female justices in constitutional courts............................................................ 165 TABLES 1.1 Legal restrictions on married women’s agency.............................................................. 30 2.1 Selected illustrations of programs to enhance agency ................................................. 39 B2.3.1 The Adolescent Girls Initiative: Lessons Learned .......................................................... 50 7.1 Selected data sources and examples of measures of women’s agency ..................... 186 7.2 Analysis of current data gaps and possible ways forward ............................................ 187 7.3 Selected World Bank Group Gender Core Sector Indicators related to agency ....... 193 Foreword O ur lagship World Development better suited. Women then enter a smaller Report 2012 demonstrated that gen- range of jobs with lower barriers to entry, der equality and economic devel- less stability, and lower wages, continuing a opment are inextricably linked. It showed vicious circle of inequality. Overwhelmingly, that equality not only guarantees basic girls and women also perform the unpaid rights but also plays a vital role in promot- work of caregiving, for which they are often ing the robust, shared growth needed to end penalized with poverty in old age. extreme poverty in our increasingly compet- Norms over time may become legalized itive, globalized world. The persistent con- discrimination, which imposes its own steep straints and deprivations that prevent many economic cost. As the 19th-century philos- of the world’s women from achieving their opher John Stuart Mill wrote, laws start “by potential have huge consequences for indi- recognizing the relations they ind already viduals, families, communities, and nations. existing.… Those who had already been com- The 2012 report recognized that expanding pelled to obedience became in this manner women’s agency—their ability to make deci- legally bound to it.” Rightly, he added, what sions and take advantage of opportunities— “color, race, religion, or in the case of a con- is key to improving their lives as well as the quered country, nationality, are to some men, world we all share. sex is to all women,” their subordinate status Voice and Agency: Empowering Women often codi ied by law. Today, in 128 countries, and Girls for Shared Prosperity represents a laws in fact treat men and women differ- major advance in global knowledge on this ently—making it impossible, for example, for critical front. The vast data and thousands a woman to obtain independently an ID card, of surveys distilled here cast important light own or use property, access credit, or get on the nature of constraints women and a job. These constraints are fundamentally girls continue to face globally. unjust. They are also economically unwise. As an anthropologist, I especially wel- The good news is that social norms can come the report’s focus on social norms, and do change. This report identi ies prom- which act as powerful prescriptions for how ising opportunities and entry points for men and women should behave. Even where lasting transformation, such as interven- women can legally own property, they may tions that reach across sectors and include not, because those who do become outcasts. life-skills training, sexual and reproductive Even where girls go to school and take an health education, conditional cash trans- interest in math, teachers and parents may fers, and mentoring. It inds that address- direct them away from certain studies and ing what the World Health Organization has jobs for which social norms say boys are identi ied as an epidemic of violence against xii | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity women means sharply scaling up engage- backed by evidence and data, is long over- ment with men and boys. due. The World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting The report also underlines the vital role shared prosperity demand no less than the information and communication technolo- full and equal participation of women and gies can play in amplifying women’s voices, men, girls and boys, around the world. expanding their economic and learning oppor- tunities, and broadening their views and aspi- The World Bank Group is committed rations. As Pakistan’s young activist Malala to accelerating and enhancing equality in Yousafzai said of herself and her peers during everything we do and to shining a spot- our conversation at the World Bank Group light on inequality wherever we ind it. This in 2013, “We spoke, we wrote, we raised our report does both. It should inform the global voices” through the media. “We spoke and development agenda going forward and we achieved our goal. Girls are going back to advance momentum toward a better future school and are allowed to go to the market.” for all. A bold new path toward equality, Jim Yong Kim grounded in fundamental human rights and President, World Bank Group Acknowledgments B ackground analysis was undertaken Klassen, University of Göttingen; Kathleen by Sarah Haddock, Matthew Morton, Kuehnast, U.S. Institute of Peace; Susan Jose ina Posadas, Emma Samman, Markham, National Democratic Institute; and So ia Trommlerova, with thanks to Lori Michau, Raising Voices; Eppu Mikkonen- Alicia Hammond for technical and editorial Jeanneret, HelpAge International; Andrew contributions. Zuzana Boehmova, Anjali Morrison, Inter-American Development Fleury, Lisa Fry, Sveinung Kiplesund, Nazia Bank; Kathleen Newland, Migration Policy Moqueet, Sarah Nedolast, Marie-Anne Institute; Agnes Quisumbing, International Nsengiyumva, Milad Pournik, and Shaha Food Policy Research Institute; Charlotte Riza provided various inputs. Watts, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Alicia Yamin, Harvard University; We are grateful to Caroline Anstey for and Lawrence Yanovitch, GSMA Foundation; her support in initiating the work and to as well as Sabina Alkire of the Oxford Poverty the government of Sweden and the Nordic and Human Development Initiative and Trust Fund for their inancial support. The Alison Evans. Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality will support dissemination efforts. TrustLaw The team would also like to acknowledge Connect of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the advice and support of World Bank Group and Serena Grant, in particular, are thanked colleagues, particularly Ana Revenga, Senior for supporting several country studies. Director of the Poverty Global Practice; Luis Benveniste, Louise Cord, Luis-Felipe The report draws on 14 thematic and López-Calva, and Vijayendra Rao, who country papers, listed in the appendix. It is acted as peer reviewers; Sarah Iqbal and informed by more than a dozen consultations the Women, Business, and the Law team for since December 2012 in venues ranging from collaboration; and the World Bank Group’s Managua, Nicaragua, to Kathmandu, Nepal, Gender and Development Board members and bene ited greatly from the collective and others for valuable comments and inputs. wisdom and research of our Technical Advisory Group: Gary Barker, Promundo; Led by Sarah Jackson-Han, Malcolm Lourdes Beneria, Cornell University; Cheryl Ehrenpreis, Amy Adkins Harris, and Maura Doss, Yale University; Mary Ellsberg, George Leary provided communications support. Washington University; Naila Kabeer, Administrative support was provided by London School of Economics; Sunita Kishor, Dawn Ballantyne, Maureen Itepu, Ngozi Demographic and Health Surveys; Stephan Kalu-Mba, and Mame Niasse. About the Authors Lucia Hanmer is a lead economist in gender Opening Doors: Gender Equality in the Middle and development at the World Bank Group. East and North Africa, and she is a coauthor In this capacity since 2013, she works to of Empowering Women: Legal Rights and identify and pursue frontier research areas Economic Opportunities in Africa (2013). and develop new knowledge products aimed She worked with the World Bank Group’s at illing key data gaps and operationalizing Women, Business, and the Law program on gender equality throughout the World Bank a multiregional study analyzing legal rights Group portfolio. She worked previously as and their impact on women’s economic senior economic adviser for the Economic empowerment over the past 50 years. She Empowerment Section at UN Women previously practiced as a barrister in the and senior economic adviser in the chief United Kingdom specializing in civil and economist’s of ice at the U.K. Department commercial law and subsequently worked for International Development, after serv- in Kenya as a legal adviser to nongovern- ing as country representative for the World mental organizations. She holds a mas- Bank Group in Guyana. Before moving into ter’s degree in international law from the development policy, she was a researcher at London School of Economics and a BA in the Overseas Development Institute in the law from the University of Oxford. United Kingdom and taught economics at Jeni Klugman is a senior adviser at the the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. World Bank Group and fellow at the Ken- She has worked on growth diagnostics, pov- nedy School of Government’s Women and erty reduction strategies and the Poverty Public Policy Program at Harvard Univer- Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approach, sity. She was director of Gender and Devel- and inequality and attainment of the anti- opment at the World Bank Group until July poverty Millennium Development Goals, 2014, where she acted as lead spokesper- as well as on gender and development. son on gender equality issues and devel- Much of her work has been in Sub-Saharan oped strategic directions to promote the Africa. She holds a PhD in economics from institution’s gender agenda. She serves the University of Cambridge. on the World Economic Forum’s Advisory Tazeen Hasan is a senior gender specialist Board on Sustainability and Competitive- at the World Bank Group. She served as a ness and other advisory boards, includ- legal specialist for the World Development ing those related to the Council on Foreign Report 2012: Gender Equality and Devel- Relations, Plan International, the Inter- opment and the World Bank Group report national Civil Society Network, the Global xvi | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Forum on Women in Parliaments, and a (MPH) and a PhD from the Johns Hopkins European Union research program on GDP Bloomberg School of Public Health. and beyond. She previously served as direc- Julieth Santamaria is a research consultant tor and lead author of three global Human at the Inter-American Development Bank Development Reports published by the (IDB), where she works on issues related United Nations Development Programme to cost-bene it analyses of early childhood (UNDP): Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobil- development programs. She worked pre- ity and Development (2009), The Real Wealth viously as a consultant at the World Bank of Nations: Pathways to Human Development Group, where she analyzed gender data for (2010), and Sustainability and Equity: A Bet- this report. She has also worked at the IDB ter Future for All (2011). She has published Integration and Trade division as a research widely on topics ranging from poverty reduc- fellow, focusing her research on global value tion strategies and labor markets to con lict, chains. Before moving to the United States, health reform, education, and decentraliza- she worked at Universidad del Rosario in tion. She holds a PhD in economics from the Colombia as a research assistant on issues Australian National University as well as related to competition in the health sector. postgraduate degrees in both law and devel- She holds an MSc in economics from Uni- opment economics from the University of versidad del Rosario. Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Sarah Twigg is a gender and development Jennifer McCleary-Sills is a gender-based consultant with the World Bank Group, violence specialist at the World Bank Group. where she has coordinated new knowledge Her research interests include violence products and led research on emerging gen- against women, sexual and reproductive der and development issues. She worked health, and the translation of data and eval- previously as a gender and climate change uations into effective programming. She has specialist at UN Women, where she provided published on these topics in Reproductive support to government representatives Health Matters, The Journal of International during international climate change negoti- Women’s Studies, The Journal of the Ameri- ations. She served as a research and policy can Medical Women’s Association, and The consultant for two UNDP Human Develop- Journal of Immigrant Health. Prior to joining ment Reports: The Real Wealth of Nations: the Bank, she was a senior social and behav- Pathways to Human Development (2010) and ioral scientist with the International Center Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for Research on Women (ICRW), where she for All (2011). She has practiced corporate led the design and implementation of partic- law with leading international irms in New ipatory research projects with adolescents York and New Zealand. She holds a master’s and survivors of violence and those living in degree in international politics and business postcon lict communities. She holds honors from New York University and bachelor’s degrees from Yale University (BA) and the degrees in law and international politics Boston University School of Public Health from the University of Otago, New Zealand. Abbreviations CCT conditional cash transfer CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women DHS Demographic and Health Surveys EDGE Evidence on Data and Gender Equality (initiative) GBV gender-based violence HIV/AIDS human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome ICPD International Conference on Population and Development ICT information and communication technology IMAGES International Men and Gender Equality Survey IPV intimate partner violence LSMS–ISA Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture RCT randomized controlled trial STI sexually transmitted infection TUP Targeting the Ultra Poor (program) UNSD United Nations Statistics Division UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women VAW violence against women Overview Why voice and agency? boosting shared prosperity demand that all B people—women and men, girls and boys— y ratifying the Convention on the have the opportunity to realize their poten- Elimination of All Forms of Discrimi- tial and participate fully in all aspects of life. nation against Women (CEDAW), 188 states have committed to advancing gender At the individual level, this requires equality by confronting “any distinction, agency—meaning the capacity to make exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of decisions about one’s own life and act on sex which [impairs] the enjoyment or exer- them to achieve a desired outcome, free cise by women … of human rights and funda- of violence, retribution, or fear. Agency mental freedoms.” Alongside CEDAW, which is sometimes de ined as “empowerment.” came into force in 1979, the 1995 Beijing As an Ecuadorean woman said in a focus Platform of Action and various United group conducted as part of a World Bank Nations Security Council resolutions but- Group study, “I have free space to decide tress key universally accepted benchmarks. for myself, no longer dependent on others. These benchmarks include recognition of For me, this is a source of pride, my hus- women’s right to sexual and reproductive band asking [my advice]. Now there isn’t health, the right to be free from gender-based this machismo. There is mutual respect. violence, and equal rights for women and Together we decide” (Narayan et al. 2000, men to access and control land—rights that 132). Similarly, one man in Vietnam com- establish a clear framework for our global mented that “happiness and equality are book on voice and agency. At the same time, related. If the husband understands that accumulating evidence and experience and is supporting and helping his wife … the have made clear that tackling poverty and happiness of the family will be reinforced” 2 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013). where gender gaps are narrowed, system- Full and equal participation also requires atic differences in outcomes often persist, that all people have voice—meaning the including widespread gender-based vio- capacity to speak up and be heard, from lence and lack of voice. These deprivations homes to houses of parliament, and to and constraints sometimes re lect persis- shape and share in discussions, discourse, tent violations of the most basic human and decisions that affect them. rights. And in many instances, constraints are magni ied and multiplied by poverty and Increasing women’s voice and agency are lack of education. valuable ends in themselves. And both voice and agency have instrumental, practical value This book shines a spotlight on the value of too. Amplifying the voices of women and voice and agency, the patterns of constraints increasing their agency can yield broad devel- that limit their realization, and the associated opment dividends for them and for their fam- costs, not only to individual women but also ilies, communities, and societies. Conversely, to their families, communities, and societies. constraining women’s agency by limiting what It highlights promising policies and interven- jobs they can perform or subjecting them to tions, and it identi ies priority areas where violence, for example, can create huge losses further research and more and better data and to productivity and income with broader evidence are needed. Underlining that agency adverse repercussions for development. We has both intrinsic and instrumental, concrete argue that overcoming these deprivations and value, we put advancing women’s voice and constraints is central to efforts to end extreme agency squarely on the international develop- poverty and boost shared prosperity. ment agenda. Nor is this a zero-sum game. Increas- Removing constraints and unleashing ing women’s agency need not curtail men’s women’s full productive potential can yield agency, and men and boys stand to gain from enormous dividends that help make whole gender equality that improves the economic societies more resilient and more prosper- and psychological well-being of all house- ous. For example: hold members, as many men have come to recognize. “The woman helps the man ■ Delays in marriage are associated with manage the household,” one urban man in greater educational achievement and lower Niger said during discussions undertaken fertility. And lower fertility can increase to inform this book. “It’s a partnership. We women’s life expectancy and has bene its want it that way. Here, in town, a man does for children’s health and education. better when his wife contributes” (World ■ When more women are elected to of ice, Bank 2014). policy making increasingly re lects the priorities of families and women. Context ■ Property ownership can enhance women’s There has been unprecedented progress agency by increasing their social status, in important aspects of the lives of girls amplifying their voice, and increasing their and women over recent decades. Yet even bargaining power within the household. Overview | 3 Recognizing agency constraints in devel- physical or sexual violence or both at opment project design can also improve the hands of their husbands, boyfriends, effectiveness. Use of reproductive health or partners. As shown in map O.1, services by adolescents, for example, is regional rates of such violence range better where projects address mobility con- from 21 percent in North America to straints and train providers to address pos- 43 percent in South Asia. Across 33 low- sible issues of stigma. This fact underlines and middle-income countries, almost the broader signi icance of understanding one-third of women say that they cannot how agency constraints operate and how refuse sex with their partners. policies and public action can lift those con- ■ Many girls have limited control over straints and enhance agency. their sexual and reproductive rights. The good news is that promising direc- If present trends continue, more than tions for enhancing agency are emerging. 142 million girls will be married before Moreover, the global momentum to tackle this the age of 18 in the next decade. And each agenda is growing. This trend is perhaps most year, almost one in ive girls in develop- vivid in the case of ending gender-based vio- ing countries become pregnant before lence, a major focus of this book. The number age 18. The lifetime opportunity costs of countries recognizing domestic violence of teen pregnancy have been estimated as a crime has risen from close to zero to 76 to range from 1 percent of annual gross in just 37 years. In countries with legislation domestic product in China to as much as against domestic violence, women’s accep- 30 percent in Uganda, measured solely tance of wife beating is lower. This inding by lost income. In developing countries, suggests the value of enacting legislation that pregnancy-related causes are the largest criminalizes violence. At the same time, laws contributor to the mortality of girls ages are clearly not a panacea, and awareness of 15 to 19—nearly 70,000 deaths annually. the law and effective implementation and ■ Fewer women than men own land and enforcement are critical. housing. In some cases, this differential is wide. In Burkina Faso, for example, Where do we stand? more than twice as many men as women Expanding agency is a universal challenge. (65 percent and 31 percent, respec- Agency constraints and deprivations affect tively) report owning a house. In many women and girls in all countries, what- countries, women can access land only ever their income level. The basic facts are through male relatives. sobering: ■ In too much of the world, women are ■ Gender-based violence is a global grossly underrepresented in formal epidemic, affecting women across politics and positions of power. World- all regions of the world. In most of the wide, women account for fewer than world, no place is less safe for a woman 22 percent of parliamentarians and fewer than her own home, with more than than 5 percent of mayors. Rates vary across 700 million women globally subject to countries and regions. In Nordic countries, 4 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity MAP O.1 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner Europe and Central Asia 29% North America Middle East 21% and North Africa 40% East Asia and the Pacific 30% South Asia Sub-Saharan 43% Africa 40% Latin America and the Caribbean Australia and New Zealand 33% 28% Source: Preliminary analysis of the World Health Organization global prevalence database (2013) in World Bank Group regions. Note: Data for the areas shaded in gray were not available. for example, women hold 42 percent of Determinants and drivers parliamentary seats, and in Rwanda, the share is close to two-thirds. This book focuses on key drivers and deter- minants of voice and agency. What we see Agency has multiple dimensions and in practice is a series of compounding con- is inevitably context speci ic. To enable straints. Some arise from women’s and girl’s global coverage and add value, this book limited endowments (health, education, and limits its focus to four central domains of assets) and economic opportunities. Even women’s agency: freedom from violence, where endowments and economic opportu- control over sexual and reproductive nities are better, social norms about gender health, ownership and control over land roles are limiting. This problem is evident, and housing, and voice and collective for example, in gender roles surround- action. At the same time, it recognizes that ing child care and housework. Even when these are just a few areas of women’s lives women are taking on more work outside that are important for promoting women’s of the home, they typically remain largely agency and gender equality. responsible for housework and child care. Overview | 5 Social norms can limit women’s mobility Overlapping disadvantages and ability to network, restrict their repre- and agency deprivations sentation in politics and government, and be enshrined in discriminatory laws and prac- Constraints on agency do not occur in a vac- tices. Unequal power relationships within uum and differ in nature across and within households and in society as a whole have countries. A banker in Beijing may be strug- broad-based effects. Gender-based violence, gling to balance elder care with work while for example, is associated with social norms also facing glass ceilings in her career. These and expectations that reinforce inequality challenges clearly differ in nature and scope and place the choices of women and girls from those faced by adolescent girls hoping outside their realm of control. to attend school in a low-income develop- ing country. Here we explore overlapping Legal discrimination is pervasive. In disadvantages—that is, the systematic exclu- 2013, 128 countries had at least one legal sion that many people experience as a result difference between men and women, rang- of multiple inequalities that limit their life ing from barriers to women obtaining chances. For example: of icial identi ication cards to restrictions on owning or using property, establish- ■ Poverty increases the likelihood of ing creditworthiness, and getting a job. agency deprivations. Girls living in poor Twenty-eight countries—mainly in the households are almost twice as likely to Middle East and North Africa and South marry before the age of 18 as those in Asia—had 10 or more differences. In 26 higher-income households, as are girls countries, statutory inheritance laws dif- from rural areas versus their urban ferentiate between women and men. In 15 counterparts. From other studies, we countries, women still require their hus- know that intimate partner violence bands’ consent to work. Other laws limit is more frequent and severe in poorer women’s agency in marriages and family groups across such diverse settings as life. Laws and legal institutions also play India, Nicaragua, and the United States. a central role in prohibiting gender-based violence and in enabling women to realize ■ Ethnic minority status can further mag- their reproductive health rights. nify disadvantage. Nearly three-quarters of girls out of school globally belong to Laws and social norms interact. Women’s ethnic minority groups in their countries. land ownership, for example, is determined by a complex interaction between some- New analysis of Demographic and Health times contradictory sets of statutory laws, Surveys from 54 countries reveals that women customs, and norms. Social norms, custom- often experience deprivations and constraints ary practices, the inaccessibility and weak across multiple domains of agency at the capacity of institutions, and, in many cases, same time. We ind most women (four in women’s lack of awareness pose important ive) lack control over household resources, barriers to the full realization of women’s believe wife beating is justi ied under certain land rights. circumstances, or were married before they 6 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity turned 18. Just as striking, almost half of all multiple deprivations that many women and women report being deprived in more than one girls experience. Although there is no silver of these areas, and almost one in eight expe- bullet for promoting changes in norms, evi- rience all three ( igure O.1). However these dence suggests a need for public actions that averages mask vast differences across coun- both enhance women’s and girls’ aspirations tries. In Niger, for example, almost all women and change behaviors of women and men, experience at least one constraint ( igure O.2). boys and girls, so that social norms become gender equitable. Promising ways to pro- Agency deprivations and constraints are mote such changes include working with linked to other disadvantages—particularly men, boys, households, and communities, as access to education. Figure O.3 shows that in Australia, where the Male Champions of about 90 percent of women with a primary Change initiative works with male chief exec- education or less experience at least one of utive of icers and leaders throughout busi- the deprivations shown in igure O.1, com- ness and the federal government to push for pared with 65 percent of women with sec- signi icant and sustainable increases in the ondary education and higher. Nearly 1 in 5 representation of women in leadership. Sim- women with no more than primary educa- ilarly, promoting awareness of progressive tion experience all three deprivations com- laws can help stimulate changes in norms and pared to 1 in 20 with a secondary education behavior. Evidence across eight countries, for or higher. Almost 1 in 5 rural women with example, found that men who were aware a primary education experience all three of laws addressing violence against women deprivations compared with 1 in 100 urban were nearly 50 percent more likely to prevent women with a higher education. a stranger’s act of violence. Overarching policies and Progressive constitutions and legal reforms measuring progress can support the transformation of social norms surrounding agency. We focus on The book identi ies promising entry points three core areas: ensuring that all sources of for public actions to promote women’s law adhere to principles of gender equality; agency. These entry points include poli- supporting effective implementation and cies that change social norms and the law, enforcement of laws; and expanding access alongside programs to promote economic to justice for all women, including through opportunities, social protection, and edu- customary processes. cation, where well-designed interventions Expanding women’s economic opportu- and new approaches to implementation are nities can have wide-ranging bene its, includ- demonstrating signi icant bene its for wom- ing bene its for women’s agency. Research en’s agency. The evidence on effectiveness of on norms and agency drawing on conversa- interventions designed to combat violence tions with women and men in 20 countries against women and other agency depriva- in all regions, for example, concluded that tions is also investigated in depth. “women’s ability to work for pay … may be Addressing social norms is critical because one of the most visible and game-changing adverse norms underpin and reinforce the events in the life of modern households and FIGURE O.1 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains (percent) Lack of control over household resources Absence of deprivations 42 21 10 8 11 13 Condones wife beating Child marriage 43 12 10 15 51 Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 54 countries using the latest data available, 2001–12. Note: Figure 1.3 lists the countries in this analysis. FIGURE O.2 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains in Niger (percent) Lack of control over household resources Absence of deprivations 85 1 6 15 19 45 Condones Child marriage wife beating 8 71 3 3 75 Source: Estimates based on 2006 Demographic and Health Survey for Niger. FIGURE O.3 Correlation between education levels and deprivations in control over resources, child marriage, and condoning of wife beating 90% 65% 18% 5% Primary education Secondary education Primary education Secondary education or less and higher or less and higher Women who suffer at least Women who suffer three one deprivation deprivations Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 54 countries using the latest data available, 2001–12. 8 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity all communities” (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, Promising interventions and Turk 2013, 190). But not all work is targeting agency deprivations equally empowering—working conditions matter, as does the type of work that women Promising interventions to tackle violence, do. Among the promising new approaches enhance sexual and reproductive health, are programs that tackle norms and provide increase access to assets, and enable voice typ- young women and girls with new information ically have multiple components and engage and opportunities; Uganda’s Empowerment at different levels. They address norms and and Livelihoods for Adolescents program pro- involve the wider community—engaging men, vides girls with life-skills training and local boys, women, and girls. And they re lect com- market–informed vocational training. In addi- mitment over time—one-off or short-term tion to the economic bene its, participating interventions are less likely to be effective. girls have demonstrated much greater control As already indicated, a common factor of suc- over their sexual and reproductive health. cessful approaches across all of the domains explored in the book is an acknowledgment of Social protection can be transformative. the powerful role of gender norms. Effectively Programs that go beyond protection per se engaging men, boys, communities, and tradi- and include elements to tackle regressive gen- tional authorities to change norms around der norms have had promising results. Such violence, marriage, reproduction, household elements have included addressing child care gender roles, and the roles of women and men responsibilities; increasing access to inance in public life have helped to promote women’s and assets; increasing skills, self-con idence, agency in countries as diverse as Australia and and aspirations; incentivizing girls’ school- Senegal. ing; and providing information and building awareness about gender issues and rights. Several types of interventions have been shown to expand women’s and girls’ sexual Education has major signi icance in this autonomy and control over reproductive deci- story, with a focus beyond achieving basic lev- sions. They include programs that promote els to quality and content. Around the world, more gender-equitable communication and we see that better educated women are often decision making and improvements in access better able to make and implement decisions to and quality of information and health ser- and choices, even where gender norms are vices. Interventions to expand life oppor- restrictive. In South Asia and the Middle East tunities for women and girls offer promise and North Africa, women with more education when they include provision for safe spaces, are less likely to have to ask their husband’s or life skills, and job skills. Women’s sexual and family’s permission to seek medical care. In reproductive agency can also be supported all regions, women with more education also through more equitable laws related to mar- tend to marry later and have fewer children. riage and property, among others, provided Enhanced agency is a key reason that children such legislation is coupled with strong imple- of better educated women are less likely to mentation and enforcement. have stunted growth: educated mothers have more power to act for their children’s bene it at Reform of discriminatory laws, partic- all levels, including basic nutrition and health. ularly in the realm of family, inheritance, Overview | 9 and property law, is an important irst step the aspirations and hopes of current and for advancing women’s access to land and future generations of women and girls. housing. But legal reform must be coupled These wider horizons can be especially with actions to improve implementation and valuable for women and girls whose mobil- enforcement, gender-sensitive land adminis- ity and opportunities are most restricted. tration, collection of richer sex-disaggregated data, and monitoring of results. Data gaps and the way ahead Women’s collective action and autono- The data challenges are large. We can estab- mous women’s movements play a pivotal role lish pro iles of women’s voice and agency by in building the momentum for progressive using proxies to measures speci ic aspects, policy and legal reform. Development agen- such as exposure to violence, levels of cies and partners can help to enable change, unmet need for contraception, prevalence of including through knowledge exchange, sup- female land ownership, and representation port for innovative and locally driven pilot of women in politics. But to better capture programs to shift behaviors, and help in cap- progress toward gender equality, greater turing and sharing good practices. Such sup- investments are needed. We need to develop port should embody large elements of local new measures and invest in higher-quality problem solving and learning by doing. data that more accurately re lect constraints At the same time, new information and on and expressions of agency, hold gov- communication technologies (ICTs) are ernments and development agencies such opening up new spaces for collective action as the World Bank Group to account, and and women’s participation in public life. incorporate these indings into our everyday Along with the media, ICTs are shaping work and decisions. *** This book distills an array of data, studies, and evidence to shine a spotlight on the pervasive deprivations and constraints that women and girls worldwide face—from epidemic gender-based violence to laws and norms that prevent women from own- ing property, working, making decisions about their own lives, and having influ- ence in society. It identifies some promising programs and interventions to address these deprivations and constraints. Policy makers and stakeholders need to tackle this agenda, drawing on evidence about what works and systematically tracking progress in the field. This must start with reforming discriminatory laws and following through with concerted poli- cies and public actions, including multisectoral approaches that engage men and boys and challenge adverse social norms. There is much to gain. Increasing women’s voice and agency is a valuable end in its own right. And it underpins achievement of the World Bank Group’s twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity for girls and boys, women and men, around the world. 10 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity References Agency: Conversations about Gender Equal- ity with Women and Men in 20 Countries. Narayan, Deepa, Robert Chambers, Meera K. Washington, DC: World Bank. Shah, and Patti Petesch. 2000. Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. Washington, World Bank. 2014. “Voices of Men and DC: World Bank. Women Regarding Social Norms in Niger.” PREM 4, Africa Region, Report 83296-NE, Muñoz Boudet, Ana Maria, Patti Petesch, World Bank, Washington, DC. and Carolyn Turk. 2013. On Norms and CHAPTER 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations Introduction Less often discussed is that far too many women and girls also are unable to own Women’s voice and agency matter. They basic assets such as land, have no voice matter for the shared prosperity of people in their communities and governments, alive today and for the prospects of a better have limited control over their sexual and life for future generations. reproductive rights, and lack freedom from Enormous development progress has violence, even in their own homes. One of occurred in the past two decades—many the most alarming facts is that more than people are living longer and healthier lives, 800 million women alive today have experi- becoming better educated, and having enced either physical or sexual partner vio- more access to goods and services (Kenny lence or nonpartner sexual violence during 2011; UNDP 2010). Yet in the world today their lifetimes (WHO 2013). Freedom from 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, these kinds of deprivations is a fundamental 774 million adults are illiterate, 783 million aspect of well-being that is too often denied. people have no access to clean water, and Tackling these gaps matters—and 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation (UNESCO expanding voice and agency is central—for 2014; UN Water 2013; World Bank 2013a). reducing extreme poverty and boosting Often, the same people face all of those shared prosperity. Moreover, the expansion deprivations simultaneously, and the mark- of agency is a universal challenge. Gaps exist ers of disadvantage typically include being a in all countries, regardless of their level of woman, being poor, and lacking education. income. 12 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity This chapter starts by elaborating the outcomes often persist. These include dif- case for strengthening agency and clos- ferences in economic opportunities, where ing gaps. Next, we present a framework for there has been too little progress in closing understanding how agency is affected by key gaps, as the recent global report “Gender drivers of other gender equality outcomes. at Work” documented (World Bank 2014a). We go on to investigate agency, looking at This book focuses on what we see as a how deprivations of women’s agency in cer- key driver of persistent gaps: limited agency. tain domains overlap with other disadvan- Agency is about the ability to make effec- tages that women experience, and we reveal tive choices and to transform those choices new indings on the different ways in which into desired outcomes (box 1.1). Women are women experience such deprivations and often at a systematic disadvantage in their how they overlap. Finally, we examine two ability to make effective choices in a range of drivers—social norms and laws and legal spheres, from making decisions at home, to institutions—in greater depth. deciding what kind of work to do, to choos- ing whether or when to get married and how Why agency? many children to have, to becoming politi- World Development Report 2012: Gen- cally active. Agency is an outcome that mat- der Equality and Development highlighted ters in its own right. It is an important driver wide-ranging and unprecedented progress of other aspects of gender equality, and it in important aspects of the lives of girls and also has value as a process, as we will show. women over recent decades (World Bank The reality of making choices and 2011). More countries than ever guarantee exercising agency is complex and varies women and men equal rights under the law enormously, even within the same country. in such areas as property ownership, inher- Valuable insights can be drawn from quali- itance, and marriage (World Bank and IFC tative approaches to capture that diversity. 2013). Gender gaps in primary schooling One valuable and recent source is On Norms have narrowed in many countries. Globally, and Agency, which draws on discussions more women than men attend university, with more than 4,000 women and men in and women are now living longer than men 20 economies2 and explores the nature and in every region of the world.1 In all but a effects of gender differences and inequali- handful of countries, women have the right ties in their lives to uncover the part played to vote and stand for election. by gender norms and roles (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013). We commissioned At the same time, World Development additional work in Chad (Alkire, Pratley, and Report 2012 and the broader literature— Vaz forthcoming) and Niger (World Bank including Esther Du lo’s (2012) article 2014b), which provides further insights. “Women Empowerment and Economic Development” and a body of work by Naila The gender equality agenda requires Kabeer that includes Paid Work, Women’s much greater progress in expanding agency. Empowerment, and Inclusive Growth (Kabeer This book advances the agenda by exam- 2013)—establish that even where such gaps ining and helping to understand the facts, are narrowed, systematic differences in while systematically documenting what we Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 13 Box 1.1 What is agency? Agency is the ability to make decisions about one’s own life and act on them to achieve a desired outcome, free of violence, retribution, or fear. The ability to make those choices is often called empowerment. Agency is critical at the individual level, as demonstrated by women worldwide who have spoken of having agency and of being empowered in many different ways: My opportunity is that I have free space to decide for myself, no longer dependent on others. For me, this is a source of pride, my husband asking me [my advice]; now there isn’t this machismo … there is mutual respect … together we decide. —Woman from Ecuador (Narayan et al. 2000) What is an empowered woman? A woman who is able to work and able to fulfil the needs that she has identified for herself. As long as she has the strength to work, she can solve all her problems. Empowered women can manage their own lives, no matter what the circumstances. —Egypt Pathways fieldwork (Kabeer 2013) An empowered woman is one who can help herself and others, who has a job, knows about herself and her environment and her community. You cannot stay in the house and be empowered. If you join societies, organizations, communities, and other social things, even spiritually, you will be empowered. If you are enlightened, empowerment will follow. —Woman from Ghana (Darkwah and Tskiata 2011) I am free and I have some power; my partner has the same: sovereign decisions are freedom and power. —Urban man, Olsztyn, Poland (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2012) Agency is also about group and collective action, as we examine in chapter 6: Men used to shut us up and say we shouldn’t speak. Women learned to speak up in a sangathan [group]. Earlier, we couldn’t speak up even at home. Now, we can be more assertive and also go out. I am able to help other women gain confidence as well. —Woman leader of savings group, Gujarat, India (Agarwal 2010) don’t know, and by presenting new evidence promising future options. At the same time, that allows us to compare across communi- we underline that this is a sphere where ties, countries, and regions of the world. We generalizations are especially risky and deepen the evidence base in ways that foster that country-speci ic diagnostic work and a better understanding of constraints and dialogue are essential to move ahead at the possible ways forward. Just as importantly, national level. we examine how change can come about, identify policies and programs that have Agency is dif icult to capture in its worked to increase agency, and highlight entirety. Agency can be expressed in many 14 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity ways: through personal relationships; Why does agency matter through autonomy in decision making and for development? ability to amass endowments (such as land or property, education, or good health); Agency has intrinsic value: the ability to exer- through participation in politics; and cise choice and to take action is important in through freedom of movement. Given its its own right. Amartya Sen powerfully argued complexity, agency is inherently dif icult to this value in Development as Freedom, pub- lished in 1999, and the intrinsic value of pro- measure. Chapter 7 discusses some of the cess freedoms is now an accepted element commonly used techniques and the agenda of mainstream development thinking. More for closing data gaps. than a decade ago, World Development Report One way to measure agency is to use 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty included information about what people say they do voicelessness as a social dimension of pov- in different domains of life. Such actions are erty. That report found that poverty meant called expressions of agency. This approach lack of freedom of choice and action and has the advantage that it is more compara- lack of power to control one’s life: “Poverty ble and more objective than data on personal is like living in jail, living in bondage, waiting perceptions of agency (how much freedom to be free,” the report stated, quoting a young and choice people say they have) in the Jamaican woman (World Bank 2001, 16). abstract—which can be distorted by social norms and may not be comparable across Agency also has instrumental value— individuals, let alone countries. that is, expanding agency is likely to bring broader gains for development and to Building on World Development Report advance the agenda of eliminating pov- 2012, we investigate several speci ic expres- erty and sharing prosperity. We show in sions of agency: chapter 3 that the estimated costs of inti- ■ Freedom from violence mate partner violence for a range of coun- tries run from 1.2 percent to 3.7 percent of ■ Control over sexual and reproductive gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent health and rights to what many governments spend on pri- ■ Ability to own and control land and mary education (see igure 3.5). And if girls housing are educated but their work choices are ■ Voice and collective action restricted, then the forgone costs in produc- tivity and income can be huge. The lifetime Each of these topics is explored in the opportunity costs of adolescent pregnancy chapters that follow. This mirrors the range as high as 12 percent of annual GDP in approach laid out in World Development India and 30 percent in Uganda.4 Report 2012, although we do not devote a separate chapter to freedom of mobility.3 Agency has intergenerational bene its too. Mobility is critical and is a recurring theme A large body of evidence shows that women in different parts of this book, with high- have greater agency when they are educated, lights presented in box 1.2. and that, in turn, bene its their children. Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 15 Box 1.2 Women’s mobility: Evidence on freedom of movement Mobility includes an individual’s physical capacity to move freely beyond the household, as well as the ability to move across social and economic spheres. It helps women and men build and maintain social and professional networks and enables participation in the economy and civic life. Physical mobility influences social and economic mobility, and it significantly affects women’s and girls’ opportunities and choices. In Bangladesh, for example, women working outside the home, in both formal and informal employment, are more likely to vote and to do so according to their own decisions compared with women who work from home or do not work for pay (Kabeer 2013). Yet widespread restrictions on women’s mobility arise from social norms. Women who leave the house too often may be branded “bad girls” or “bad wives” (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013). Only a good-for-nothing, a “girl of the wind,” can ride a taxi motorbike. —Women’s focus group, Communauté Urbaine de Zinder, Niger (World Bank 2014b) Our analysis from 52 developing countries found that one in three women agree that wife beating is justified if a woman goes out without permission; the same number of women report having no say over visits to family or friends. Women’s mobility can change with age; for example, only 20 percent of respondents ages 45 to 49 have no say over visits to family and friends, compared with 60 percent of those ages 15 to 19. On average, women report greater freedom of movement if they are educated, identify themselves as head of the household, or belong to a richer household. For example, 43 percent of women without an education have no say in decisions about visits to friends and family, compared with 17 percent of those with a higher education. A woman’s mobility can be restricted by laws that dictate the need for her husband’s consent to work outside the home or that restrict the types of jobs or industries in which she may work. A number of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, for example, have lengthy lists of jobs that are prohibited for women; in Russia, the list includes 456 jobs, ranging from woodworker to truck driver in agriculture. Such restrictions originated from a desire to protect women, but in practice, they limit women’s earnings potential and opportunities outside the home (World Bank and IFC 2013). Lack of appropriate transportation is often a constraint, and unsafe public spaces where women risk sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence make it difficult or impossible for them to move about freely. In the Republic of Yemen, for example, lack of mobility is cited as a major restriction on girls’ ability to go to school, and one-third of women deliver babies without medical care because appropriate transportation is lacking (Middle East and North Africa Region Transport and Energy Unit 2011). In central Afghanistan, constrained mobility limits women’s ability to find work, socialize, and build networks (Echavez 2012). Lack of social mobility can limit women’s success as entrepreneurs, as in Sierra Leone, where limited access to networks is a key factor in restricting women’s ability to scale up microenterprises (Cherie Blair Foundation for Women 2014). 16 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity For example, a mother’s education improves such as poverty and education (Hou and child nutrition, even after taking into account Ma 2013). In other words, a range of public other factors linked to better nutrition, programs can produce substantially stronger such as household wealth, mother’s height, results when the women those programs are breast-feeding practices, water, and sanita- designed to serve understand their choices tion (UNESCO 2014): and are empowered to exercise them. ■ In Ethiopia, one-year-olds whose mothers Women’s limited voice in society and had a primary school education along with the economy is re lected in their underrep- access to prenatal care were 39 percent resentation in politics and in government, less likely to have stunted growth. as well as in the corporate world. Women ■ In Vietnam, infants whose mothers make up fewer than 22 percent of parlia- had attained a lower-secondary educa- mentarians, and their number has been tion were 67 percent less likely to have increasing by only half a percent per year stunted growth. since 1996.5 Important exceptions exist. In Rwanda almost two-thirds of parliamentari- Lack of agency can prevent women and ans are women (IPU 2014). Yet despite such girls from accessing a range of services— high representation, the country still has the from health care, to secondary education second-largest share of women experienc- (see chapters 2, 3, and 4), to new information ing intimate partner violence (56 percent), technologies and services (see chapter 6). reminding us that representation on its own Women’s lack of agency can compromise is unlikely to be suf icient (National Institute the effectiveness of development projects, of Statistics of Rwanda, Rwanda Ministry of effectively lowering the return on invest- Health, and ICF International 2012). In the ments. Explicit attention to project design corporate world, women hold just under in a whole range of sectors—from service one-quarter of senior management posi- provision to the expansion of economic tions and fewer than one- ifth (19 percent) opportunities—can address this risk. For of board seats (Sera in 2013). example, in Peru, incorporating components These constraints are not con ined to the to increase the aspirations of female bene i- public arena. In most of the world, no place is ciaries of a social protection program dou- less safe for a woman than her own home, a bled the effect of the intervention (Perova shocking fact that we investigate in chapter 3. and Vakis 2013). Similarly, a recent study in The gravity of this challenge is increasingly Pakistan shows that—despite the efforts to well recognized, as evidenced by proposals to improve maternal health—the use of health include commitments to end violence against services has been far from universal; the aver- women and girls in the global development age uptake of prenatal care and postnatal care framework beyond 2015.6 is 50 percent and 21 percent, respectively. But the uptake of those services increases Our conceptual framework by up to 10 percent when women’s decision- making power increases by 1 percent, after This book adopts the framework of World taking into account the effect of other factors, Development Report 2012, in which the Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 17 functioning of households, markets, and insti- World Development Report 2015: Mind and tutions and their interactions shape gender Culture. outcomes. Gender outcomes are multidimen- But the causality is not only one-way— sional and are considered in relation to eco- gender equality outcomes also affect how nomic opportunities (for example, jobs and markets and institutions work and how entrepreneurship); endowments (for exam- households allocate resources and make ple, investments in education and health and decisions. For example, more educated asset ownership); and agency, the focus of women may go to court to use the law to this book. establish their right to inherit property, as In igure 1.1, agency, economic oppor- in Ethiopia (Ashena i and Tadesse 2005), tunities, and endowments are connected demonstrating practices that in luence and often (but not always) mutually rein- norms and that change how formal institu- forcing gender equality outcomes. The left tions function. Similarly, greater economic side of the chart shows sets of determi- opportunities for women can change social nants, the importance of which varies by norms about girls’ education and the status context. A particular focus of this book is of female children. Such a change is evident on laws (statutory and customary and reli- in Bangladesh, where a 2012 survey found gious), as well as on social norms. The lat- that, compared with data from 1979, most ter are also being explored in the upcoming women interviewed wanted fewer children FIGURE 1.1 Agency, endowments, economic opportunities, and drivers of change JOBS AND SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL NORMS Economic opportunities Informal institutions Gender equality MARKETS HOUSEHOLDS EDUCATION LAWS AND AGENCY LEGAL Endowments INSTITUTIONS Formal institutions Source: Adapted from World Bank 2011. Note: The orange cogs represent the main focus of analysis of the drivers of change in this book. 18 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity and no longer cared much whether they had despite comparable backgrounds, accom- boys or girls. Indeed, some expressed a pref- plished women are less likely than men to erence for daughters (Kabeer 2012). believe they meet the criteria to run for pub- lic of ice (Fox and Lawless 2011). In practice, women’s agency is often lim- ited by a series of compounding constraints. Equally important to gender equality and These constraints can arise from limited poverty reduction outcomes is how those out- endowments and economic opportunities. comes are achieved: agency has normative For example, across 18 of the 20 countries value as a process. For policy, valuing agency with the highest prevalence of child mar- as a process to help achieve development riage, girls with no education were up to six outcomes means paying attention to how times more likely to marry than girls who women and men can engage with policy for- had received a secondary education (ICRW mulation and implementation—whether they 2006). And as we show in the next section, are included in consultative processes and constraints on agency are typically worse for whether their views and needs are taken into women and girls who also experience other account in project design. For example, roads sources of disadvantage, in particular poverty, may be planned and built by including consul- ethnicity minority status, and lack of educa- tations with communities that give women a tion, among others. For example, girls living in voice and take into account gender-speci ic poorer households are almost twice as likely security concerns. Taking steps to ensure that to marry before the age of 18, compared with those who are frequently excluded have access girls in higher-income households. to information and services that increase Even where endowments and economic their agency—for example, text messages can opportunities are closer to gender parity, be a feasible method for sending information social norms about gender roles impose lim- and service referrals, especially for youth— itations. Limitations can be seen in gender illustrates how valuing agency as a process roles surrounding child care and housework. has bene its for development outcomes. When women work outside the home, they also continue to bear most of the responsibil- Overlapping disadvantages ity for housework and child care. Differences and deprivations in the amount of time spent on housework It is obvious that constraints on agency do range from 50 percent more time by women not come about in a vacuum and differ in than men in Cambodia and Sweden to about nature across and within countries. A banker three times more in Italy and six times more in Beijing may be struggling to balance elder in Iraq (Berniell and Sánchez-Páramo 2012). care with work and facing glass ceilings in Social norms can limit women’s mobility and her career. Those challenges clearly differ their ability to network, restrict their polit- in nature and scope from the struggles of ical representation, and result in discrimi- adolescent Pakistani girls hoping to go to natory legal rules and practices. They shape school, as we illustrate in chapter 6. power relationships within households and in the society more broadly. Evidence from It is important to set the stage for the United States, for example, shows that the socioeconomic correlates of agency Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 19 deprivation, as well as for how depriva- 2013b, 74–75). Somali women refugees in tions can accumulate. This section presents East Africa, for example, face multiple exclu- new results that draw on Demographic sions that stem from their ethnicity, religion, and Health Surveys (DHS) for 54 countries, and refugee status, which are compounded which importantly inform the cross-cutting by being female. Those are among the agenda for policies and public actions in the themes explored in a recent report, Inclu- next chapter and the analysis of the speci ic sion Matters (World Bank 2013b). Increas- expressions of agency that follow: freedom ing women’s agency requires addressing from violence, control over sexual and repro- other markers of disadvantage as well—for ductive health and rights, control over land example, poverty, ethnicity, or location. and housing, and voice and collective action. Poverty often increases gender gaps, as illustrated in igure 1.2 for the case of school- Overlapping disadvantages ing. In a recent study across 27 countries, boys from the poorest households were nine In almost every region of the world, percentage points more likely to complete certain groups of people face systematic their primary education than girls, whereas social exclusion as the result of multiple boys and girls from rich households were inequalities that constrict their life equally likely to complete primary school. In chances. India, the median boy and girl ages 15 to 19 in the richest quintile reaches grade 10 (with —Naila Kabeer (2011, 1) no gender gap), whereas the median boy in the poorest quintile reaches only grade 6 and the median girl only grade 1 (World Sustainable paths toward ending extreme Bank 2011). In contrast, in Cambodia, poverty and promoting shared prosperity Tanzania, and Zambia, girls and boys from involve creating an inclusive society not poor families are equally less likely than only in terms of economic welfare but also their better-off peers to complete higher in relation to the voice and agency of all grades. In sum, opportunities for girls com- people and groups (World Bank 2013d). pared with boys vary by country—but they Worldwide, some people are more likely to are always worse for poor children. be disadvantaged than others, and common markers of such disadvantage include being Ethnic minority status can further mag- a woman, having a disability, being young or nify disadvantage. It has been estimated old, and being a member of a minority eth- that nearly three-quarters of the girls out nic group (Kabeer 2011). of school globally belong to ethnic minority groups (Lewis and Lockheed 2006). Here Those inequalities can intersect to pro- are some country examples from the Latin duce a “multiplication of disadvantage.… American region, where this challenge is For instance, the intersection of gender, age, being increasingly well recognized: ethnicity, and place of residence can have signi icantly more deleterious effects than ■ In Guatemala, 60 percent of indigenous the effects of gender alone” (World Bank women are illiterate, compared with 20 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity FIGURE 1.2 Share of 15- to 19-year-olds completing school grades (current cohort), by wealth quintile and gender 100 100 80 80 Completion (%) Completion (%) 60 60 40 40 20 20 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Grade Grade INDIA 2005–06 NIGER 2012 100 100 80 80 Completion (%) Completion (%) 60 60 40 40 20 20 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Grade Grade CAMBODIA 2010 ZAMBIA 2010 100 100 80 80 Completion (%) Completion (%) 60 60 40 40 20 20 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Grade Grade TANZANIA 2010 INDONESIA 2012 Richest 20% – Male Richest 20% – Female Poorest 40% – Male Poorest 40% – Female Source: Estimates based on World Bank Group data on educational attainment and enrollment at http://econ .worldbank.org/projects/edattain. Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 21 40 percent of indigenous men and 30 per- or lower caste can also worsen the threat cent of nonindigenous women (Chioda, of gender-based violence. Gender-based Garcia-Verdú, and Muñoz Boudet 2011, violence is explored further in chapter 3, but as cited in World Bank 2011). some striking examples are highlighted here: ■ In Bolivia, the probability that a Quechua- ■ In India, Muslim women and women speaking woman will complete secondary from scheduled castes are the most school is 28 percentage points lower than often exposed to IPV. A recent study that for a Spanish-speaking man (World found that 35 percent of Muslim women Bank 2013b). and 41 percent of women from sched- ■ In Brazil, white men generally earn the uled castes were exposed to physical highest wages for any level of education, violence. Of those women, 15 percent and whereas black women earn the least 18 percent, respectively, were exposed to (Kabeer 2013). emotional violence, and 11 percent of both Gender, youth, and ethnicity may work groups were exposed to sexual violence together to limit agency, as among adoles- (Dalal and Lindqvist 2012). cent Hmong girls in Vietnam (box 1.3). ■ In Australia, indigenous women are ive Intimate partner violence (IPV) is more times more likely to be subject to domes- frequent and severe among poorer groups tic violence, 38 times more likely to be across such diverse countries as India, hospitalized for assault, and 10 times Nicaragua, and the United States—though more likely to die from assault than not in others, such as South Africa (Jewkes nonindigenous women (Burch ield and 2002). Being a member of an ethnic minority Braybook 2009). Box 1.3 Multiple disadvantages among adolescent Hmong girls Vietnam has achieved tremendous progress in development, but the gains have been unevenly enjoyed. In Ha Giang Province in northern Vietnam, Hmong children and adolescents, especially girls, face multiple disadvantages. Among the Hmong ethnic minority, poverty rates exceed 80 percent, compared with 20 percent for Vietnam as a whole. Traditional preference for sons and filial piety mean that girls spend long hours on domestic chores— only 4 percent of Hmong girls are enrolled in secondary school, and as adults, their opportunities for paid work are negligible. Rates of child marriage and total fertility for Hmong are double the rate for the Kinh majority ethnic group. Hmong girls also have inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health information and services. Recent fieldwork in Ta Lung commune found that girls often struggle to imagine future lives that differ from those of their mothers. Most Hmong girls reported very little say in family or community decisions, where they face discrimination on the grounds of both their gender and their age. That was reflected in one mother’s plans for her children: “My daughter will finish grade 9 only, and then she will get married. My son won’t go anywhere; he will live with me, so I let him reach the high grade.” Sources: Jones, Presler-Marshall, and Anh 2013; http://data.worldbank.org/country/vietnam. 22 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Multiple deprivations Figure 1.6 shows how agency depri- vations in one area—lack of control over We now examine how women can experience household resources—vary according to multiple deprivations of agency at the same whether women work and the type of work time. We look at three key areas where depri- women do. On average, women who work in vations are widespread: control over house- wage employment have more control over hold resources, attitudes that expose women household resources than do those who to increased risk of gender-based violence, and are paid in kind and those who do not work whether women were married as children. outside the home. For example, in Mozam- The evidence from 54 countries covered bique, fewer than 20 percent of women by the DHS immediately highlights several wage earners lack control over household striking points ( igure 1.3). First, most (four resources, compared with 21 to 40 percent in ive) women experience at least one of of women who worked but were paid in kind these three deprivations of agency. Second, or who did not work in the past year. almost half of all women report agency- Education levels are also highly cor- related deprivations in more than one area related with a woman’s degree of sexual of their lives. Third, nearly one in eight autonomy—measured here by whether a women experience agency-related depriva- woman says that she is able to refuse sex, tions in all three areas. to ask her partner to use a condom, or both However, these averages mask vast dif- ( igure 1.7). Again, women with higher edu- ferences across countries. In Niger, for exam- cation have greater agency in all 10 countries ple, almost all women experience at least shown in igure 1.7, and secondary educa- one constraint, and almost half (45 percent) tion often has major bene its too. In Cam- experience all three ( igure 1.4). eroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mozambique, for example, 61 to 80 percent of women with no Further analysis shows that agency education lack sexual autonomy, compared deprivations are linked to other sources of with fewer than 20 percent of women with disadvantage, especially lack of education. higher education. Figure 1.5 shows that about 90 percent of women with no more than a primary edu- This analysis underlines that agency cation experience at least one of the con- deprivations are not experienced in iso- straints shown in igure 1.3, compared with lation; many women face multiple con- 65 percent of women with a secondary edu- straints and deprivations in different cation and higher. Nearly 1 in 5 women with areas of their lives simultaneously. At the no more than a primary education experi- same time, women who experience other ence all three deprivations, compared to 1 forms of disadvantage—especially poverty in 20 with secondary schooling and higher. and lack of education—are more likely to Almost one in ive (18 percent) of rural face deprivations in their agency as well. women with a primary education experience This point has important implications all three deprivations compared with 1 in 50 for policy, which are explored further in urban women with a higher education. chapter 2. FIGURE 1.3 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains (percent) Lack of control over household resources 42 Absence of deprivations 10 21 8 11 13 Condones wife beating Child marriage 12 43 10 15 51 Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 54 countries using the latest data available, 2001–12. Note: East Asia and Pacific (Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste); Europe and Central Asia (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine); Latin America and the Caribbean (Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru); Middle East and North Africa (Arab Republic of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco); South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal); Sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe). FIGURE 1.4 Share of women experiencing overlapping agency deprivations in three domains in Niger (percent) Lack of control over household resources Absence of 85 deprivations 1 6 15 19 45 Condones wife beating Child marriage 8 71 3 3 75 Source: Estimates based on 2006 Demographic and Health Survey for Niger. FIGURE 1.5 Correlation between education levels and deprivations in control over resources, child marriage, and condoning of wife beating 90% 65% 18% 5% Primary education Secondary education Primary education Secondary education or less and higher or less and higher Women who suffer at least Women who suffer three one deprivation deprivations Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 54 countries using the latest data available, 2001–12. 24 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity FIGURE 1.6 Correlation between women’s work and lack of control over household resources Work paid Work paid Did not work in cash in kind last year Cameroon Côte d’Ivoire Dominican Republic Share of women Ghana who lack control over household resources Haiti Honduras 0–20% Mali 21–40% Mozambique 41–60% Nepal 61–80% Uganda 81–99% Zambia Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys using the latest available data, 2006–12. FIGURE 1.7 Correlation between women’s level of education and lack of sexual autonomy No education Primary Secondary Higher Armenia Cambodia Share of women Cameroon who lack sexual autonomy Côte d’Ivoire Haiti 0–20% Honduras 21–40% Mozambique 41–60% Nepal 61–80% Uganda 81–99% Zimbabwe Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys using the latest available data, 2010–12. Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 25 Focus on key drivers: Social Social norms are powerful prescriptions norms and the law re lected in formal structures of society and in its informal rules, beliefs, and atti- The expansion of agency encompasses tudes (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk an enormous agenda. We narrow our 2013). Such norms are reinforced by sanc- detailed investigation to selected drivers tions, which can be positive or negative, and determinants that are particularly imposed by people belonging to the same relevant to policy and program decisions reference group or by the state (Mackie and to instances where recent evidence and LeJeune 2009). Social norms de ine sheds light on promising directions— what is deemed appropriate behavior and namely, social norms and the law. Markets desirable attributes for women, men, boys and households are also critical, but they and girls, creating gender roles (Muñoz are not our focus here.7 Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013). Across Different types of norms shape agency. the 20 countries studied in On Norms and Here we focus on social norms and inter- Agency, for example, men and women national legal norms that can be imple- reported similar ideals for men’s and wom- mented at the national level through en’s roles: men are seen as providers, heads legislation. of households, and benevolent decision makers, whereas ideal women are depicted Social norms as obedient, caring, and good mates for their husbands and as being responsible The idea that social norms affect devel- for all of the housework and care of all opment outcomes is not new; it was members of the household (Muñoz Boudet, established in the early development Petesch, and Turk 2013). literature. Economic Development and Cultural Change, a journal founded in If an individual’s behavior is seen as con- 1952, focused on the microlevel and drew forming to a social norm, status and commu- on sociology, economics, and analysis of nity acceptance can be secured. Conversely, tradition to advance the understanding behaviors that stray from or con lict with of development and growth. Today, the prevailing norms may be subject to nega- importance of understanding microlevel tive social sanctions. In Niger, notwithstand- behaviors for policy is reemerging with ing a woman’s right to inherit land under the convergence of ideas across econom- Qur’anic law, few women claim their right ics, politics, philosophy, and behavioral to inheritance: “Women cannot inherit land. psychology. The upcoming World Devel- They live with their husbands.”8 These con- opment Report 2015: Mind and Culture straints operate for men as well as for women will examine how policy design that rec- (box 1.4). Transgression of social norms may ognizes psychological and cultural factors re lect not just on the individual but also can better achieve development goals. on family members, and in some cases also 26 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 1.4 Norms about masculinity shape men’s behavior Men’s and boys’ actions and behaviors are subject to norms of masculinity just as women’s and girls’ are subject to norms of femininity. Norms about masculinity are often characterized as being aggressive, risk taking, virile, unemotional, and dominant over women. Even though men may often have more decision-making power and resulting agency than do women, they also may feel pressured to conform to societal expectations. For example, men may not agree to use contraception if it will reflect negatively on their virility. In the words of one Tanzanian woman: You cannot tell men to use birth control; they want children. The more they have, the more manly they appear to be. —Young woman, Zabibu village, Tanzania (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013) Men are also expected to be providers and protectors of their families. When they are unable to meet those roles, they may compensate by finding alternative ways to prove their masculinity. They may engage in risky behavior—becoming more sexually active, drinking excessively, or becoming more aggressive—to demonstrate their masculinity to peers. To maintain an appearance of invulnerability, men may be less inclined to use the health services that they need. Norms about masculinity can also result in aggression and violence toward women. Harmful norms can be transmitted across generations; a boy who has witnessed his father beat his mother is much more likely to become a perpetrator of violence as an adult. As a result of on the community (Dorais and Lajeunesse Social norms in luence which occupa- 2004). tions men and women work in and how Social norms affect both day-to-day and markets work—who is trusted, who is major decisions. The workings and interac- hired, and how contracts are negotiated. tions of formal and informal institutions, mar- They affect women’s ability to participate kets, and households are all affected by social in formal institutions, such as parliaments, norms in ways that are often inexplicit. Social and to hold leadership positions in busi- norms affect decisions about who receives nesses, legal institutions, and other asso- schooling, who in the household gets a job, ciations. For example, in the countries of and who does the majority of unpaid care and the Middle East and North Africa, women housework. Across six developed and devel- hold only 7 percent of seats in parlia- oping countries, for example, women devote ment, despite the expansion of women’s 1 to 3 more hours a day to housework than do participation in civil society and poli- men, 2 to 10 times the amount of time to child tics in the rest of the world (World Bank or elder care, and 1 to 4 hours less a day to 2013c). Norms affect people’s daily actions market activities (World Bank 2011). and act as an underlying and sometimes Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 27 patriarchal power structures within society that give men power and status over women, men have little incentive to challenge those norms. The good news, however, is that norms about masculinity can and do shift. A recent analysis of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey has shown that younger generations of men are more supportive of gender equality and more likely to engage in household tasks. Similarly, evidence from urban Niger suggests that both women and men are becoming more open to sharing economic responsibility for providing for the household: The woman helps the man manage the household. It’s a partnership. We want it that way. Here, in town, a man does better when his wife contributes. —Men’s focus group, Niamey, Niger (World Bank 2014b) And men have much to gain from gender equality. Data show that men in more gender-equal relationships are more likely to be happy; men who participate actively as fathers are more likely to have better physical and mental health; and men who take on greater caregiving roles report benefits to their friendships and relationships with their children, as well as improved relationships with their spouses (Fleming et al. 2013). Studies from developed countries have found that men who are more actively involved in caregiving live longer and report lower rates of mental and physical health problems, including high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease (Brown et al. 2003; Holt- Lunstad et al. 2009). Photo: The first day of study for children in Uzbekistan. © Matluba Mukhamedova/World Bank. Further permission required for reuse. subconscious factor that affects process- likely to send their daughters to school and ing information, making decisions, and on to higher education as their sons. Over taking actions. One obvious implication the past decade, the gender gap in school is that interventions that fail to address enrollment has closed in many countries; the underlying norms may have limited globally, the gap between the number of effects. For example, success in eliminating boys and girls enrolled in secondary school female genital mutilation/cutting started is narrowing, with 69 percent of girls and when interventions tackled community- 72 percent of boys enrolled (UNESCO level norms about the eligibility of young 2014). And norms about men’s and wom- women for marriage, rather than focusing en’s roles are also changing in many places, on the health risks alone (Mackie 2000). as discussed in box 1.4. The role of men in fostering progressive norm change is The good news is social norms about explored further in chapters 2 and 3. gender roles do change and evolve over time. Girls’ education is a recent example. Social norms can shift in response to Many people all over the world are now as market incentives. Better earning prospects 28 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity for women may encourage parents to invest ■ Cultural beliefs distort views. Evidence in their girls’ schooling. In Bangladesh, for from psychology and other sciences example, the increasing value placed on shows that the beliefs of individuals women as economic earners explains why shape what they pay attention to and parents now educate their daughters as how they interpret it. People have cog- well as their sons. As Shanu, a 36-year-old nitive biases that can lead them to married woman said, “Earlier, people used misinterpret new information so that it to educate their sons but not their daugh- reinforces their initial beliefs, and they ters. Now girls get the same education, therefore continue to act in the same way they have the same value, they get the same (World Bank 2011). respect” (Kabeer, Mahmud, and Tasneem ■ Widespread practices reinforce views. 2001, 36). When nearly all people adhere to a social norm and when the consequences of Even norms deeply embedded in cultural departing from the norm are signi icant, and religious beliefs can change. A nota- voluntary compliance with the practice can ble recent example in some countries has be universal. For example, one reason that been changing norms about homosexuality. female genital mutilation/cutting contin- Coupled with legal reform, those changes ues to be practiced is that parents believe together now mean that partnerships other that they are acting in the best interests of than marriages are recognized under the their daughters, as young women who are law and same-sex couples can marry. In not cut will not be able to marry in their the United States, public acceptance of gay communities (Mackie 2000). and lesbian relationships has increased by ■ Elite groups suppress dissent. When social 19 percentage points in the past 12 years, norms bene it an elite group, that group with 59 percent of Americans reporting in is better able to suppress dissent and 2013 that they believe such relationships maintain the status quo. Laws, for exam- are morally acceptable (Newport and Him- ple, can be deliberately shaped to ensure elfarb 2013). Similarly, over the past six that men have greater control and eco- years in Canada and the Republic of Korea, nomic advantage. acceptance rose by at least 10 percentage points (Pew Research Global Attitudes Proj- Norms and the law ect 2013). More generally, norms can be enshrined in law. However, gender norms may even be per- Different sources of law may re lect norms petuated by those who are most adversely that may be at odds with each other. Inter- affected. As we explore in chapter 3, large national legal rights—such as those re lected numbers of women say they think husbands in the International Convention on Human are justi ied in beating their wives. Rights—re lect moral and social norms that Norms can also persist even when cir- are broadly held and prescribe international cumstances change (see World Bank 2011, standards. At the national level, constitutions 174, box 4.7). Such persistence may occur embody norms that are supposed to be uni- for various reasons: versal for the nation. Seventy- ive countries Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 29 have constitutions that include the principle a number of regressive laws, such as requir- of nondiscrimination by gender, for example. ing spousal permission for women to work outside the home (World Bank 2013c). Here we brie ly review the legal context, showing how international norms are gener- National laws ally supportive of equality, but how national laws often limit women’s agency, including in Regressive laws and legal institutions can their marriages and family life and in their abil- impede women’s agency and perpetuate dis- ity to access and control property. We return to criminatory norms in many ways. What do the role of the law in later chapters, including we mean by regressive? We mean laws that, its role in prohibiting gender-based violence for example, restrict women from working in and in enabling women to realize their repro- certain jobs or restrict married women from ductive health rights and to own land. being the head of household. Those are exten- sively documented in the World Bank Group’s Women, Business, and the Law database and International norms report (World Bank and IFC 2013). For exam- The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of ple, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a All Forms of Discrimination against Women married woman needs her husband’s permis- (CEDAW), rati ied by 188 states, provides a sion to work and to register land or a business. key foundation for fostering progressive gen- In Egypt and Jordan, if a woman opts for a no- der norms to expand agency.9 It covers such fault divorce (khula) to avoid having to estab- key areas as equality in marriage and family lish grounds for the divorce, she must forgo all life, mobility, citizenship rights, and family inancial claims (World Bank 2013c). Custody formation, and it is a key reference document laws that favor fathers, as in Iraq and Jordan, for this book. Articles 15 and 16 of CEDAW can act as an additional disincentive to divorce. call for equal rights for spouses in marriage In Nepal, married daughters are excluded from (for example, to choose where to live and inheriting property from their parents. work), as well as equal rights of women and Table 1.1 illustrates the ways in which men to acquire, own, manage, and dispose of laws can restrict married women’s agency, property. CEDAW has been used effectively including their mobility. Women’s choices by women’s groups to mobilize for reform about where to live can be constrained by of discriminatory laws (Htun and Weldon family laws and citizenship laws, for exam- 2012). However, as documented by the ple, such as laws that restrict awarding cit- CEDAW Committee, which undertakes regu- izenship to a nonnational husband or the lar reviews at the national level, implemen- children of their marriage. tation continues to be hampered by states’ reservations about family and citizenship Customary laws and plural legal laws, by states’ failure to fully integrate their systems treaty obligations into national laws, and by weak implementation of the laws that exist.10 Plural legal systems are common; 58 of The Republic of Yemen, for example, rati ied the 143 economies for which informa- CEDAW in 1984, but then in 1999 introduced tion is available formally recognize either 30 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity TABLE 1.1 Legal restrictions on married women’s agency Restriction (total number of Economies in which married women are restricted economies in brackets) compared to married men Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Islamic Republic of Iran, Choose where Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Oman, Rwanda, to live (25) Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Republic of Yemen Guinea, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Confer citizenship on Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian her children (16) Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and West Bank and Gaza Bolivia, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Get a job without Guinea, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Niger, permission (15) Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and West Bank and Gaza Travel outside Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Sudan, the home (9) Syrian Arab Republic, West Bank and Gaza, and Republic of Yemen Travel outside Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Syrian Arab Republic the country (4) Source: World Bank and IFC 2013. customary or religious law, or both, along- Out of the 31 countries that recognize side national statutes (World Bank and IFC customary law, 11 exempt such laws from 2013). The effect of customary laws on the constitution.11 And even where cus- women’s agency varies across countries and tomary and religious laws are subject to depends on the area of law—for example, constitutional principles, in practice, consti- in some matrilineal and matrilocal tradi- tutional oversight is often lacking. In Nigeria, tions, women have clear and independent customary law is supposed to be subject to land rights, although such rights tend to be constitutional principles of equality. Yet in the exception rather than the rule. In some 2004, the Supreme Court overruled a case cases, customary laws may be grounded in in which a lower court had found the custom discriminatory traditional practices (Chopra that only male children could inherit their and Isser 2012), as in Kenya, where customs father’s property to be unconstitutional, on dictate that a married women’s control over the basis that customary law could not be property can be exercised only with her undermined merely because it did not recog- husband’s consent (Kameri-Mbote 2005). nize a role for women.12 Chapter 1 Framing the Challenge: Norms, Constraints, and Deprivations | 31 *** This chapter has set the stage for the more detailed investigations that follow. We have seen that expanding women’s agency is critical for individual and collective well-being and for the promotion of shared prosperity and elimination of poverty. Yet many women—especially those who are poor and lacking education— experience agency deprivations across a range of domains, and they often face multiple con- straints simultaneously. These empirical patterns illuminate the need to consider policy and programming design options as part of a comprehensive approach to advancing agency and gender equality. We have explored the importance of social norms and laws and legal institutions as drivers of gender equality outcomes and have made the case for increased policy attention in those areas, which is the focus of the next chapter. Notes  6. A report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development  1. Since 1980, women have been living longer Agenda (2013, 17) stated, “Barriers than men in all world regions. Before 1980, [to women’s opportunity] can only be men lived longer than women in South removed when there is zero tolerance of Asia (World Bank 2011). violence towards women and girls and  2. The study covered Afghanistan, Bhutan, when they have full and equal rights in Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, political economics and public spheres.” India, Indonesia, Liberia, Moldova, Papua New  7. For more on economic opportunities, see Guinea, Peru, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, World Bank (2014a). Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Vietnam, the West Bank and Gaza, and the Republic of Yemen.  8. Quotation is from a men’s focus group, Morey, Département of Keita, Région  3. The topic of mobility is being explored of Tahoua, as reported in World Bank under the Global Knowledge Partnership (2014b). on Migration and Development (KNOMAD). For more information on KNOMAD, see its  9. There are 99 signatories and 188 parties website at http://www.knomad.org/. See to CEDAW. See the United Nations Treaty also Temin et al. (2013). Collectionwebsiteathttps://treaties.un.org /Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY  4. Opportunity cost is measured by the young &mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en. mother’s forgone annual income over her lifetime (Chaaban and Cunningham 2011). 10. For more information, see the overview on the CEDAW website at http://www.un.org  5. These igures are computed on the basis /womenwatch/daw/cedaw/. of data in the World Bank Group’s World Development Indicators database. The data, 11. Those countries are Botswana, Chad, Fiji, which are from Inter-Parliamentary Union, Ghana, India, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mauritius, are for 1990 and yearly from 1997 through Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. 2012 and show the representation of women 12. The case, Mojekwu v. Mojekwu, is cited in in the single or lower house of parliament. Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan (2013). 32 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity References Chioda, Laura, Rodrigo Garcia-Verdú, and Ana María Muñoz Boudet. 2011. Work and Agarwal, Bina. 2010. 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London: regarding Social Norms in Niger.” Poverty Bloomsbury. CHAPTER 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda The role of cross-cutting three years changed parents’ and girls’ aspi- public actions rations for the future—in just ive years, the share of 15-year-old girls who were married This chapter lays out some key policy and fell by 50 percent and the probability of giv- programming responses to widespread ing birth by age 17 fell by 43 percent (Kırdar, deprivation of voice and agency. We are Dayıoğlu, and Koç 2012). In Rwanda, the motivated by the fact that many women and implementation of changes to land titling girls face multiple and overlapping depri- rules designed to help women register land vations of their agency, which points to the has improved access to land for married importance of broad-based and systemic women (Ali, Deininger, and Goldstein 2011). change. Of particular importance are chang- ing regressive social norms, moving beyond But clearly results such as these are not legal reforms and amendments on paper yet a generalized nor a global phenomenon. to changes in practice, and addressing the Our goal is to enable progress by outlining multiple forms of disadvantage that women promising directions that can help bring and girls often face at the same time. If these about change. Our framework in igure 1.1 fronts can be successfully tackled, real and suggests several entry points for policy. Here, transformational changes could ensue. we focus on changing social norms and the law, which can have potentially cross-cutting We have seen encouraging elements of signi icance, alongside programs around change in practice. In Turkey, for example, economic opportunities, social protection, extending the compulsory education age by and education, in which well-designed 38 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Changing social norms The quality of education is likely to be central to the post-2015 global frame- Adverse social norms underpin and rein- work—it is estimated that 250 million force the multiple deprivations that many children are currently unable to read, women and girls experience. So, what sorts write, or do basic arithmetic, 130 million of policies and public actions can affect these of whom are in school. norms? No silver bullet exists, but evidence suggests that public actions are needed on two broad fronts: irst, to enhance women’s interventions and new approaches to imple- and girls’ own sense of capacity and their mentation are proving to have signi icant aspirations to depart from existing limiting bene its for women’s agency. There is more gender norms and their associated behav- general evidence suggesting that women’s iors (Perova and Vakis 2013), and second, to agency can be positively affected by inter- change behaviors of women and men, boys ventions in other sectors—transport and and girls so that social norms become gen- infrastructure, for example—which is poten- der equal. As we will discuss in chapter 6, tially important but not explored here. politics and collective action are important on both these fronts. To help set the scene, table 2.1 illustrates a selection of programs that have successfully Changing norms by working enhanced agency at the same time as advanc- with men and boys, households, ing other development outcomes. We have and communities already seen in chapter 1 that education, especially at the secondary level and above, Norms often subconsciously affect the deci- reduces the likelihood that women will expe- sions people make and the actions they rience agency deprivations. For example, a take, or norms can operate partly outside social protection program in Malawi pro- of people’s awareness. Norms often persist vided a cash transfer that was conditional even when circumstances change. on keeping girls in school. The program had a number of agency-enhancing results: girls Women’s agency cannot increase in iso- received more schooling, and early marriage lation from the wider community. Men, boys, was reduced along with teenage pregnancy community leaders, and family elders who and self-reported sexual activity of teenage support gender equality are key allies and girls. We discuss all the programs illustrated stakeholders in changing gender norms. in table 2.1 in greater depth in this chapter Increasing women’s agency is not a zero- and the chapters that follow. sum game. Increasing women’s agency need It is important to underline that although not curtail men’s agency. And, as box 1.4 there is promising evidence, the results are showed, men have plenty to gain from gen- context speci ic. Clearly there is no one-size- der equality, which contributes to increased its-all solution, but rather a need to distill economic and psychological well-being of all promising directions. household members. Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 39 TABLE 2.1 Selected illustrations of programs to enhance agency Selected outcomes Sexual and Freedom from reproductive health Voice and collective Entry point violence and rights Control over assets action Work with Promundo’s Program In Uzbekistan, men, In Australia, the men, boys, P promotes men’s religious leaders, Male Champions households, and roles as gender- and mothers-in law of Change initiative communities equitable caregivers. are trained on sexual promotes women’s and reproductive leadership. health. Legal reform In Papua New Compulsory In Rwanda, In Burkina Faso, a Guinea, new education laws in mandatory joint quota law is tied to legislation created Turkey delayed age titling increased federal campaign specialized Family of marriage and married women’s funding and offers and Sexual Violence early childbirth. land ownership to extra funding Units and survivor- over 80 percent. incentives to centered training parties with at least and strengthened 30 percent women. prosecution. Expansion In El Salvador, In Uganda, The Haiti of economic one-stop centers the BRAC Adolescent Girls opportunities provide vocational Empowerment Initiative provides training, access to and Livelihoods mentorship services microfinance, child for Adolescents to girls through care services, and program provided local internships and crisis support for girls with life skills nongovernmental survivors of violence. and vocational organizations. training. Social protection In Peru, the Juntos In Malawi, a In West Bengal, In Nicaragua, conditional cash conditional cash the Targeting the an asset transfer transfer program transfer program Ultra Poor Program program that is associated kept girls in reduced food included beneficiary with a 9 percent school longer and insecurity and contact with decrease in physical significantly reduced increased access to community leaders violence and 11 early marriage, assets. changed aspirations percent decrease in teenage pregnancy, and goals. emotional violence. and self-reported sexual activity. Education In India, the Gender The Forum of In the Republic Equality Movement African Women of Yemen, youth in Schools program Educationalists councils taught included discussions Centre of Excellence young women of violence, emotion in 14 countries and men conflict management, and provides gender- prevention and relationships. responsive training mitigation skills, for teachers and allowing them sexual education for to work together girls. to advocate and resolve community disputes. 40 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity A number of programs show promis- an awareness campaign by traveling to nearby ing new ways to challenge common norms villages to share personal experiences around about gender roles by engaging men proac- their transition from violence to nonviolence tively in change (Fleming et al. 2013). Two (Wallacher 2012). current examples include the following: Interventions that engage with men and ■ In Brazil, Promundo supports the boys to change violent behaviors need to start implementation of alcohol control early. We will see in the next chapter that men policies to help limit health risks and who witnessed their mothers being beaten by self-destructive behavior and to reduce a partner were more than two and one-half gender violence, alongside programs times more likely to have ever perpetrated that help men to access associated health violence against their own partners. Recent services (Fleming et al. 2013). research from East Asia and the Paci ic shows ■ Australia’s Male Champions of Change ini- that 58 percent of men who have perpetrated tiative works with 21 male chief executive rape report having done so for the irst time of icers, department heads, and nonex- as adolescents (Jewkes et al. 2013). ecutive directors from across Australian Family planning programs that include businesses and the government to push men with their partners can spur greater for signi icant and sustainable increases in buy-in and have a strong effect on the the representation of women in leadership uptake and continuing use of contraception roles as a business priority.1 (Mwaikambo et al. 2011). This effect is in part Engaging men in challenging the accepta- because opposition from husbands constrains bility of violence is essential, as the next chapter the use of maternal health care and contra- shows. Although gender-based violence is often ceptives (see chapter 4). Understanding such framed as a “women’s issue,” many groups opposition is important. Communication is worldwide are working to extend prevention often an in luential predictor of family plan- and advocacy efforts beyond a single-sex move- ning, with women who characterize com- ment. For example, the United States–based munication with their husbands as dif icult organization Men Stopping Violence includes or infrequent reporting limited use of fam- community activities and training to engage ily planning (Biddlecom and Fapohunda men, with programs speci ically targeted 1998; Kim and Lee 1973; Storey et al. 1999). toward fathers as community allies, in the ight Conversely, open communication and joint to end violence against women and girls.2 Pro- decision making about family planning can mundo’s Program P, developed as part of the promote contraceptive use and the achieve- global MenEngage campaign, aims to promote ment of fertility intentions (Amatya et al. men’s practices as gender-equitable caregiv- 1994; Ezeh 1993; Kimuna and Adamchak ers, in the process preventing violence against 2001). New approaches to reproductive women and children and transforming the and sexual health have engaged men, senior social institutions that in luence men’s caregiv- household members, and community lead- ing practices (Promundo, CulturaSalud/EME, ers, as well as women of reproductive age. In and REDMAS 2013). In Burundi, men started Uzbekistan, for example, a community-based Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 41 approach trained men, religious leaders, methods as acceptable under Islam and mothers-in-law in reproductive and and expressed more positive attitudes sexual health education. These trainees toward family planning.3 then facilitated dialogue with other men and mothers-in-law in their communities to Using broadcast media discuss reproductive health issues, existing gender roles, and gender stereotypes. The Low barriers to access mean that broad- program led to a 74 percent increase in health cast media—radio and television—can be promotion activities in the pilot regions and a a powerful tool for changing social norms 72 percent increase in knowledge and aware- and enhancing women’s agency. In India, for ness of reproductive health issues among example, the arrival of cable television was men and mothers-in-law who participated in associated with signi icant increases in wom- community sessions (GIZ 2012). en’s reported autonomy, decreases in the reported acceptability of wife beating, and Where social norms are deeply decreases in reported son preference. Female entrenched, as is often the case, it is critical school enrollment also increased, along with to design interventions that include com- increased birth spacing. The impacts were munity leaders and those with the power stronger where women held more tradi- to endorse change. Successful programs tional attitudes—in places where women to reduce gender-based violence have had formerly held high preferences for sons, enlisted community leaders and have sought the share preferring sons fell 20 percentage endorsement from the broader community. points with the arrival of cable television, Some examples include the following: compared with a 12 percent decline overall ■ In Senegal, community-based awareness (Jensen and Oster 2009). Television was also campaigns enlisted the support of reli- identi ied as an important medium through gious leaders to successfully reduce the which Afghan women learned about new laws accepted practice of female genital cut- on gender equality as well as about male and ting (see box 2.1). female relations in other societies (Kabeer ■ In Afghanistan and Ethiopia, community 2011). In South Africa and Nicaragua, televi- awareness projects have successfully sion shows encouraged dialogue about gen- reduced the incidence of early marriage der issues and challenged traditional social (Mackie 2000; Malhotra et al. 2011). norms. In South Africa, exposure to a tele- ■ In Morocco, the endorsement by reli- vision series focused on domestic violence gious authorities of the draft family code was linked to an increase in help-seeking and helped facilitate its passage into law support-giving behaviors. A similar series in (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2013). Nicaragua was associated with a 62 percent greater probability of having talked to some- ■ In Jordan, the Religious Leaders Program one about domestic violence, HIV, homosexu- built the capacities of male and female ality, or the rights of youth (Heise 2011). religious leaders to advocate for family health. Six months after the training, reli- In rural areas, where television may gious leaders identi ied several modern be less accessible, radio programming can 42 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 2.1 In Tostan’s footsteps Tostan, which means “breakthrough” in the Wolof language, is an international nonprofit organization working in eight African countries. It was founded in 1991 in Senegal and now operates in more than 450 communities in Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and Somalia. Tostan spreads awareness of human rights issues using social networks. Known primarily for its success in accelerating the abandonment of female genital cutting, Tostan has also achieved results in governance, health, economic growth, education, and the environment, as well as child protection, empowerment of women and girls, and early childhood development. Tostan works through a community empowerment program. It assigns trained facilitators to live in participating villages for three years. The facilitator is fluent in the local language and is from the same ethnic group as the community. In each village, two classes of 25 to 30 participants are held, one for adults and one for adolescents. The classes draw on customary African oral traditions, such as theater, storytelling, dance, artwork, song, and debate in their teaching. Participants are taught basic management and literacy skills to help them implement small projects. In another program, villagers learn about human rights, including the right to health and the right to be free from all forms of violence, and discuss how new practices can help build a healthier community. Participants follow up by speaking with friends and family and by traveling to other villages to raise awareness—an outreach system first used by Demba Diawara, a Senegalese imam. The imam recognized that just as tradition requires female genital cutting for a girl to marry, ending the practice requires an agreement between the groups whose children marry one another. The imam walked from village to village to raise awareness, and consequently, 13 neighboring villages pledged to abandon the practice of female genital cutting. Tostan’s work has led to changes in social norms. One reason is that other communities that are considering abandoning the custom can send delegates to the successful villages to see that an alternative is possible, collective abandonment works, daughters’ reputations remain undamaged, the effort does not bring shame to the community. Another reason is that incorporating participatory human rights teaching into this approach ennobles the process of norm revision: individuals are not rejecting the bad but embracing the good. Tostan’s approach has encouraged 5,423 villages in Senegal to move away from female genital cutting, as well as child and forced marriage. The movement has spread to communities in other African countries, with hundreds of other villages joining the pledge. The government of Senegal has now adopted Tostan’s development model and is working with the organization to end female genital cutting by 2015. Sources: Dugger 2011; Mackie and LeJeune 2009; http://www.tostan.org/tostan-model. Photo: Portrait of men and children, Mali. © World Bank. Further permission required for reuse. Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 43 support social norm change, empower women, and increase their access to infor- In South Africa, exposure to a television mation and their connection to social sup- series focused on domestic violence was port networks. For example: linked to an increase in help-seeking ■ In Mozambique, research suggests that and support-giving behaviors. around 95 percent of women listen to community radio and that the programs they listen to provide information on a And yet the media can be a double-edged broad range of topics such as HIV/AIDS sword. The media can re lect and in luence and children’s health (Macueve et al. social norms and promote positive change, 2009). The programs reduce the feeling but can also reinforce gender stereotypes of isolation for women in an often phys- and perpetuate gender biases, especially ically sparse environment and provide among children (Browne 1998). Recent anal- valuable information to them in their own ysis of popular family ilms and television in language, empowering them to deal with the United States, for example, found that issues within their family and community. males outnumber females by a ratio of 3 to 1 ■ In Nepal, the “Samajhdari” weekly radio in G-rated family ilms. This has not changed show promotes productive dialogue since 1946. More than 80 percent of all work- about sex, teaching women how to ing characters in family ilms produced from speak unhesitatingly. It shows women 2006 to 2009 were male and no female char- how to think critically about their rights acters were depicted in the ield of medical and choices and about the causes, con- science, law, or politics or as a business leader sequences, and interconnectedness of (Smith and Cook 2008). Evidence from other HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence, countries similarly suggests a varied impact and how to organize collective action to of the media on women, depending on the minimize those problems.4 content and format. In Bangladesh, watching ■ In postgenocide Rwanda, radio program- television was associated far more positively ming designed to challenge social norms with women’s empowerment than in the of deference to authority had substantial Arab Republic of Egypt. Qualitative analysis impacts in terms of increasing willing- in this case suggests that the positive impacts ness to express dissent and reducing the were a result of Bangladeshi women watch- likelihood of listeners deferring to local ing talk shows, which cover many contempo- of icials when solving local problems rary issues (Kabeer 2011). (Paluk and Green 2009). A progressive legal Through transmission of messages about framework culturally appropriate behavior, media can in luence social and political norms, as National laws play an important role in individuals and collectives begin to discuss sanctioning discrimination and violence, and adopt the messages across all facets of and reforms can help transform social norms society. surrounding women’s agency. Here the focus 44 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity is on how progressive constitutions and networks and embody principles of nondis- law reforms can support gender norm crimination and gender equality. changes and how to promote their effective Constitutions can provide the framework implementation. to ensure that laws are nondiscriminatory and comply with international treaties, Evolving constitutions and including the Convention on the Elimina- principles of equality tion of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In doing so, constitutions There are many examples of constitutions can promote af irmative protections for evolving to accommodate new norms about women and girls. For these protections to be gender equality—from women’s suffrage effective, all laws, whether statutory, custom- in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ary, or religious, must be subject to constitu- to South Africa’s postapartheid constitu- tional protections on nondiscrimination. tion, the irst in the world to outlaw dis- crimination based on sexual orientation. Constitutional oversight can be an effec- Several new constitutions during the past tive tool to address discrimination. Nongov- decade, including the Kosovo Constitution ernmental organizations, women’s networks, (2008), the Tunisian Constitution (2014), and other groups have used the constitution and the South African and Kenyan Consti- to challenge discriminatory statutory or tutions (box 2.2), re lect widespread popu- customary laws in court, as in South Africa, lar consultations and lobbying by women’s where customary inheritance laws that favor Box 2.2 New African constitutions reshaping gender norms: South Africa and Kenya The purpose of the South African Constitution is the “creation of a nonracial and nonsexist egalitarian society underpinned by human dignity, the rule of law, a democratic ethos, and human rights” (Andrews 2005, 1163). Women’s movements—including the African National Congress Women’s League; the Women’s National Coalition of South Africa; and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement— played a critical role in the struggle against apartheid and the framing of the postapartheid constitution in South Africa. The 1996 constitution enshrines concepts of dignity, equality, and protection of vulnerable groups. Its bill of rights explicitly prohibits discrimination “directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds including … gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status….” South Africa’s postapartheid constitution is the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 45 male heirs were declared unconstitutional leaders to incorporate human rights values and invalid in 2005 (Hasan and Tanzer 2013). into tribunals or other customary decision- In Kuwait, the constitutional protection of making bodies and by including women as equality under the law was used successfully judges and decision makers. For example, in in 2009 to challenge discriminatory laws that Uganda, 30 percent of judges in local coun- required a husband’s signature on a wife’s cil customary courts must legally be women, passport application (Marinero 2009). and operational guidelines have been devel- oped to incorporate human rights and It is, however, very dif icult to address gender sensitization training of court staff structural inequalities and discriminatory (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2013). social norms using formal laws alone. In Rwanda, women can claim land equally Supporting effective under statutory law, but the discriminatory implementation and enforcement social norms, practices, and power relations that underlie the customary application of For progressive laws to make a difference land rights continue (IDLO 2013). Reforms in practice, people must be aware of their designed to overcome discriminatory cus- rights, and all citizens must have equal access tomary practices need to be accompanied by to justice. Yet, as we saw in the previous processes that address underlying norms, chapter and will see in our discussions of for example, by working with traditional gender-based violence and land and property The constitution affirms the role of customary law within the country’s legal framework and makes all laws subject to the principles of nondiscrimination. The new constitution catalyzed new legislation and case law, which reshaped the definition of family, the relations between family members, and the meaning of marriage (Sloth-Nielsen and Van Heerden 2003). The 1998 Domestic Violence Act, for example, covers “persons who are or were married to each other according to any law, custom, or religion and persons of the same or opposite sex who live or have lived together in a relationship in the nature of a marriage.” In Kenya, Article 60 of the 2010 constitution specifically calls for “the elimination of gender discrimination in law, customs, and practices related to land and property.” It also establishes constitutional oversight of customary law, and international treaties automatically become part of the national legal framework upon ratification. Under Article 27(6), the new constitution requires the government to take legislative and other measures to redress any disadvantage suffered by individuals or groups because of past discrimination. These reforms have already influenced how disputes are decided in courts. In 2011, in the case of Kiogora Rukunga v. Zipporah Gaiti Rukunga, a judge declared that a divorced daughter was allowed to inherit her parents’ estate because the constitution eliminated all gender discrimination related to land. But in 2014, the new Matrimonial Property Act stripped women of their rights to family property unless they could prove financial contribution. Photo: Theresa is the only female Marine pilot and tug master in South Africa. © Trevor Samson/World Bank. Used with permission. Further permission required for reuse. 46 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity ownership in the chapters that follow, this Partnerships can help overcome barriers equality is often not the case: rural women to access to justice and help implementation. and men often have limited awareness and For example, service providers and advocates limited access to legal aid and appeal mech- working on women’s economic empower- anisms, which prevents them from exercising ment or protection from violence can forge their rights. Women often face multiple barri- effective partnerships with legal services. ers to the full enjoyment of their legal rights. Such partnerships can encompass legal aid And the individuals and institutions respon- providers teaming up with domestic violence sible for implementation often lack full counselors in women’s shelters or bundling knowledge or understanding of what the law the delivery of legal aid with services women provides or do not have the resources and already access, such as midwifery services capacity to implement and enforce the law. or microcredit schemes (IDLO 2013). The Public of icials posted to remote rural areas, Philippine Judicial Academy and the Ateneo for example, may be unaware of new laws. On Human Rights Centre worked together to both sides, norms that reinforce the status create an interactive guide on gender-based quo are a constraint. violence, which was used to track legal cases, provide technical guidance for judges, and At best, statutory courts will almost always train court personnel (UN Women 2011). be the last resort, especially in developing countries and for the poor. Scarcity and geo- Awareness of laws makes a difference. graphic remoteness of courts, weak capac- For example, in eight countries, men who ity of legal personnel and legal services, and reported awareness of laws addressing vio- a lack of legitimacy and accountability of lence against women were nearly 50 percent legal institutions—particularly in fragile and more likely to prevent a stranger’s act of vio- con lict-affected states—may make the formal lence.5 Dissemination of information about justice system inaccessible for most. Measures laws and legal rights can be effective to such as lowering court fees; providing legal aid, raise awareness. The Huairou Commission’s paralegal services, and mobile court services; Tools for Change, a manual on human rights and providing training and institutional capac- law, seeks to raise awareness of land rights ity building for police, lawyers, paralegals, and HIV/AIDS in Cameroon, Uganda, and court staff, and judges can all help expand the Zambia.6 Legal empowerment strategies, access and reach of the formal justice system. through legal literacy programs, legal aid, or In Jordan, the World Bank Group is helping alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, to provide low-cost legal services for women can also help ensure that principles of equal- (Prettitore 2012), and in Indonesia, paralegal ity and nondiscrimination are translated services are helping women bring claims to into practice (IDLO 2013). Kosovo’s Law on court and to access basic identi ication docu- Reproductive Health, for example, guaran- ments, such as birth and marriage certi icates tees the right of information and education (Summer and Zurstrassen 2011). The ability to on sexual and reproductive health for every access this type of documentation can improve person and charges the Ministry of Health to women’s ability to access other services, provide information, education, and advice including land titles, as reviewed in chapter 5. on reproductive health.7 Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 47 Understanding the interface between informal and formal justice and how women People’s awareness of laws makes a negotiate their way through plural systems difference. In eight countries, men who is therefore critical. The same barriers can reported awareness of laws addressing affect their uptake of services in both set- violence against women were nearly tings, including limited resources, cultural 50 percent more likely to prevent a biases among those responsible for uphold- stranger’s act of violence. ing the law, and adverse gender norms. Statutory reforms undertaken to improve women’s access to informal mechanisms Collective action, including by women’s have, so far, had minimal success,9 although groups, often plays an important role in there are some promising directions. In transmitting information and raising aware- Namibia, the involvement of more women ness about legal and other rights. Informa- leaders and the integration of gender equal- tion and communication technologies are ity provisions into the customary system offering new ways to share information enhanced the perceived fairness and equity quickly and providing effective ways to com- of traditional rule and the customary dispute municate with peer groups and to reach out resolution process for women (IDLO 2013). to groups that may otherwise be excluded Similarly in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, (see chapter 6). women mediators were much more effective at reaching equitable solutions in cases of Expanding access to justice domestic violence, including threatening through customary processes perpetrators with action in the state court if the violence did not stop and simultaneously At least 58 countries formally recognize informing the victim of her right to refer the either customary or personal law (World case to the court and providing information Bank and IFC 2013), and customary, religious, on how to do so (IDLO 2013). or community-based redress mechanisms may be the most readily available dispute Increasing women’s agency resolution instruments for most people, through sectoral policies especially the poor or those living in rural and programs areas. The U.K. Department for International Development has estimated that in some We turn now to entry points through selected countries as many as four out of ive people sectoral programs—namely, expanding eco- turn to informal justice systems to resolve nomic opportunities and training, design- disputes (DFID 2003). For example, in ing gender-responsive social protection, Tanzania, where 44 percent of women expe- and increasing access to quality education. rienced spousal abuse in 20108 and where Well-designed policies and new approaches reporting of such incidents to the police is to program implementation in these sectors very low, community-level redress mecha- are proving to have signi icant positive ben- nisms may provide an effective viable alter- e its for women’s agency, as well as often native to statutory mechanisms (IRIN 2013). improving results and overall effectiveness. 48 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Expanding economic (2014a) report “Gender at Work” shows, opportunities and training compared to men, a wide range of measures indicates that women are at a disadvantage at One important conclusion emerging from a work. The measures include gender wage gaps, wide range of work on agency is the potential labor market participation, ability to get work for promoting agency through expanding eco- in the most pro itable sectors and enterprises, nomic opportunities. Research on norms and and the balance between paid and unpaid agency that drew on data from women and work. Labor market and growth policies for job men in 20 countries in all world regions con- creation need to include measures to address cluded that “women’s ability to work for pay, the gender-speci ic constraints that prevent which most women in the study aspired to, may women from accessing productive jobs, such be one of the most visible and game-changing as child care responsibilities, lack of skills events in the life of modern households and all and training, and gender-biased attitudes and communities” (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and expectations about women’s abilities. Further, Turk 2013, 145). The study found that wom- while jobs can create agency, women’s lack of en’s agency increased not only from the direct agency limits their ability to get good jobs and effects of economic participation but also as bene it from them. “Gender at Work” identi ies women gained a greater sense of self-ef icacy, policy actions to address women’s agency con- broadened their aspirations, and forged new straints across the lifecycle and shows how the ways to reconcile their identities as workers private sector—the main creator of jobs—can with their identities as mothers. But not all lead and innovate for gender equality. work is equally empowering—working con- ditions matter, as does the type of work that Multisectoral policy interventions that women do. Naila Kabeer concludes from an address agency as part of efforts to promote analysis of Bangladesh, Egypt, and Ghana that economic opportunities can do better on both “formal and semi-formal employment is found fronts. Indeed, failure to do so can stymie to be most likely to contribute to women’s efforts to promote economic opportunities ability to decide on the use of their income, to (World Bank 2014a). Promising interven- make decisions about their own health, to gain tions combine training in vocational business respect within the community, to participate or trade-related skills with programmatic ele- in politics, and to express support for a more ments to increase aspirations and con idence, equitable distribution of unpaid workloads social networks, freedom from violence, and and, in cultures characterized by son prefer- healthy gender dynamics in the household. ence, less discriminatory attitudes toward Evidence is emerging that economic their daughters” (Kabeer 2013, 80). empowerment programs can reduce women’s Expanding economic opportunities is a exposure to violence when components geared major policy challenge. Opportunities for toward building women’s collective voice and women to work are opening up slowly at best fostering more gender-equitable relationships in most regions—globally, women’s labor force are included. For example, this evidence was participation has actually fallen slightly since found for microcredit interventions in South 1990, from 57 percent to 55 percent (World Africa (Pronyk et al. 2006). One-stop shops Bank 2014a). As the World Bank Group’s that support economic empowerment as well Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 49 networks, have reduced the risk of early Women’s agency cannot increase in marriage in Ethiopia.11 isolation from the wider community. ■ In Uganda, the BRAC Empowerment and Men, boys, community leaders, and Livelihoods for Adolescent program tar- family elders who support gender gets girls and women ages 14 to 20 and equality are key allies and stakeholders consists of a social space where girls and in changing gender norms. women receive life-skills training and local market–informed vocational training. So far, the program has signi icantly improved as broader agency-related objectives are also adolescent girls’ ability to make choices, showing promise. For example, in El Salvador, with a 26 percent reduction in rates Ciudad Mujer establishes community-based of early childbearing and a 58 percent one-stop centers for women that provide reduction in rates of marriage and cohab- vocational training, access to micro inance, itation. A 50 percent increase in condom child care services, crisis support for victims use among the sexually active was also of violence, and community education about reported. The share of girls reporting sex gender norms and women’s health.10 against their will dropped from 14 percent Training programs have a mixed record of to 7 percent (Bandiera et al. 2014). success and need to be well grounded in the ■ A study of graduates of a yearlong infor- needs of the labor market as well as the needs mation and communication technology and constraints of participants (World Bank course in Mumbai found that women’s 2012). Combining work and training increases self-con idence was boosted. Female and the success rates of training programs, and male respondents highlighted different programs that aim to increase women’s job reasons for encouraging others to learn opportunities need to be designed to equip to use computers, including a greater women and girls with the skills needed by number of girls (56 percent) than boys employers and enterprises (World Bank (40 percent) who noted job-related bene- 2012). That approach has yielded examples of its (Khan and Ghadially 2009). promising programs with positive impacts for women and girls. To be successful, programs ■ Similarly, the Intel Learn program, which need to incorporate speci ic design features. has provided skills training with a focus on Box 2.3 shows how the World Bank Group’s technology literacy, problem solving, crit- Adolescent Girls Initiative has deliberately ical thinking, and teamwork to 875,000 sought to tackle gender biases. girls and young women from 16 countries, has been found to increase participants’ Programs that tackle gender norms and self-con idence and sense of power provide young women and girls with new (Broadband Commission Working Group information can open up new opportunities. on Broadband and Gender 2013). The following are some examples: Jobs strategies that pay attention to gen- ■ Life-skills training and provision of safe der equality issues, diagnosing the main spaces for girls to discuss their future, constraints that women face in access- along with the development of support ing jobs and identifying and addressing 50 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 2.3 How the Adolescent Girls Initiative is helping to overcome agency constraints In 2008, the World Bank Group launched the Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) to generate evidence on how to promote young women’s transition to productive work. Interventions are being implemented and rigorously evaluated in eight countries: Afghanistan, Haiti, Jordan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Liberia, Nepal, Rwanda, and the Republic of South Sudan.a Table B2.3.1 outlines some important lessons on program design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation to help improve programming decisions. TABLE B2.3.1 The Adolescent Girls Initiative: Lessons Learned Constraint Design and Responses › Several AGI interventions use rapid market assessments to identify labor demands and train young women in relevant skills. › In Haiti, Liberia, and Nepal, the AGI trains young women to enter more Skills lucrative nontraditional fields. › In Liberia, the AGI provides literacy training, which is important for post-conflict settings. › AGI interventions help to build self-confidence and “soft skills” through life- skills training. › In the Republic of South Sudan, the AGI created safe-space community clubs, Norms and the project goes door-to-door to recruit harder-to-reach younger girls. › In Afghanistan, the program recruits participants through the community Shura (elders). › In Liberia, classes are held at different times so participants can balance training with other activities. › Several AGI interventions provide participants with stipends to offset costs of Chores attendance, which can be prohibitive for poor young women. › AGI interventions in Liberia, Nepal, and South Sudan offer child care services to young mothers. › In Liberia, coaches support and mentor trainees. Service providers are responsible for placement. › In Haiti, the AGI offers mentorship services to participants through internships Networks and local nongovernmental organizations. › In Nepal, the AGI provides financial incentives to training providers who train and place vulnerable young women. a. Rigorous impact evaluations are being conducted in six of the eight pilots (excluding Lao PDR and Rwanda). For more information about the AGI, see http://www.worldbank.org/gender/agi. Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 51 gender-based disparities in access to skills, The BRAC Challenging the Frontiers training, and credit, are an important entry of Poverty Reduction–Targeting the Ultra point for increasing women’s agency. Stan- Poor (TUP) program channels skills train- dards for work are important if work is to ing and assets to ultra-poor women in contribute to people’s agency and well- Bangladesh and is proving transforma- being. The International Labour Organiza- tional. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) tion’s Decent Work Agenda gives guidance inds that participants spend more time for actions that can improve the quality of in self-employment and less time in wage work and target gender inequalities and labor. Moreover, they increase their labor provides important benchmarks to ensure market participation, which leads to a that creating jobs goes hand in hand with 36 percent increase in annual income on increased agency (World Bank 2014a).12 average. Bene its spill over to other poor women as wages increase at the village Designing gender-responsive level (Das and Shams 2011). An RCT of a social protection TUP program in rural West Bengal, India, found increases in per capita household Social protection can be transformative. Pro- consumption exceeded 25 percent, along grams that go beyond protection per se and with reduced food insecurity, increased include elements to tackle regressive gen- assets, and improved emotional well- der norms by increasing women’s voice and being (Banerjee et al. 2011). Early indings participation, building their aspirations, and from pilot programs modeled on TUP in opening up new economic opportunities have Haiti, Honduras, India, and Pakistan sug- had promising results (Jones and Shahrokh gest these results can be replicated (de 2013). Such elements have included address- Montesquiou and Hashemi 2012). ing child care responsibilities; increasing access to inance and assets and tackling other constraints that limit work options; “Through experience one learns and increasing skills, self-con idence, and aspira- opens up towards the future. By talking tions; incentivizing girls’ schooling; and pro- to others one understands and learns.” viding information and building awareness about social issues and rights. —Female program participant in Atención a Crisis, Nicaragua (Macours and Vakis 2009, 8–9) Worldwide, women report a valued “It was the ϔirst time we three had sense of security, self-esteem, and enhanced stepped out of this village on our own. psychological well-being because of cash How could our husbands stop us from or asset transfers, including in Bangladesh, joining Bandhan? They had no ϔinancial Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, and the strength to do so.” West Bank and Gaza (Bukuluki and Watson 2012; Jones and Stavropoulou 2013; ODI —Female participant in the Targeting the Ultra Poor pilot, West Bengal, India (Sengupta 2013, 21) and DFID 2013; Perova and Vakis 2013). These bene its can spill over to women’s 52 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity agency in other areas of their lives. Here are attitudes toward the future. Nine months some examples: after the program, incomes of bene icia- ries who interacted with leaders increased ■ Enrollment in Peru’s Juntos conditional almost twice as much as those of individuals cash transfer (CCT) program has been in the control groups. The effect is attributed associated with a 9 percent decrease to the role that increased social interaction in physical violence and an 11 percent plays in raising aspirations and changing decrease in emotional violence (Perova attitudes (Macours and Vakis 2009). and Vakis 2013). ■ Early indings from RCTs of TUP programs In some countries, pensions for women in Haiti, Honduras, India, and Pakistan have been shown to increase investments in found that mental health, happiness, and girls. In South Africa, the effect was to signi i- hope rose among participants. In one of the cantly increase the educational enrollment of India TUP programs, women reported that granddaughters of women with pensions and abuse had stopped since their economic to improve health outcomes for girls. These conditions had stabilized, because men effects did not pertain to boys, and neither had less “idle” time on their hands, thereby boys nor girls were affected when men were reducing alcoholism and subsequently the bene iciaries (Case and Menendez 2007; domestic violence (Sengupta 2013). Du lo 2003). Similarly, in Brazil, a monthly At the same time, however, there are cases old-age pension of R$100 (about US$43.50 in which CCTs have reinforced traditional in 2013) increased girls’ school enrollment gender roles and worsened time constraints rates by 10 percent. Again, no such effects by making mothers primarily responsible were found for boys, and impacts on girls for various obligations linked to childrearing. were mostly attributable to female rather This problem was found in Bolivia, Ecuador, than male bene iciaries (Filho 2012). and Peru, indicating that context is impor- Increasing incentives for girls’ school- tant (Molineux and Thomson 2011). Violence ing through CCTs can be an effective way against women is not always reduced, as is to tackle regressive gender norms. This the case in Mexico and Ecuador, where there approach has been successful in Bangla- is evidence of increased emotional violence desh, Pakistan, and Turkey, for example triggered by women’s receipt of CCTs (Perova (Fiszbein, Schady, and Ferreira 2009). A and Vakis 2013). recent systematic review found that CCTs Including elements that increase par- tend to have larger effects on enrollment, ticipants’ contact with leaders from the especially girls’ enrollment, than uncon- community into the design of a social protec- ditional cash transfers, particularly when tion program is a promising new approach. explicit schooling conditions for payments A recent experimental study found that are monitored and enforced (Woolcock et al. social interactions with nearby female lead- 2013). Bene its to girls of staying in school ers substantially increased the program’s can extend beyond the value of educational impact on human capital investments and attainment, enhancing their agency in other income diversi ication, as well as improved ways as well. For example, in Malawi, a CCT Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 53 targeting 13- to 22-year-old girls and women led to recipients staying in school longer “Education is a girl’s best weapon and to signi icant declines in early marriage, to face the world.” teenage pregnancy, and self-reported sexual activity (Baird et al. 2010). —Girl from Rafah, Gaza (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013, 77) Increasing gender equality in education than access alone. It is estimated that Education’s importance for development and 250 million children are currently unable to gender equality is widely recognized: edu- read, write, or do basic arithmetic, 130 million cation increases skills and capabilities and of whom are in school (UNESCO 2014). allows people to live longer, healthier, and Education increases women’s agency, and more productive lives. It can also help shift more educated women are often more able gender norms that restrict women’s voice and to make decisions and have choices, even choice. For example, we saw in igure 1.5 that where gender norms are restrictive. In South women with more education experienced Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, fewer constraints to their agency and that women with more education are less likely more educated women have greater sexual to have to ask for their husbands’ or families’ autonomy ( igure 1.7). The impact that edu- permission to seek medical care; women with cation has on women’s agency is illustrated more education also tend to marry later and by an example from rural Bangladesh, where, have fewer children, as discussed further in when girls were asked how education had chapter 4 (Muñoz Boudet, Petesch, and Turk made their lives different from their mothers’, 2013). Among some Roma in Bulgaria, more they typically replied that it had helped them educated women are renegotiating gender “ ind a voice,” allowed them to “have a say,” to roles in communities, challenging traditional “speak,” and to “be listened to” (World Bank gender roles, and demanding that men play a 2008, 40). more active role in child care and household chores (World Bank 2014b). Increasing school enrollment and achiev- ing gender equality in enrollment are long- Enhanced agency is a key reason chil- standing development goals. Ensuring school dren of more educated women are less enrollment through upper-secondary levels likely to have stunted growth: educated for girls is even more critical. Equally impor- mothers have greater autonomy in making tant is the quality of education that girls and decisions and more power to act for their boys receive in school. Studies also show that children’s bene it (UNESCO 2014). Educated girls are subject to educational streaming and mothers are more likely to take preventive stereotyping that restricts their learning and, actions, such as purifying water and vacci- in turn, contributes to gender sorting in the nating their children; to recognize common labor market (World Bank 2014a). Improving illnesses and to treat them; to seek help at the quality of education is likely to be more the right time; and to use health care ser- central to the post-2015 global framework vices effectively. 54 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Policies that get more girls and boys into Addressing violence in schools requires school are critical, but equally important is a comprehensive, multilevel approach. what happens when they get there. We must Establishing school policies and commit- ensure that both girls and boys leave school tees to address violence and putting in place literate and numerate and that the values of appropriate disciplinary measures can help the school system promote gender equality to support and monitor student and teacher and protect children from abuse. This requires behavior. Working with teachers and school building allegiances between parents and staff members is essential, as is engaging teachers and boys and girls to provide safe parents and the wider community and work- and supportive school environments that are ing directly with students. For example: free from gender-based violence and bully- ing (box 2.4) and to provide textbooks and ■ In Tanzania, female teachers were trained curricula that are free from stereotypes and as guardians for female students, with the discrimination (box 2.5). It also entails train- result that girls felt there was someone ing teachers to embody equitable attitudes to turn to for advice about school-based and practices and to pay speci ic attention to violence and the wider community began understanding gender relations and building to confront sexual violence more openly competencies beyond educational basics. (Mgalla, Schapink, and Boerma 1998). Box 2.4 Promoting gender equality in school and improving the learning environment Girls’, and sometimes boys’, ability to acquire an education is tragically disrupted by gender-based violence. In schools where sexual violence against girls is the norm, the education system itself may increase a girl’s chances of dropping out, of having her studies interrupted, of experiencing an unintended pregnancy, or of becoming infected with HIV. Addressing harassment and violence in schools is important to promote gender equality in education. South Africa’s Girls’ Education Movement is a civil society organization seeking to promote gender equality and to address the very high levels of violence experienced in schools through student- led clubs and community workshops. It has created a network for improving girls’ education, knowledge, and self-esteem, with boys and adults as allies. The clubs equip children to address issues of education, clean and safe school environments, and good communication among peers, as well as other things. The program gives children the opportunity to work together to find solutions to the problems affecting their school lives. The program has seen some progress in reducing aggressive behavior and conflict and in changing attitudes of the students and program leaders who received training. But the results varied significantly by context, and impacts on the broader school environment were not significant. Findings suggest that changes in underlying norms around the acceptability of violence and the unequal treatment of girls are needed to realize the full impact of the program. Source: Wilson 2009. Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 55 Box 2.5 Curriculum reform to promote gender equality through education Although global progress has been made in increasing girls’ school enrollment, gender equality in education encompasses much more than access. Social norms influence textbooks, curricular choices, the sex distribution of teachers and administrators, teacher attitudes and behavior, classroom and discipline practices, and the presence of violence—all of which shape opportunities for boys and girls. National curricula can reinforce existing social and gender inequalities by implicitly upholding traditional gender stereotypes or by disregarding the diversity of learning needs and learning styles among girls and boys. At the same time, schools have enormous potential to effect social change and to transform gender relations by expanding the range of possibilities for both boys and girls. One avenue for transformation is the gender sensitization of school curriculum, including revising textbooks. Research suggests that the treatment of girls and women in school textbooks is broadly similar across countries. There are fewer images of women and girls compared to men and boys, men and women are generally portrayed in stereotypical roles and professions, men and women are described as having specific gendered attributes, and contributions of important women are ignored or given less consideration than those of important men. An increasing number of countries are taking action to address these biases. For example, in Thailand, policies have been instituted directing textbooks to be revised and all gender stereotypes to be removed. In Vietnam, in 2009, the Ministry of Education, supported by 12 United Nations agencies, conducted a national textbook review and developed teacher-training modules to promote gender equality, and in Indonesia, teachers are being trained in gender-sensitive methodologies to engage boys and girls. Similarly, the Australian National Curriculum directs teachers to address certain issues within their classes—for example, the year 7 English curriculum recommends teaching how languages and images create character by identifying and challenging gender stereotypes in girls’ and women’s magazines and popular television programming. Mainstreaming gender into curricula goes beyond revising textbooks and requires incorporating gender equality across the range of studies. Evidence suggests that intensive and long-term attention to gender as part of school coursework has an impact on improving children’s attitudes and behaviors related to gender equality. In Mumbai, India, for example, the Gender Equity Movement in Schools, which includes sessions taught over two years, focused on understanding gender roles, power dynamics, violence, and physical and emotional changes related to adolescence. Participating children reported more gender-equitable attitudes. In Tanzania, the national syllabi for secondary schools contain topics related to gender as part of civics education and national examinations. Sources: Achyut et al. 2011; Connell 2010; Levtov 2014; http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au. ■ The Gender Equity Movement in Schools response to peer violence compared to program in Indian middle schools students who did not participate (Achyut included discussions of violence in the et al. 2011). context of relationships between boys and girls. Participating students reported Promising evidence is emerging on the less tolerance of violence and greater effectiveness of programs that incorporate likelihood of taking positive action in elements such as the reform of textbooks 56 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity and curricula and the provision of safe ■ The Forum of African Women Educa- spaces for girls and boys. Some examples tionalists Centre of Excellence model include the following: has transformed ordinary schools in 14 African countries into gender-responsive ■ The Child Friendly Schools model, schools that focus on the physical, aca- implemented in multiple countries by demic, and social dimensions of both girls’ the United Nations Children’s Fund and boys’ education. Elements include (UNICEF), is designed to improve the gender-responsive training for teachers; quality of public primary schools and an emphasis on science, mathematics, to create gender-sensitive, healthy, safe, and technology for girls; empowerment and inclusive learning environments. training for students; a sexual matu- A 2009 evaluation across six countries ration management program for girls; found that the approach created school gender-responsive school infrastructure; environments where female students feel and community involvement in school included, safe, supported, and challenged management (Lloyd 2012). (UNICEF 2009). *** Constraints to agency stem from many sources. Often, deeply rooted social norms are an unrecognized driving factor behind the actions taken by men and women, boys and girls, sometimes entrenched by laws on paper and in practice. The good news outlined in this chapter is that there is a range of policies that can work to promote change across a broad spectrum. We also saw how such programs are working to couple development results related to income and access to services together with increases in women’s agency. Indeed, we saw that improvements in women’s agency are sometimes necessary for other desired development results to be achieved. This is an important stage to set for the examination of major agency deprivations— freedom from violence, control over sexual and reproductive health, land and hous- ing ownership, and participation in politics and collective action—and the more targeted policy and program responses in the chapters that follow. Notes http://www.menstoppingviolence.org /educating-and-advocating-for-change.  1. More information about the Male Champions of Change initiative is available on the  3. More information about the program is website of the Australian Human Rights available on the website of the Center Commission at http://www.humanrights for Communication Programs at http:// .gov.au/male-champions-change. w w w .jhuccp.org/what wedo / projects /jordan -healt h-communicat ion  2. For more information about Men Stopping -partnership -jhcp. Violence, see the organization’s website at Chapter 2 Enhancing Women’s Agency: A Cross-Cutting Agenda | 57  4. The “Samajhdari” radio program can be Regularization in Africa: Pilot Evidence downloaded at http://www.equalaccess from Rwanda.” Policy Research Working .org.np/samajhdari. Paper 5765, World Bank, Washington, DC.  5. The eight countries are Bosnia, Brazil, Chile, Amatya, Ramesh, Halida Akhter, James Croatia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, McMahan, Nancy Williamson, Deborah India, Mexico, and Rwanda. For more infor- Gates, and Yasmin Ahmed. 1994. “The Effect mation, see Fleming et al. of Husband Counseling on NORPLANT  6. For more information, see the commission’s Contraceptive Acceptability in Bangladesh.” website at http://huairou.org/land-housing. Contraception 50 (3): 263–73.  7. Text of the law is available at http:// Andrews, Penelope E. 2005. “Perspectives www.gazetazyrtare.com/e-gov/index on Brown: The South African Experience.” .php?option=com_content&task=view&id New York Law School Review 49: 1155–72. =128&Itemid=28&lang=en. Baird, Sarah, Ephraim Chirwa, Craig McIntosh,  8. This igure represents the share of women and Berk Özler. 2010. “The Short-Term reporting ever having experienced physi- Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash cal or sexual partner violence in the 2010 Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior Demographic and Health Surveys (NBS and of Young Women.” Health Economics 19 ICF Macro 2011). (suppl. 1): 55–68.  9. For a more comprehensive discussion of Bandiera, O., N. Buehren, R. Burgess, M. Goldstein, the challenges and promising approaches S. Gulesci, I. Rasul, and M. Sulaiman. 2014. associated with women’s access to formal “Women’s Empowerment in Action: Evidence and informal legal systems, see IDLO (2013, from a Randomized Control Trial in Africa.” 11–25). Working Paper, The International Growth 10. For more information about Ciudad Mujer, Center, London School of Economics. see the entity’s website at http://www http://www.theigc.org/sites/default/ iles .ciudadmujer.gob.sv. /Bandiera%20et%20al%202014.pdf. 11. For more information about this initiative, Banerjee, Abhijit, Esther Du lo, Raghabendra knownastheEndChildMarriageProgramme, Chattopadhyay, and Jeremy Shapiro. 2011. see http://www.qedgroupllc.com/project “Targeting the Hard-Core Poor: An Impact /end-child-marriage-programme. Assessment.” Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty 12. The International Labour Organization Action Lab, Cambridge, MA. http://www describes the Decent Work Agenda on its .povertyactionlab.org/publication/targeting websiteathttp://www.ilo.org/global/about -hard-core-poor-impact-assessment. -the-ilo/decent-work-agenda/lang--en/. Biddlecom, Ann E., and Bolaji M. Fapohunda. 1998. “Covert Contraceptive Use: Prevalence, References Motivations, and Consequences.” Studies in Achyut, Pranita, Nandita Bhatla, Sujata Family Planning 29 (4): 360–72. Khandekar, Shubhada Maitra, and Ravi Kumar Broadband Commission Working Group on Verma. 2011. “Building Support for Gender Broadband and Gender. 2013. “Doubling Equality among Young Adolescents in School: Digital Opportunities: Enhancing the Findings from Mumbai, India.” International Inclusion of Women and Girls in the Center for Research on Women, New Delhi. 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Chapter C Key hapter 3 K essages ey messages > Violence is a major theme of this book because it is among the most egregious and commonly experienced abuses of women’s rights. > The media often present violence as a tragic event or a side effect of war or armed con lict. But around the world, no place is less safe for a woman than her own home—almost one-third (30 percent) of women have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner. > Gender-based violence stems from social norms and expectations that reinforce inequality and place women’s and girls’ choices outside of their realm of control. Major individual risk factors are family history, early marriage, and husband’s alcohol use, while education emerges as the most signi icant protective factor. > The effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) are felt at the individual, family, and economy levels. > The development costs are substantial. Estimated costs of IPV are close to the average that governments in developing countries spend on primary education. > Preventing violence relies in part on changing norms and attitudes that perpetuate gender inequalities and sanction gender-based violence. > Treatment and support for survivors are critical—but across the globe, the majority of women (6 in 10) who experience violence never seek help or report the violence to anyone. > Economic empowerment interventions can expand women’s agency by adding strategic design features to address IPV—“economic empowerment plus” interventions. > Promising interventions have multiple components, intervene at different levels, address norms, involve the wider community, engage both men and women, and span long periods. CHAPTER 3 Freedom from Violence Gender-based violence as a consequences on the health and well-being of development challenge women and their families, as well as effects on wider communities and development In 2013, tragic episodes of gender-based outcomes (WHO 2013). violence (GBV) generated a irestorm in the global media. At center stage were brutal Gender-based violence is a violation gang rapes in India and the United States of basic human rights and a pervasive and cases of celebrity women being phys- challenge all around the world. GBV is an ically assaulted or even murdered by their “umbrella term for any harmful act that is husbands and boyfriends (Brown and Surdin perpetrated against a person’s will and that 2009; Pepin 2013; Singh 2013; Washington is based on socially ascribed (gender) dif- Post 2013). There was also renewed atten- ferences between males and females” (IASC tion to the horrors of sexual violence in 2005, 7). Men and women across all socio- con lict-affected countries. But gender-based economic groups and development con- violence goes far beyond those high-pro ile texts are at risk of GBV. However, women cases, isolated incidents, and speci ic cultures are much more affected because violence or countries. A recent global study revealed both re lects and reinforces underlying that over 35 percent of women worldwide gender-based inequalities (UNFPA 2007). have experienced physical or sexual part- Freedom from violence is an essential ner violence or nonpartner sexual violence domain of agency for both its intrinsic value (WHO 2013). That is 818 million women— in asserting fundamental human rights and almost the total population of Sub-Saharan its instrumental value in promoting gender Africa.1 The most common form is abuse equality in a wide range of outcomes at the by an intimate partner, which has profound individual, family, and society levels. 64 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Because it is more pervasive, our focus decision making about their bodies outside is on violence against women, which the their realm of control (McCleary-Sills et al. United Nations (UN) de ines as “any act of 2011; Underwood et al. 2011). But within gender-based violence that results in, or is and across countries, there is no universal likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psycho- agreement about what constitutes violence. logical harm or suffering to women, includ- De initions of the forms of violence along the ing threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary continuum are culturally derived. For example, deprivation of liberty, whether occurring women in Tanzania de ine forced sex as sex- in public or in private life” (United Nations ual assault by an acquaintance or boyfriend, 1993). As the report of the High-Level coercion as the use of guilt and emotional Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 manipulation, and rape as sexual assault by a Development Agenda (2013) notes, such stranger (McCleary-Sills, Douglas, et al. 2013). violence takes many forms, including acts of Although such rape is viewed as unacceptable, physical, sexual, and economic abuse. It takes physical, emotional, and even sexual violence place in the home, on the streets, in schools, against a wife or partner is frequently viewed in the workplace, in farm ields, in refugee as normal (McCleary-Sills, Namy, et al. 2013). camps, in times of peace as well as during armed con licts and crises (Coomaraswamy Yes, it’s normal, being beaten, yelled at. 1999). Part of the spectrum of violence that If you tell [anyone], your peers will ask women suffer is described in box 3.1. you, is this your ϔirst time to be beaten? Some of us are used to it, just like the Social norms and institutions—both for- way we are used to eating ugali. mal and informal—perpetuate such violence through norms and expectations that rein- —Female focus group participant, Mbeya, Tanzania (McCleary-Sills, Namy, et al. 2013, 19) force inequality and place women’s and girls’ Box 3.1 What is gender-based violence? Stories from survivors in Tonga The Women and Children Crisis Centre in Tonga provides care and support to survivors of violence. The organization collected stories from survivors describing the range of violence they had suffered at the hands of the men in their lives—husbands, fathers, and fathers-in-law. Women described being pushed and punched. They had their hair pulled and cut. Men cut their bodies with knives and hit them with heavy objects, such as tire jacks and hammers. Men stood and stepped on their faces and beat their backs, burned their bodies with scalding objects, and spat and urinated on them. Women reported being kicked, including being kicked while pregnant. Women and children were forced to have sex. Very young girls were forced to perform fellatio on their fathers. They were raped by their fathers and by their fathers-in-law, some every night. Yet the abuse is not limited to young women by any means. Grandsons attacked their grandmothers, verbally terrorized them, and hit them in the face. Crisis centers around the world record countless similar testimonies every day. And myriad similar stories are never told at all. Source: Guttenbeil-Likiliki 2014. Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 65 While the acceptance of wife beating as what works is accumulating. The number of part of marital life is commonplace (Rani and countries recognizing domestic violence as a Bonu 2009; Rani, Bonu, and Diop-Sidibé 2004), crime has risen from close to zero to 76 in just recent evidence suggests that rejection of vio- 37 years.3 Combating violence has emerged lence globally has risen rapidly in the past as a key priority for the post-2015 agenda, decade (Pierotti 2013). As shown in igure 3.1, and in March 2013, more than 100 UN mem- in a number of repeat Demographic and ber states pledged to end violence against Health Surveys (DHS), acceptance of spousal women and girls (Commission on the Status violence dropped or leveled out near zero. At of Women 2013). And since 2000, several UN the same time, our analysis of DHS data from Security Council resolutions have addressed 55 countries for the most recent year shows sexual violence and the effect of armed con lict that 4 in 10 women still agree with at least one on women and girls.4 justi ication for a husband beating his wife.2 In this chapter, we focus on physical The good news is that the momentum and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV). to end GBV is growing, and evidence about We do not tackle other forms of violence FIGURE 3.1 Change in the percentage of women who agree that wife beating can be justified, by situation and country Argues Goes out without Refuses to have with him telling him sex with him Mali (2001–06) Burkina Faso (2003–10) Egypt, Arab Rep. (2005–08) Mozambique (2003–11) Zimbabwe (1999–2011) Cambodia (2005–10) Benin (2001–12) Haiti (2000–12) Indonesia (2003–12) Armenia (2000–10) Nepal (2001–06) Honduras (2006–12) Peru (2006–12) 0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80 Percent Earliest available year Latest available year Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 13 countries for which data over time are available. 66 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity against women, although child marriage revealed the high prevalence of IPV and is addressed in the next chapter. The next underscored the repercussions for women’s section reviews the prevalence of IPV and health and well-being on a global scale. It the barriers to reporting. We then highlight should be noted, however, that because of the costs of IPV at the individual, family, the sensitive nature of collecting such infor- and economywide levels and the key risk mation, all survey estimates are subject to and protective factors. The inal section of some degree of underreporting (box 3.2). this chapter lays out promising directions The need to develop tools and methodolo- gleaned from evidence about prevention gies to more accurately estimate prevalence and response efforts. and incidence of violence is discussed in chapter 7. How large is the challenge? Prevalence of intimate partner Around the world, no place is less safe for a violence woman than her own home. Domestic violence IPV is the focus of this chapter, largely is especially pernicious “because it occurs in a because it is both the most pervasive form space that is also central to the development of of gender-based violence and one that too human capabilities—the family” (Agarwal and few governments even recognize as a crime. Panda 2007, 362). Since the 1990s, numerous IPV includes “all acts of physical, sexual, psy- studies have shown that women are more chological, or economic violence that occur likely to be physically or sexually assaulted within the family or domestic unit or between or murdered by someone they know— former or current spouses or partners, often a family member or intimate partner whether or not the perpetrator shares or has (Heise, Ellsberg, and Gottemoeller 1999). A shared the same residence with the victim.”5 recent systematic review using data from The 2005 WHO study documented wide vari- 66 countries found that the share of homi- ation in rates of violence (García-Moreno cides by an intimate partner was six times et al. 2005). Among 24,000 women inter- higher for female victims compared with male viewed in 10 countries, between 15 percent victims (39 percent versus 6 percent, respec- and 71 percent reported having experienced tively) (Stöckl et al. 2013). physical or sexual IPV or both in their life- A solid global evidence base about the time. Up to 75 percent had experienced emo- prevalence and patterns of IPV, the most tionally abusive and controlling behavior in common form of gender-based violence, is the preceding year. A preliminary analysis of now emerging. This path was forged by the the 2013 WHO global prevalence data set (by landmark 2005 World Health Organization World Bank regions) illustrates the regional (WHO) Multi-country Study on Women’s variation, as shown in map 3.1. Among Health and Domestic Violence against women who had ever been in a relationship Women, which systematically documented (ever-partnered women), the average preva- multiple forms of violence using a standard- lence across developing regions is 30 percent, ized questionnaire, training, and methodol- ranging from 29 percent in Europe and Cen- ogy (García-Moreno et al. 2005). The study tral Asia to a high of 43 percent in South Asia. Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 67 MAP 3.1 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner Europe and Central Asia 29% North America Middle East 21% and North Africa 40% East Asia and the Pacific 30% South Asia Sub-Saharan 43% Africa 40% Latin America and the Caribbean Australia and New Zealand 33% 28% Source: Preliminary analysis of the World Health Organization global and regional estimates of violence against women, global prevalence database (2013) using World Bank regions. Note: Data for the areas shaded in gray were not available. These regional averages can mask consid- ■ Severe: trying to strangle or burn, threat- erable variation across and within countries ening with a weapon, and attacking with but provide a useful overall snapshot. Our a weapon analysis of DHS data shows the prevalence DHS data from 31 countries show that of violence across ethnic groups in ive coun- about 3 in 10 women (31 percent) report tries ( igure 3.2). Although differences exist having experienced “less severe violence” among the groups in each country, the data and about 1 in 10 (11 percent) report having also show that no ethnic group is immune to experienced “severe” violence. One in 10 (10 violence. percent) report having experienced sexual The types of partner violence range violence, and one- ifth of women report hav- from minor to severe and include physi- ing experienced emotional violence, includ- cal, emotional, economic, and sexual abuse. ing threats of harm and humiliation in front Demographic and Health Surveys categorize of others. Box 3.2 provides an overview of the severity of physical violence as follows: the domestic violence module in the DHS. ■ Less severe: pushing, shaking, slapping, Yet of course—as we saw from Tonga— punching, and kicking even these numbers do not give a full 68 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity FIGURE 3.2 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner, by ethnic group, in selected countries Ethnic group Honduras Malawi Nepal Nigeria Peru 1 2 3 Share of women 4 who experience intimate partner violence 5 6 0–12% 7 13–24% 8 25–36% 9 37–48% 10 49–60% 11 12 Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys using the latest available data, 2008–12 picture. Women who experience intimate ( igure 3.3). More than 7 out of 10 women partner violence tend to experience multiple who have experienced IPV were also sub- forms. In Latin America and the Caribbean, ject to at least one control. Such controlling for example, most women who experienced behaviors are often a risk factor and precur- physical IPV in the past 12 months also sor to a partner’s use of physical violence reported emotional abuse (ranging from (Campbell et al. 2003; Xu et al. 2005). 61 percent in Colombia to 93 percent in El Salvador). Women exposed to three or more Abused women generally experience controlling behaviors by their partners— emotional violence more frequently than such as efforts to limit their mobility and physical violence. In Mali—the only country contact with friends and family—were also in our DHS data set with frequency data— at much higher risk of experiencing physical women report more than twice as many or sexual partner violence (Bott et al. 2013). occurrences of emotional violence than of Less than half (43 percent) of women in our physical violence. Across our sample, about sample of 26 countries have experienced one- ifth of women experiencing physical neither IPV nor controls on their behavior abuse, one-fourth of those experiencing Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 69 Box 3.2 The domestic violence module of the Demographic and Health Surveys Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) support nationally representative data collection in the areas of population, health, and nutrition. A standardized domestic violence module was developed in 1998 and has since been included in 91 surveys. It collects data on the prevalence of physical, sexual, and emotional violence against women since the age of 15, by current and previous partners as well as by nonpartners within the household context, and it allows the experience of violence to be linked to a range of risk and protective factors and health outcomes. In both stand-alone surveys developed specifically to measure violence and broader surveys (like DHS) that integrate a violence module, underestimation of the actual prevalence of violence is a concern. The DHS incorporated enhancements to protect respondents and optimize the accuracy of violence estimates, including offering multiple opportunities for disclosure by asking at multiple points about any experience of many types of violence and by generally placing the module toward the end of the questionnaire, which provides the greatest opportunity for a rapport to develop between interviewers and respondents. Further, the DHS adhere to strict ethical and safety guidelines aligned with the internationally recognized recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). Key precautions include anonymity of respondents (that is, names are never disclosed and are excluded from all data sets). The guidelines include providing specialized training for interviewers, observing strict informed-consent procedures, ensuring privacy during the interview, administering the module to only one eligible woman per household, not asking men in the same household questions about violence, and providing referrals to services. Stand-alone surveys such as the WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women (García-Moreno et al. 2005) generally report higher prevalence than DHS, likely because of greater efforts to enhance disclosure in the questionnaire design and in interviewer training. However, in terms of risk and protective factors and gaps in help seeking, results from analyses of DHS data are comparable to those from the WHO study. DHS are the largest source for population-based data about violence and so constitute a large share of the available data on the prevalence of intimate partner violence. Further detail about the data sources used in this book can be found in chapter 7. Sources: Bott et al. 2013; Ellsberg and Heise 2005; Kishor 2005; Kishor and Johnson 2004; WHO 2001. Note: The full list of 91 surveys can be accessed at http://www.dhsprogram.com/What-We-Do/survey-search.cfm. sexual abuse, and more than one-fourth Coercion, forced sex, and rape (26 percent) of those experiencing emo- The ability to choose when to have sex and tional abuse report that the abuse occurs on what terms is a critical indicator of agency. “often.” Repeated victimization exposes Social norms dictate women’s perceived and women and girls to complex trauma, with actual control over their own sexuality, mean- cumulative and devastating effects on sur- ing that power disparities can leave them vivors’ basic functioning across a range of unable to control whether, when, how, and activities in day-to-day life (Cloitre et al. with whom they have sex (Gee et al. 2009; 2009; Follette et al. 1996; Roth et al. 1997). 70 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity FIGURE 3.3 Share of ever-partnered women who have experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner and at least one control on their behavior (percent) No IPV nor controls 43 Experienced IPV Experienced at least one control 26 50 7 19 31 Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 26 countries using data, 2006–12. Note: IPV = intimate partner violence. Controls include limiting a woman’s contact with her family, not permitting her to meet female friends, and insisting on knowing where she is. Gipson and Hindin 2007; Khawaja and ■ Almost one-third of women (33 percent) Hammoury 2008). There is a continuum of report that they cannot refuse sex with volition related to sex, with willful partici- their partners—rising to over 70 percent pation at one end and forced sex and rape at of women in Mali, Niger, and Senegal. the other end (Weissman et al. 2006). Even ■ Over 44 percent say they could not ask when a young woman chooses her partner, her their partner to use a condom. choice may be constrained by her economic Underpinning women’s dif iculty in refus- needs and the social expectations placed on ing sex is the common assumption that con- her (McCleary-Sills, Douglas, et al. 2013). Poor senting to sex at any point in the relationship women and girls, for example, may engage in establishes consent for the rest of the rela- transactional or commercial sex for lack of good tionship, which also creates barriers to rec- alternate livelihoods (Hope 2007). Research ognizing marital rape (Logan, Walker, and across Sub-Saharan Africa shows that cross- Cole 2013). The ability to refuse sex and to generational sex between girls and older men ask a partner to use a condom are closely cor- may involve provision for girls’ basic needs, related,6 but in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin such as school fees and food, in exchange for America, higher shares of women say they sex (Luke 2003; Pettifor et al. 2005). can refuse sex than ask a partner to use a con- Our analysis of 37 developing countries dom. These indings likely re lect attitudes reveals extensive lack of agency: that associate condom use with illicit sex Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 71 and promiscuity and with perceived and real signi icant shares of young women ages 18 ethnic and religious prohibitions (Gupta and to 24 experienced sexual violence before Weiss 1993). In many contexts, the higher their 18th birthdays—26 percent in Haiti, con idence in refusing sex than in insisting on 27 percent in Tanzania, 32 percent in Kenya, condom use may re lect a dislike of condoms 33 percent in Zimbabwe, and 38 percent in among both men and women (Sarkar 2008). Swaziland (Together for Girls 2013). The strongest correlate of women’s sex- While not the focus of this chapter, more ual autonomy in a relationship is her level than 1 in 20 women globally—7 percent of education. Overall, 90 percent of women according to WHO (2013)—have suffered with a higher education say they can refuse sexual violence by nonpartners. A recent sex, compared with 71 percent of women study with more than 10,000 men across with a primary education and 51 percent Asia and the Paci ic revealed that prevalence of women with no education. Each addi- varies widely—3 percent of men in rural tional year of education is associated with a Bangladesh and 27 percent in Bougainville, 1 percent increase in the ability to refuse sex Papua New Guinea, reported having raped a (see igure 4.1 in chapter 4). Compared to woman who was not their partner (Jewkes women with no education, those with a sec- et al. 2013). Although it is less common, ondary education have a 10 percent higher men also reported their involvement in gang probability of being able to refuse sex, all rapes: levels ranged from 1 percent of men else being equal. These results suggest the in urban Bangladesh to 14 percent of men in importance of improving girls’ education as Bougainville. an entry point for enhancing their agency. Our analysis of DHS data shows a strong Reporting and responses association between early sexual initia- Around the world, the vast majority of tion and the likelihood that sexual initia- women who experience violence never seek tion was forced. In some countries (notably help or report the violence to anyone. Only 2 Bangladesh and rural Ethiopia), high lev- percent of women in India and East Asia, 6 els of forced irst sex are likely related to percent in Africa, 10 percent in Central Asia, early marriage rather than to violence and 14 percent in Latin America and the by acquaintances or strangers (García- Caribbean made any formal disclosure of Moreno et al. 2005). On average, across their experience of violence (Palermo, Bleck, 16 countries for which data are available, and Peterman 2014). 11 percent of women report that their irst sex was forced, ranging from 1 percent in Our analysis of DHS data shows that Timor-Leste to 63 percent in the Democratic across 30 countries, on average only 4 in Republic of Congo. Our analysis shows that 10 women exposed to violence sought any women who report that their irst inter- help, and only 6 percent sought help from course had been forced are twice as likely authorities, such as police, lawyers, doc- to have experienced recent IPV. National tors, or religious authorities. Similarly, in surveys by Together for Girls found that Bangladesh, two-thirds of abused women 72 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity did not seek help at all, only 2 percent ever The barriers to reporting and to help sought help from institutions, and rural seeking re lect social norms and systems women were even less likely to seek help that are not responsive to women’s needs. than urban women (Naved et al. 2006). Only Figure 3.4 underscores the host of socio- 3 percent of women experiencing violence cultural and structural barriers that inhibit sought help from the police—ranging from women’s ability to report and seek help of 10 percent in Moldova and Ukraine to fewer any kind (McCleary-Sills, Namy, et al. 2013). than 1 percent in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, DHS in six countries ask why women do not Haiti, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.7 seek help. Many see violence as a “part of life.” But a substantial number do not know Studies in Bangladesh, Turkey, and the how or where to report violence. In Burkina United States ind that women are more Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, likely to seek help from formal agencies as and Mali, the predominant reason was the violence becomes more severe—beyond belief that that there was no use doing so. what they can endure or to the point at Many women also said they were embar- which they feel their lives or children’s rassed to tell anyone, which underlines the safety are in serious jeopardy (Ergöçmen, stigma and blame that are often placed on Yüksel-Kaptanoğlu, and Jansen 2013; survivors of violence. Fugate et al. 2005; Naved et al. 2006). Likewise, our analysis suggests that on average 47 percent of women experienc- ing “severe” physical violence sought help, Across 37 developing countries, almost compared with 31 percent of those expe- one-third of women cannot refuse sex with their partner and over 40 percent riencing “less severe violence”—and the cannot ask their partner to use a former were nearly twice as likely to seek condom. help from the police. Across 28 European countries in a recent survey, one-third of women experiencing severe IPV sought some form of help, but only 14 percent of In Mexico, the most common reasons women reported their most serious inci- women gave for not reporting violence dent of IPV to the police. Among European included a perception that the violence women who did not seek help for their most was insigni icant (29 percent), concern for severe incident of physical IPV, the most their children (18 percent), embarrassment common reasons were choosing to handle (14 percent), and fear of retaliation by their it on their own (55 percent) and not feeling partners (14 percent) (Frías 2013). Only it was serious enough to warrant reporting 8 percent of women cited not knowing they (34 percent) (EU Agency for Fundamental could press charges. Among a sample of Rights 2014). Even in cases of severe vio- Bangladeshi women, the most common rea- lence, if help is sought at all, it is often as a sons given were high acceptance of violence, last resort rather than as an opportunity for fear of stigma, and fear of greater harm early intervention. (Naved et al. 2006). Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 73 FIGURE 3.4 Why don’t women seek help? 45 40 Women’s responses (%) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Bolivia Burkina Faso Côte d’Ivoire Dominican Mali Peru Republic Reasons women cited for not seeking help ■ No use ■ Part of life ■ Don’t know ■ Afraid of divorce, being beaten, or trouble ■ Embarrassed Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys using the latest available data, 2006–12. Note: Sums might not total 100 percent; bars represent the percentage of women who chose that reason, but more than one option could have been selected. The “other” category is not shown. The lack of help seeking represents an incident brings costs at multiple levels, a enormous missed opportunity to enhance theme we will cover in the next section. women’s agency through entry points in the justice and social service sectors. This Costs of violence challenge requires concerted attention from medical and social service providers, Intimate partner violence has devastating as well as police and the justice system. consequences for individuals, communities, Although the existence and awareness of societies, and economies. Tackling this chal- laws criminalizing IPV are important, they lenge head-on would advance efforts to end are not enough. Parallel efforts are needed extreme poverty and increase prosperity for to increase responsiveness to women’s all. This section documents evidence of the needs (Ellsberg et al. 2011). Box 3.3 pro- consequences of IPV at the individual, fam- vides an overview of a new World Bank ily, and economy levels. initiative to address the needs of survivors and other vulnerable women through a Individual-level effects multipronged approach in the Great Lakes Exposure to IPV has been linked with a region. multitude of adverse health outcomes, The magnitude of violence against women including acute injuries, chronic pain, gastro- is a major development challenge. Each IPV intestinal illness, and gynecological problems 74 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 3.3 Serving survivors and empowering women in the Great Lakes Poor and vulnerable women in the Great Lakes states (Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda) face multiple and mutually reinforcing constraints, including high levels of violence, lack of say over their health, and limited economic opportunities. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, nearly three-quarters of women have experienced intimate partner violence. Although women and girls are particularly vulnerable during and after armed conflicts, there is growing recognition that sexual violence has become a wider social phenomenon, including through increasing levels of sexual partner violence. To help respond, the World Bank Group has approved a US$107 million operation to address the needs of survivors of violence and of other vulnerable women in targeted communities, with activities spanning several sectors. The project is expected to offer the following support: › Improved maternal, reproductive, and obstetric care › Mental health services to reduce post-traumatic stress and to improve daily functioning › Case management, referrals for survivors, and assistance in accessing the judicial system through civil society organizations › Assistance through village savings and loans associations and cooperatives for survivors and other vulnerable groups › Scale-up of one-stop centers for survivors of violence and provision of emergency contraception kits, antiretroviral drugs, and surgery equipment to boost the technical capacity of facilities to deliver specialized services Finally, the program aims to build relevant capacities of a full range of professionals—including social workers, the police, and the military—and to engage community leaders as agents of change. Source: Great Lakes Emergency Women’s Health and Empowerment Project (P147489). (Campbell 2002; Coker et al. 2008). Mental risk of attempting or completing an abor- health consequences include increasing tion (Campbell et al. 2000; Kaye et al. 2006; women’s risk of depression, post-traumatic Maman et al. 2003). stress disorder, and substance abuse (Taft Beyond the damage to health, violence and Watson 2008). A recent systematic reduces women’s economic opportunities. review found that IPV increases a woman’s For example: risk of experiencing depression two- to threefold (Beydoun et al. 2012). Survivors ■ Women exposed to partner violence of violence are also 2.3 times more likely in Vietnam have higher work absen- to have alcohol use disorders. IPV has also teeism, lower productivity, and lower been linked to the risk of contracting human earnings than working women who immunode iciency virus (HIV) and other sex- are not beaten (Duvvury, Nguyen, and ually transmitted infections, as well as the Carney 2012). Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 75 ■ In Tanzania, women in formal wage IPV. Children exposed to violence also face a work who are exposed to severe partner greater likelihood of being abused themselves, abuse (both lifetime and current) have an experience that increases their risk-taking 60 percent lower earnings (Vyas 2013). behaviors in adolescence, including drinking, drug use, and early initiation of sex (World ■ In the late 1990s in Nagpur, India, Bank 2003). Girls who witness their mothers women had to forgo, on average, seven being abused are twice as likely to experience days of paid work per violent episode IPV later, and boys show an increased risk of (ICRW 2000). becoming perpetrators later in life (Kishor and Accessing treatment and support ser- Johnson 2004), hence the much higher risk of vices can be expensive. In Uganda, for a continuing cycle of violence. example, the average direct out-of-pocket expenditure related to an incident of IPV Child abuse and partner violence often was estimated to be the equivalent of US$5 occur in the same home. Evidence from six (ICRW 2009), about one-twelfth of the aver- Latin American countries shows that children age monthly income in rural areas (Uganda of women who have experienced IPV are more Bureau of Statistics 2010). A 2011 house- likely to experience beating, spanking, or slap- hold survey in Vietnam estimated that out-of- ping. This ranges from just over one-third of pocket expenditures for accessing services children in Paraguay, compared with fewer and replacing damaged property averaged than one-quarter whose mothers reported 21 percent of women’s monthly income no partner violence, to more than two-thirds (Duvvury, Nguyen, and Carney 2012). of children of abused mothers in Colombia, compared with 58 percent of children of Family-level effects never-abused mothers (Eijkemans 2013). Violence brings dangers of short-term and There are also repercussions for the men long-term effects on children, who may wit- who perpetrate IPV. In Vietnam, male perpe- ness frequent abuse. In Monterrey, Mexico, for trators had higher work absenteeism follow- example, half of abused women reported that ing a violent episode (Duvvury, Nguyen, and their children routinely witnessed the abuse Carney 2012). A similar study from Maine (Granados Shiroma 1996). Children exposed in the United States showed that 48 percent to violence at home show impaired socioemo- of offenders had dif iculty concentrating at tional functioning and educational outcomes work, with 19 percent reporting a workplace in adolescence and lower job performance, job accident or near miss because of preoccupa- stability, and earnings into adulthood (Holt, tion with their relationship (Lim, Rioux, and Buckley, and Whelan 2008). Research has con- Ridley 2004). sistently found greater health risks in children exposed to violence, such as higher infant mor- Economywide effects tality rates (Jejeebhoy 1998), lower vaccination rates (Kishor and Johnson 2004), and lower Beyond the human costs, violence incurs birth weight (Campbell 2002) compared to major economywide costs. Those costs children whose mothers have not experienced include expenditures on service provision, 76 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity forgone income for women and their fam- costs associated with the long-term emo- ilies, decreased productivity, and negative tional effects, increased health care needs, effects on human capital formation. and second-generation consequences. Different models have been developed Figure 3.5 presents estimated costs to estimate the economywide costs of for a variety of countries, ranging from IPV. Although these models vary in their 1.2 percent to 3.7 percent of gross domes- core assumptions, they generally take into tic product, equivalent to what many gov- account some combination of direct and ernments spend on primary education. indirect costs that are both tangible (and can It should be noted that the estimates are be monetized) and intangible (which can- not directly comparable across countries not be readily monetized) (Day, McKenna, because the methodologies and data vary. and Bowlus 2005). These estimates typi- One recent study in the United Kingdom cally include costs related to service provi- sought to account for the loss of life satis- sion, out-of-pocket expenditures, and lost faction because of IPV and arrived at esti- income and productivity. IPV incurs direct mates of about 10 percent of gross domestic costs on services in the health, social ser- product (Santos 2013). vice, justice, and police sectors. In the United States, health care costs among women The costs vary with the severity of vio- experiencing physical abuse have been esti- lence. A recent study found that in Tanzania, mated to be 42 percent higher than among compared with women who had never been nonabused women (Bonomi et al. 2009). abused by a partner, women currently experi- Notably, estimates typically do not include encing IPV earned 29 percent less, and those FIGURE 3.5 Economywide costs of intimate partner violence in selected countries 4.0 3.5 Gross domestic product (%) 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 Australia Bangladesh Peru United Vietnam Kingdom ■ Costs of intimate partner violence ■ Spending on primary education Sources: Duvvury et al. 2013; Horna 2013. Note: Primary education expenditures (as % of GDP) calculated based on UNESCO Data: http://data.un.org/Data .aspx?q=primary+education+expenditure&d=UNESCO&f=series%3aXLEVEL_1_FSGOV. Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 77 currently experiencing severe IPV earned ■ Compared to women living in poorer 43 percent less (Vyas 2013). In Chile and households, women in wealthier house- Nicaragua, severely abused women earned holds have a 45 percent lower risk of 61 percent and 43 percent less, respectively violence. (Morrison and Orlando 1999). Relationship characteristics determine risk Who is worst affected? Characteristics of the partner and the rela- Hundreds of millions of women experience tionship affect a woman’s odds of experi- some form of intimate partner violence in encing violence. All else being equal, having their lifetimes, and many experience multiple a husband or partner with some education forms over the course of their lives. Violence is reduces the likelihood that a woman will not limited to speci ic regions of the world or experience violence, though the effect is less to socioeconomic, religious, or ethnic groups. than that of her own education. Several rela- Understanding risk and protective factors tionship characteristics affect the odds of and how they interact is critical to inform the experiencing IPV: design of programmatic responses. ■ Being in a polygamous marriage increases Our analysis of pooled DHS data from the risk of IPV by 22 percent. 21 countries explored the risk and protective ■ Being married before age 18 increases factors for violence in multivariate mod- the odds by 22 percent. els controlling for individual and relation- ship characteristics. Among the strongest ■ Women who report that their husbands individual-level risk factors are family history sometimes get drunk have an 81 percent of violence and attitudes toward wife beating: higher risk, while having a husband who drinks often increases the risk nearly ■ Women whose fathers beat their mothers ivefold (4.8 times). have two and one-half times greater risk of experiencing IPV in their adult lives Poverty and lack of economic oppor- compared with women who did not wit- tunities are associated with increased IPV ness IPV as children. (Buvinic, Morrison, and Shifter 1999). Such violence may stem from perpetrators’ own ■ Agreeing with any justi ication for wife sense of powerlessness or insecurity, espe- beating increases the odds of violence by cially when they feel unable to meet the roles 45 percent. socially assigned to them as men (Jewkes These results also highlight important 2002). But that situational risk tells only part protective factors, including education and of the story. Triggers do not create violent wealth: behavior, and many men who live in poverty or are unemployed are not violent, even if ■ Women with some or completed second- they use alcohol. ary education have an 11 and 36 percent lower risk of violence, respectively, com- Two recent multicountry studies have pared with women with no education. sought to understand the protective and 78 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity risk factors for perpetration of violence. only for women who had low education The International Men and Gender Equality or were married young (Heath 2013). Our Survey (IMAGES) found that attitudes toward DHS analyses show that women’s employ- gender equality are important, alongside wit- ment increases the odds of IPV exposure nessing parental violence, being depressed, by about 25 percent on average, though and having been involved in ights (Barker less for women who work for cash than for et al. 2011). Analyses of IMAGES data across those who work “in kind.” six countries undertaken for this report There is some evidence of social protec- underline this point; we found that men tion programs being associated with reduced had more than 10 percent lower odds of risk of IPV, as we saw in chapter 2. But it is perpetrating partner violence for every one not always the case, and results are highly standard deviation increase in their Gender context speci ic. Here are some examples: Equitable Men score.8 Similar indings from the Partners for Prevention multicountry ■ In Ecuador, unconditional cash transfers study in Asia highlight that most men do not to mothers reduced psychological partner perpetrate violence and that for those who violence against women with greater than do, the primary risk factors include witness- primary education, but they were found ing or experiencing abuse as children and to increase psychological violence against having gender-inequitable norms and prac- women with only a primary education or tices (Fulu et al. 2013). Better understanding less or when their education level was of these factors is needed to inform preven- equal to or higher than their partners’ tion efforts. (Hidrobo and Fernald 2013). ■ A randomized evaluation in Kenya found Increased access to income that unconditional cash transfers for the may affect risk poor paid through mobile phones reduced The relationship between women’s eco- IPV against women by 30 to 50 percent nomic opportunities and exposure to and reduced rape within marriage by 50 violence is complex and highly context to 60 percent, with larger effects when dependent. Evidence from some studies transfers were made to women and larger shows employment and earnings reduce amounts of money were given (Haushofer women’s risk of violence, whereas oth- and Shapiro 2013). ers indicate that economic participation ■ A study of Mexico’s Oportunidades pro- increases the risk. A systematic review gram found that women who received a found mixed evidence as to whether wom- cash transfer conditional on their chil- en’s own incomes reduced or increased dren’s attendance at school and health the likelihood of experiencing violence clinics were 40 percent less likely to (Vyas and Watts 2009). And several stud- experience physical abuse. But they ies have found no statistically signi icant were more likely to experience threats of support for either hypothesis (Lenze and physical harm than women who did not Klasen 2013). In Bangladesh, working receive a transfer (Bobonis, González- increased women’s exposure to IPV, but Brenes, and Castro 2013). Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 79 How do we explain these apparent con- fabric, thereby reducing the collective social tradictions? On the one hand, conditional controls that might otherwise keep vio- cash transfers targeted to women could lence in check (Perkins and Taylor 1996). lessen economic stress on the household; In Colombia, high levels of unemployment increase inancial independence; and, and poverty in a community can affect the through conditions, increase women’s individual likelihood of violence (Pallitto exposure to supportive services, such as and O’Campo 2005), and community-level health centers. In some cases, women’s norms in Jordan are very in luential deter- newfound resource control may reduce minants of individual risk for IPV, alongside violence-inducing economic stressors on measures of women’s empowerment. For the household or even open the option to example, in Jordanian communities with leave an abusive relationship (Farmer and lower mean age at marriage, higher edu- Tiefenthaler 1997). cational differences between spouses, and higher prevalence of polygyny, women are On the other hand, women’s increased con- signi icantly more likely to experience IPV trol over resources could also challenge tra- (McCleary-Sills 2013). ditional gender roles and aggravate violence, particularly when women are disadvantaged Fragility and armed conflict from the outset (Bhattacharya, Bedi, and increase risk Chhachhi 2009). Property ownership, par- ticularly of land, may give women a more Fragility and armed con lict increase wom- stable and tangible exit option than work or en’s risk of experiencing IPV and other income—and has a range of other bene its, forms of gender-based violence, including as we see in chapter 5—but may not be suf i- nonpartner rape. Gender-based violence cient to offset other risk factors. against women and men is a weapon of war used to humiliate, terrorize, punish, and tor- The mixed results across studies illustrate ture both combatants and civilians. A recent the complexity of the relationship between review found that in most con lict settings, women’s economic opportunities, cash trans- between one in four and one in three women fer programs, and violence and underscore experience sexual violence (Spangaro et al. the need for careful consideration in program 2013), which includes rapes committed sys- design, a topic to which we return later. tematically by armed groups, rapes that take advantage of weakened policing and gov- Community environment and ernance, and sexual exploitation and abuse norms determine risk (Wood 2006). Various factors at the community level The incidence of intimate partner vio- have been shown to increase individual lence also increases in con lict contexts: women’s risk of experiencing IPV. A system- atic review of 36 studies from both devel- ■ One of the highest rates of recent IPV oping and developed countries highlights recorded is in the Democratic Republic socioeconomic disadvantage and residential of Congo in 2007, where 64 percent of instability as factors that erode the social women reported experiencing physical 80 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity or sexual IPV in the previous 12 months Before we review what is known about the (Ministère du Plan 2008). impacts of selected interventions and what ■ In the West Bank and Gaza, women promising approaches these lessons offer, it whose husbands were exposed to polit- should be noted that the majority of available ical violence were 89 percent more likely evaluation evidence comes from high-income to have been physically abused by their countries. While informative, greater invest- partner (Clark et al. 2010). ment in documenting what works in devel- oping countries is needed, particularly with ■ In Liberia, men’s perpetration of violence respect to multisectoral interventions to pre- against their partners was signi icantly vent and respond to violence. associated with exposure to traumatic war-related events (Vinck and Pham 2013). Boosting of positive gender ■ In Colombia, the incidence of IPV was norms more than 12 percentage points higher Chapter 2 underscored the importance of in areas that had experienced intense social norm change for expanding women’s con lict (Noe and Rieckmann 2013). agency. In luencing norms is a critical entry point for addressing and challenging the The state of the evidence: deeply rooted inequalities that perpetuate What works? IPV. Our systematic review of violence pre- vention reviews found that positive effects Programmatic and policy approaches to were strongest among interventions with address intimate partner violence range elements targeting attitudes toward the from legislative reform and enforcement acceptability of IPV, gendered expectations, of protective laws to media campaigns, and de initions of masculinity (Arango et al., community- and school-based programming, forthcoming). This requires understanding and services for survivors. We undertook a which attitudes are most directly linked with systematic review of violence prevention violence and identifying potential levers of reviews for this book, which concluded that change, including community, opinion, and the most promising interventions include religious leaders. multiple components and engage with dif- ferent audiences and stakeholders (Arango In social contexts where IPV is not an et al., forthcoming). Although no single rec- accepted norm, fewer women report expe- ipe will bring success across diverse social riencing violence. As our analyses showed, and geographic contexts, this review and women who condoned wife beating were other recent research identify core elements more likely to be subject to violence. Although that are essential to prevent IPV and to allevi- acceptance of wife beating is widespread ate its adverse repercussions. Interventions globally, it is not an attitude held by the major- can be broadly grouped under social norm ity of people. Across 66 countries for which change, legal reform and responses, social we have data, including several high-income support and services, economic empower- countries, on average 75 percent of people ment, and integrated approaches. feel that wife beating cannot be justi ied for Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 81 any of ive reasons: (a) if a wife goes out with- rape included sexual entitlement (73 per- out telling her husband, (b) if she neglects cent), entertainment (59 percent), and as their children, (c) if she argues with her hus- a punishment (38 percent) (Jewkes et al. band, (d) if she refuses him sex, or (e) if she 2013). Younger respondents also tend to burns the food. However, variation exists report a higher rate of justi ication than did across countries, and all of the countries older respondents, underscoring that much surveyed demonstrated some degree of jus- more work is needed to change norms and ti ication, ranging from less than 5 percent attitudes among youth. in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nepal, and Ukraine to rates exceeding 75 percent in Figure 3.6 shows country variation in Guinea, Mali, and Timor-Leste. women’s acceptance of violence, which falls among older age cohorts. In developing IMAGES data show that in the Democratic countries, 17 percent of female respondents Republic of Congo, India, and Rwanda, all in Latin American and the Caribbean, countries with high levels of IPV, most men 25 percent in East Asia and the Paci ic, and agreed with the statement that a woman 40 percent in South Asia justify wife beating should tolerate violence to keep the fam- for at least one reason. ily together. And that attitude is not iso- lated to men. Indeed, a recent review of 23 Majority opinions and reported atti- studies measuring IPV justi ication found tudes about violence re lect social norms, that women tended to report a higher which are both mirrored in and determined rate of violence justi ication than did men by the legal sanctions against violence. In (Waltermauer 2012). A multicountry study countries with legislation against domes- of more than 10,000 men revealed that their tic violence, women’s acceptance of wife most frequently cited reasons for committing beating is lower. Among the 31 countries FIGURE 3.6 Share of women who condone wife beating, by age of respondent 48 Women who consider wife 46 at least one reason (%) beating acceptable for 44 42 40 38 36 34 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Age of respondent (years) Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys for 55 countries using data, 2001–12. 82 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity with such legislation, 40 percent of women norms—such as showing men modeling condone domestic violence compared with equitable and nonviolent behaviors—may 57 percent of women in the 12 countries in be more effective in reaching men than the sample without such legislation.9 messages condemning violence (Instituto Promundo 2012). Such messages promote The need to engage men and boys in the positive aspects of doing “the right thing” interventions to promote positive norms rather than asserting fear or shame for around gender equality and to sensitize men doing the wrong thing. And they give visibil- to the repercussions of violence is receiv- ity to nonviolent, gender-equitable men who ing greater attention. Some key indings can be models of positive behavior. Evidence were highlighted in chapter 2. A variety of from Oxfam’s “We Can” campaign in ive approaches have been used—social market- countries showed that combined efforts of ing, awareness campaigns, and edutainment communication campaigns with activities by (for example, themed television shows, radio community change agents have the greatest programs, and theater)—as ways to reach a success in changing attitudes and behaviors large number of people with messages about (Rajan and Chakrabarty 2010). violence. But the message matters. A quasi- experimental evaluation of a mass media Another promising example is Soul City in campaign in the United States found mixed South Africa. The initiative included the use results: among women, the perception of of prime-time radio and television dramas violence as severe, awareness of support and print materials to portray role models services, and belief in services’ effectiveness with positive attitudes and behaviors, includ- all increased. However, the result among ing help-seeking and help-giving actions. men was the inverse: their perception of Domestic violence was a major focus of the violence as severe actually fell by a wider campaign. A pretest-posttest evaluation margin (Keller, Wilkinson, and Otgen 2010). found that the intervention was associated with a 10 percent increase in respondents Male engagement interventions have disagreeing that domestic violence was a achieved attitudinal changes and decreases private affair and a 41 percent increase in in self-reported use of violence. These inter- awareness of the domestic violence hotline. ventions cover a diverse range of settings Notably, the intervention was speci ically and approaches, from workplace training designed to support implementation of the sessions to community-based dialogues national Domestic Violence Act by promot- and campaigns anchored in sports events ing widespread awareness of the protections (Instituto Promundo 2012). In Chile, edu- and consequences de ined in the new law, cational workshops for young men on gen- as well as offering greater access to neces- der equality and the prevention of violence sary support services (Usdin et al. 2005). against women increased their knowledge Additionally, research suggests that men can about different forms of violence and their often underestimate the disapproval of both intention to reject violence against women. women and men of gender-based violent Research suggests that messaging behaviors. Consequently, providing men with that promotes and reinforces positive more accurate normative information can be Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 83 effective in changing behaviors and attitudes global systematic review undertaken for this toward violence by countering the misper- book con irmed that short-term and one-off ception that such violence is widely accepted interventions are less likely to show positive by their peers (Fabiano et al. 2003). effects (Arango et al., forthcoming). Out of 26 interventions with a less than one-month Community mobilization has been used duration that included violence prevention to address rigid gender norms and attitudes, as an outcome, only one showed a statis- engaging and educating the wider commu- tically signi icant positive result. Although nity, including men and boys, on issues such the duration and intensity of interventions as human rights, gendered power dynam- appear to be important to their effective- ics, reporting, political participation, and ness, most evaluated interventions are short laws. One prominent example is SASA!, an term. These indings emphasize that dura- approach developed and implemented in tion and intensity matter, particularly when Uganda to transform gender relations and it comes to changing deep-seated norms and power dynamics and to address HIV and behaviors. violence against women (see box 3.4).10 Several factors explain the success of SASA!, Legal reform and responses including the careful theory-based and cul- turally tailored design and engagement of Ending gender-based violence depends opinion leaders and the entire community. on the commitment of states to enact and Intervention length is also important. The implement effective and gender-equitable Box 3.4 Mobilizing communities against violence: Lessons from SASA! SASA!, which means “Now!” in Kiswahili, is a program developed by Raising Voices and implemented in Uganda by the Center for Domestic Violence Prevention. It is the first community-based violence prevention program in Sub-Saharan Africa to be rigorously evaluated. The program employs multiple strategies to build a critical mass of engaged community members, leaders, and institutions, including local activism, media and advocacy, communication materials, and training. The Activist Kit that is central to SASA! community engagement and mobilization involves four phases: Start, Awareness, Support, and Action. The content evolves with each phase, with power as a central theme. Results from a randomized controlled trial show positive effects after almost three years of programming. Compared with control communities, people in SASA! communities have more gender-equitable attitudes and a reduced prevalence of past-year physical violence by an intimate partner. Compared with control communities, SASA! communities report the following striking results: › Levels of past-year IPV are 52 percent lower. › Twenty-eight percent more women and 31 percent more men believe it is acceptable for women to refuse sex. › Social acceptance of IPV is 87 percent lower among men and 46 percent lower among women. Source: Abramsky et al. 2014. 84 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity prevention and response mechanisms, includ- decade, as shown in igure 3.7. Three- ing prohibitions, policies, and services. quarters of the 100 countries included in International attention has been growing Women, Business, and the Law 2014 crimi- since the early 1990s, as evidenced by sev- nalize domestic violence and almost four- eral key global norms and movements. The ifths (79) have legislation addressing sexual 1993 World Conference on Human Rights harassment in employment. But only 8 out recognized violence against women as a of 100 countries have legislation against human rights violation. That same year, the harassment in public places (World Bank Declaration on the Elimination of Violence and IFC 2013). against Women was the irst international However, as shown in map 3.2, only 38 instrument to address violence against of these 100 countries have introduced women explicitly, providing a framework speci ic laws or provisions that explicitly for national and international action. The criminalize marital rape and sexual assault landmark 1994 International Conference on within marriage. In the 62 countries with Population and Development called on gov- no speci ic legislation, marital rape can ernments to take legal and policy measures still be tried under general rape legisla- to prevent and respond to violence against tion unless a spousal exemption provision women and girls.11 exists. In Ghana, the spousal exemption was The international momentum to address removed in 2007, and marital rape can now violence has been re lected in national leg- be prosecuted under the criminal code. islative reforms, especially over the past Conversely, in Kenya and Malawi, marital FIGURE 3.7 Cumulative number of countries with legislation against domestic violence 76 72 74 69 67 61 63 54 56 47 41 35 37 28 30 27 23 19 13 8 3 4 1 2 6 4 9 3 4 5 6 97 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Source: World Bank and IFC 2013. Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 85 MAP 3.2 Countries with specific legislation criminalizing marital rape Is there a specific marital rape law or provision? ■ Yes ■ No ■ No data Source: World Bank, Women, Business, and the Law (database), http://wbl.worldbank.org/. Note: According to the methodology used, which considers the laws governing the main business city of a country, the United States does not meet the criteria for having specific legislation or provisions criminalizing marital rape because New York state removed the marital exemption but has not yet introduced specific legisla- tion criminalizing marital rape. rape is exempt from criminal rape legis- Where laws do exist, better enforcement lation and is not even considered a crime. is critical and depends on several factors, The same is true in India, even after the including the capacity, training, and atti- recent reforms to respond to the Delhi bus tudes of police and legal personnel. Recent rape and murder. The United Kingdom also research from South Asia casts important removed the exemption for spousal rape light on some common challenges within from general legislation in 1991, but it has the justice system. In India, nearly all police not yet introduced speci ic provisions or of icers interviewed (94 percent) agreed legislation. that a husband is allowed to rape his wife. And judges in Bangladesh and India typi- Intimate partner violence remains out- cally felt women abused by their spouses side the law in many countries, and in some were partly to blame (Khan, Bhuiya, and cases, it is explicitly allowed. The Supreme Bhattacharya 2010). In Nepal, less than Court of the United Arab Emirates ruled in 5 percent of the police force is female, and 2010, for example, that a man has the right in India, an overwhelming majority of police to physically discipline his wife as long as he of icers still view domestic violence as a does not leave physical marks (Elsaidi 2011). private affair. Failure to prosecute remains 86 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity a signi icant barrier to women accessing national laws as an important protective fac- justice in many countries, including in tor: women who live in countries with domes- Guatemala, where of the more than 20,000 tic violence legislation have 7 percent lower cases of femicide and domestic violence odds of experiencing violence compared with iled in 2011, fewer than 3 percent of those women in countries without such laws.12 that reached the courts resulted in a judg- Analysis also shows that each additional year ment (Musalo and Bookey 2013). that a country has had domestic violence leg- islation in place is associated with a reduced A well-functioning justice system, with prevalence of about 2 percent. Although this appropriate sanctions against violence inding underscores the promise of legislative against women, can help deter future vio- reform as a preventive measure, alone it is not lence and is an important element of pre- enough to eliminate violence. vention efforts. In the Paci ic, legislative reform and investment in response structures are “A lot of men don’t want to get on the bringing improvements in women’s access wrong side of the police. So for a lot of to justice. The recent reforms in Papua New them, when there’s a court order, it’s a Guinea are promising (box 3.5). deterrent.” Social support and services —Female community member, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (Mukasa et al. 2014) The needs of women who experience violence depend greatly on their circumstances, their social and legal context, and their own desired While legal reform and responses are outcomes. Services for survivors broadly fall a key entry point for increasing women’s into four domains (Mukasa et al. 2014): agency in this domain, it is clear that law alone is insuf icient to prevent violence. Our ■ Physical health—medical care, safe analysis of DHS data points to the existence of housing, food, and clothing Box 3.5 Increasing women’s access to justice in Papua New Guinea In Papua New Guinea, a Family Protection Bill was introduced to parliament in 2013 after extensive and inclusive stakeholder consultation. This effort was accompanied by the establishment of specialized Family and Sexual Violence Units and survivor-centered training to duty bearers and service providers, and prosecution efforts were strengthened through the creation of a Family and Sexual Offense Unit to support legal staff and to improve case management. The early results are promising. The number of female magistrates rose from 10 in 2004 to more than 900 in 2013. Since 2012, a record number of intimate partner violence cases have been heard in Papua New Guinea’s courts, with two out of three resulting in a conviction or guilty plea. Of recent note are two landmark sexual violence cases involving police officers who received combined sentences of 30 years’ imprisonment. Sources: Mukasa et al. 2014; Office of the Public Prosecution 2012. Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 87 ■ Mental health—therapeutic and trauma improved access to and quality of services for counseling, building of self-ef icacy and survivors of violence, as outlined in box 3.6. self-con idence, and reduction of inter- nalized stigma As highlighted earlier, most survivors of violence never report or seek help, a gap that ■ Legal aid—literacy, advocacy, and iling needs to be overcome. This gap highlights the of key documents importance of efforts to increase help-seeking ■ Economic support—securing of land behavior for health and other social services and property, employment, and income- (Gulliver et al. 2012). The limited evidence generating activities about what works to increase help-seeking Such services are typically short term behavior has identi ied some promising and are delivered by civil society groups and areas, including grassroots outreach, second- trained professionals. The primary aim may ary responder programs, and mass and inter- be to help stabilize survivors so they can ile personal communication efforts. Community a claim and pursue a case. The evidence that outreach workers who share health infor- these efforts improve women’s psycholog- mation can build trust with women in the ical functioning is limited, suggesting that community and can encourage help-seeking more substantial and repeated therapeutic behaviors (Greene, Ennett, and Ringwalt interventions may be needed (Sims, Yost, 1999; Kelly et al. 2007). To date, however, and Abbott 2006). Emerging evidence from evidence about effectiveness for prevention trials of longer-term and group-based inter- is lacking. Secondary responder programs ventions with survivors reveals promising pair a victim advocate with a police of icer models for improving coping skills, reducing to meet with a victim and share information symptoms of depression and post-traumatic on services and legal options, as well as to stress disorder, and increasing self-ef icacy warn the perpetrator of the consequences (Bass 2013; Cohen 2013). World Bank fund- of continued abuse. Eight of 10 experimen- ing in the Solomon Islands will support tal or quasi-experimental studies, all in the Box 3.6 Coordinated support for survivors of violence in the Solomon Islands In the Solomon Islands, 64 percent of women have experienced physical or sexual partner violence or both. A World Bank grant supported the government’s efforts to improve access to services for survivors by bringing together specialized organizations in a forum that allowed them to identify gaps and priority actions in supporting victims of violence. As a next step, the grant will deliver a pilot project to strengthen frontline response and help coordinate referral services. Service providers will also be trained in sensitive and timely responses to the needs of survivors of violence. Finally, the project will help the government undertake a diagnostic study on capacity constraints in the institutions and services, and it will support training and data collection. Source: Improving Services for Victims of Gender-Based Violence Project (CGAP13-16). 88 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity United States, found that such interventions less uncertainty about doing so. Increasing increased the number of subsequent calls help-seeking behavior is a critical irst step to the police, though there was no evidence toward improving the response mechanisms of actual reductions in of violence (Davis, and ensuring justice for survivors. These Weisburd, and Taylor 2008). And such inter- broad types of services are essential for ventions have limited scope since they are women’s well-being and should be integrated designed only for survivors who report vio- into service provision efforts for survivors of lence in the irst place. violence. Schools and workplaces can disseminate Economic empowerment (plus) information by placing materials in safe and accessible locations (such as restrooms), Increasing women’s economic opportunities distributing newsletters, and holding infor- can be an important entry point for expanding mational sessions. Awareness-raising cam- their ability to prevent and leave violent rela- paigns and activities may help break the tionships. Yet programs to promote economic culture of silence and stigmatization around opportunities rarely take the risks of violence violence and urge survivors to seek help. systematically into account, and impact eval- uations of effects on violence are rare. But Innovative information and communi- emerging evidence suggests that economic cation technology tools can play a role. In empowerment and social protection inter- 2013, the World Bank Group supported two ventions by themselves can have signi icant hackathons aimed at developing tools to effects on IPV, depending on the nature of respond to or prevent gender-based violence. the program, the population, and the context. The irst encompassed countries in Latin Interventions may be able to expand both America and the second focused on Nepal. women’s economic opportunities and their A number of different mobile applications agency by adding strategic design features that were developed, including an app for women intentionally address gender-based violence who have experienced violence that provides (Schuler et al. 1996). We refer to this approach information and resources on obtaining sup- as “economic empowerment plus” and it has port, as well as an app that allows the user shown success in several African countries. to notify friends or family if she or he is in a threatening situation (World Bank 2013). The IMAGE (Intervention with Micro- inance for AIDS and Gender Equity) Internet-based tools (for example, Internet program in rural South Africa combined Resources and Information for Safety [IRIS]) microcredit with participatory gender and a smartphone app (MyPlan) aim to training, social support groups, and com- increase safety-seeking behaviors by reduc- munity mobilization. The results are ing survivors’ decisional con lict about safety encouraging (Pronyk et al. 2006, 2008): in their relationship. While the results of the ■ IPV fell by 55 percent impact evaluations are not yet available, pre- liminary indings are promising, showing that ■ Household poverty rates fell after even just one use, survivors have greater ■ HIV-related communication improved, as clarity about where and how to seek help and did social capital Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 89 In Côte d’Ivoire, a group savings interven- Greater access by women and girls to pub- tion combined with “gender dialogue groups” lic spaces can enhance agency by increasing led to signi icant reductions in women’s educational attainment, economic oppor- reports of economic abuse and their accep- tunities, and mobility. However with such tance of wife beating compared with women opportunities may come risks of being who participated in only group savings exposed to violence. Evidence indicates that meetings (Gupta et al. 2013). Women who structural interventions—which aim to make attended more than 75 percent of sessions environments safer and to interrupt the cycle with their male partner were also less likely of violence before it begins—offer promising to report physical IPV. In Uganda, a vocational lessons for prevention (Beyer, Wallis, and training program—paired with safe spaces for Hamberger 2013). Among these lessons are young women’s interactions and information efforts to improve the safety of public spaces on health and risky behaviors—reduced the for women and children, including invest- share of young women experiencing forced ments in lighting, safe transit, and safer, more sex from 21 percent to nearly zero, while also gender-equitable school environments. increasing engagement in income-generating activities by 35 percent (Bandiera et al. 2012). Preventing childhood exposure to and direct experience of violence is critical to These evaluations hint at ways to promote break the intergenerational cycles of violence agency in economic programs, but the over- (Renner and Slack 2006). Chapters 1 and 2 all evidence base is still too thin to determine have already highlighted the critical role of the active ingredients of “economic empow- education. Recent reviews show some evi- erment plus” interventions for reducing vio- dence of effective interventions, including in lence. Promising components include gender developing countries (Knerr, Gardner, and and health training, ongoing groups that facili- Cluver 2011; Mikton and Butchart 2009). tate social support, safe spaces to interact with Evidence from “girl-friendly” schools shows peers, community mobilization, and, in some that adjusting the physical school environ- cases, elements that engage male partners to ment can dramatically improve girls’ atten- encourage more equitable relationship dynam- dance, retention, and achievement. Changes ics as women’s economic empowerment included the construction of sex-segregated increases. Further testing of which combina- latrines, clean water supplies, and an array tions work best and under what circumstances of outreach activities to promote girls’ edu- is needed, as are analysis and scaling up. cation. In Burkina Faso, girls’ enrollment increased by 5 percentage points over that of Integration of violence their male classmates (Kazianga et al. 2013). prevention into other sectoral Both girls and boys showed improved test interventions scores in the intervention schools, pointing to positive effects for boys and increasing their Violence is a complex issue, and conse- likelihood of school completion. quences have adverse ripple effects on other spheres of an individual survivor’s life, as The fear, threat, and experience of vio- well as effects on her family and community. lence are often obstacles to women’s and 90 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 3.7 Integrating responses to violence: Innovations in a transport project in Brazil As part of a broader effort to develop a regional master plan for the metropolitan transport system, the government of Rio de Janeiro is looking to use trains and cable cars that connect many hillside shantytowns to increase access to job opportunities. With a loan from the World Bank, the government has integrated gender-responsive legal, social, and economic services within this system. The program will support the establishment of Women Reference and Service Centers— one-stop shops that will provide services, referrals, and information for survivors of violence. Electronic public information is used to promote the national law against domestic violence. Sustainable transport links to the Brazilian Women’s House—a federal program that assembles several public services for women—will also be established as part of the effort. In addition, a women’s police station, a women’s clinic, and a child care center will be established. The project will also finance dissemination of information on improved security for women riders. Finally, the program will pilot vocational education and training for women who are at risk of violence. Source: Urban Mass Transport: Gender Agency and Inclusion Project (P147695). girls’ engagement in civic, political, and eco- intervention (Bhatla et al. 2012). The World nomic spheres (Whitzman et al. 2013). Efforts Bank is also investing in efforts to prevent to improve urban environments’ safety for and respond to violence through projects in women and girls have included enhance- other sectors, such as an innovative transport ments to police protocols and procedures, project in Brazil (box 3.7), to reduce the risk help lines, and efforts to promote bystander of violence. *** Violence is one of the most pronounced manifestations of gender inequality across the globe. Addressing violence is critical for promoting women’s agency and for a range of other gender outcomes and development goals. But violence is perpetu- ated by social norms and institutions that implicitly or explicitly condone this behav- ior. This means that eliminating violence requires appropriate prevention strategies, as well as response mechanisms that prioritize the needs of survivors. Effective approaches are likely to target multiple entry points—improved laws and policies, more gender-equitable attitudes, and safer social environments. This effort also requires better data for decision making. One recent advance is the international agreement on standard indicators for measuring violence against women, which will provide much-needed data on prevalence as well as monitoring of efforts to reduce violence, as discussed in chapter 7. Chapter 3 Freedom from Violence | 91 Notes 11. For more information about the conference, see the website of the United Nations Entity  1. Calculations using data from World for Gender Equality and the Empowerment Population Prospects (United Nations 2013). of Women at http://www.unwomen.org  2. Our sample covered 40 percent of the /en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against world’s population (50 percent if China is -women/global-norms-and-standards. excluded). The variable analyzed here is the 12. The countries that had both DHS data on share of women who agree that wife beating domestic violence and data on legislation is justi ied for at least one of ive reasons: from the World Bank were Azerbaijan, (a) going out without permission, (b) burn- Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte ing food, (c) neglecting children, (d) refusing d’Ivoire, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, sex, and (e) arguing with a husband. Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal,  3. Data are from the World Bank Group and Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Tanzania, International Finance Corporation data- Uganda, Ukraine, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. base on Women, Business, and the Law, available at http://wbl.worldbank.org/. References  4. They include (a) Resolution 1325, which recognizes the impact of con lict on women Abramsky, Tanya, Karen Devries, Ligia Kiss, and girls, particularly their vulnerability Janet Nakuti, Nambusi Kyegombe, Elizabeth to sexual violence; (b) Resolution 1820, Starmann, Bonnie Cundill, Leilani Francisco, calling for an end to sexual violence and Dan Kaye, Tina Musuya, Lori Michau, and recognizing sexual violence as a weapon Charlotte Watts. 2014. “Findings from the of war; (c) Resolution 1888, which calls SASA! Study: A Cluster Randomized Controlled for strengthened leadership to end sexual Trial to Assess the Impact of a Community violence, and (d) Regulation 1960, calling Mobilization Intervention to Prevent Violence for the involvement of women and civil against Women and Reduce HIV Risk in society organizations in implementing Kampala, Uganda.” BMC Medicine 12:122. Resolution 1325 and establishing tools for Agarwal, Bina, and Pradeep Panda. 2007. action, monitoring, and reporting. “Toward Freedom from Domestic Violence:  5. This de inition is from the Council of Europe The Neglected Obvious.” Journal of Human Convention on Preventing and Combating Development 8 (3): 359–88. Violence against Women and Domestic Arango, Diana J., Matthew Morton, Floriza Violence. The full text of the convention Gennari, Sveinung Kiplesund, and Mary is available at http://conventions.coe.int Ellsberg. Forthcoming. “Interventions /Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/210.htm. to Prevent and Reduce Violence against  6. The correlation is rs = 0.71 (37), p < 0.001. Women and Girls: A Systematic Review of Reviews.” Women’s Voice, Agency and  7. Figures are from our analysis of DHS data, Participation Research Series, World Bank, available for 24 countries. Washington, DC.  8. The indings were as follows: odds ratio of Bandiera, Oriana, Niklas Buehren, Robin 0.89, 95 percent con idence interval: 0.80– Burgess, Markus Goldstein, Selim Gulesci, 0.97. See Fleming et al. (2013). Imran Rasul, and Munshi Sulaiman. 2012.  9. These population-weighted medians were “Empowering Adolescent Girls: Evidence calculated from DHS data. from a Randomized Control Trial in 10. For more information, see the Raising Uganda.” London School of Economics and Voices website at http://raisingvoices.org Political Science, London. http://econ.lse /sasa/#tabs-419-0-3. .ac.uk/staff/rburgess/wp/ELA.pdf. 92 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Barker, Gary, Juan Manuel Contreras, Brian Bonomi, Amy E., Melissa L. Anderson, Heilman, Ajay Singh, Ravi Verma, and Frederick P. Rivara, and Robert S. Thompson. Marcos Nascimento. 2011. 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Chapter C Key hapter 4 K essages ey messages > Sexual and reproductive health and rights are important ends in themselves and can have valuable bene its for women’s own health, nutrition, education, and livelihoods, and for the well-being of their children. > Having agency over sexual and reproductive decisions includes being able to choose whether, when, and with whom to have sex; to ask a partner to use a condom; and to make decisions about childbearing and one’s own health. > Child marriage, high rates of adolescent pregnancy, and women’s limited control over their own sexual and reproductive health decisions often re lect underlying gender inequalities and carry serious repercussions. > Beyond access to contraceptive methods, promising interventions integrate multisectoral actions, such as sexual and reproductive health education, mentoring and peer group training, incentive programs, and activity clubs and sports. > Broader structural and normative changes are critical and can be achieved by engaging community opinion leaders and gatekeepers to support changing norms. CHAPTER 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights The nature of the challenge Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), The World Development Report 2012 which was discussed in chapter 1. emphasized being able to decide whether, when, and with whom to have sex; whether, Enabling women’s control over deci- when, and whom to marry; whether or when sions about family formation also has instru- to have children; and how many children mental value, as these decisions can affect to have as expressions of agency (World investments in their education and eco- Bank 2011b). The intrinsic value of agency nomic opportunities as well as their health. related to family formation has long been Delaying marriage is associated with greater recognized by governments around the educational achievement and lower fertility, world. The Universal Declaration of Human and lower fertility can increase women’s life Rights (1948) asserts that “Marriage shall expectancy and bene it their children’s health be entered into only with the free and full and education. Conversely, barriers to girls’ consent of the intending spouses,” and limits and women’s sexual and reproductive health marriage to those “of full age.” The right to have adverse repercussions—which can affect sexual and reproductive health was recog- individuals, families, communities, societies, nized in 1994 by the Programme of Action of and economies—on a broad set of develop- the International Conference on Population ment outcomes (Grépin and Klugman 2013). and Development (ICPD), and subse- Moreover, these impacts are often ampli ied quently adopted by 179 governments (ICPD by overlapping deprivations. For example, 1994). These positions stand alongside the girls who marry before their 18th birthday 102 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity are more likely to face restrictions on their As outlined in chapter 1 and explored mobility and inancial decisions, as well as further in this chapter, social norms and have a heightened risk of violence, of con- laws are important drivers of agency, and tracting HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmit- this is especially true in the context of sexual ted infections (STIs), and of early pregnancy and reproductive decisions (see igure 1.1 (Bruce 2003; Hindin and Fatusi 2009; Nour in chapter 1, where social norms and laws, 2009; Raj et al. 2010). And as we saw in chap- mediated through the household, affect ter 1, the girls most likely to marry early are agency and other gender equality outcomes). those with the least education and lowest eco- Interventions and policies that seek to change nomic status (Raj 2010). norms around acceptability of child marriage and modern contraceptives, for example, Large shares of women and girls are will be critical for increasing women’s sexual constrained in exercising agency over these and reproductive agency. While progressive domains. What we see globally and inves- laws can foster women’s greater control over tigate further in this chapter are high lev- family formation decisions, in many coun- els of unmet need for contraceptives, high tries laws reinforce constraints, as in the 29 numbers of unintended pregnancies, large countries where men are the legally desig- gaps between expressed ideal family size nated heads of households. Indeed, 29 of the and actual fertility, and inability to divorce 188 states that have rati ied CEDAW retain because of inancial dependency or legal exceptions to the article requiring countries restrictions. The starkest violation of girls’ to eliminate discrimination in all matters and women’s agency addressed in this chap- related to marriage and family relations. ter is early marriage (forced and coerced sex were discussed in chapter 3). The many Gendered social norms surrounding sex- other manifestations of women’s lack of uality are learned by girls and boys from sexual and reproductive agency, such as their families and communities and affect high levels of maternal mortality and mor- their choices in adult life. In many cultures, bidity, disproportionate risk of HIV/AIDS, it is considered inappropriate for women and the challenges of accessing health ser- to learn “too much” about matters related vices, have recently been explored in greater to sexuality. For girls and women, though detail elsewhere and are beyond the focus of typically not boys and men, there is stigma this chapter (see, for example, Grépin and around being sexually active (Fairhurst et al. Klugman 2013; Inelmen et al. 2012). 2004). Stigma and norms around purity can prevent girls from learning about sex and contraception, thereby giving men a prom- inent role in sex and contraceptive choices “The man brings the woman in his (McCleary-Sills, McGonagle, and Malhotra house [when he marries her]. How could 2012). In Honduras, for example, in house- she be his equal?” holds where the husband makes the deci- —Men’s focus group, Gliangou, Téra Department, sions regarding family size and family Tillabéri Region, Niger (World Bank 2014) planning use alone, women are less likely to report that they currently or have ever Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 103 used modern methods of family planning also play a role. Where women are able to (Speizer, Whittle, and Carter 2005). support themselves and to be active mem- bers of the community outside of the home, Which factors affect women’s agency in they have more decision-making power sexual and reproductive decisions? We saw within the relationship itself (Du lo 2012). in chapter 3 that women’s lack of education was associated with higher risks of violence. The objective of this chapter is threefold. It is also associated with child marriage, early First, we highlight how women’s ability to pregnancy, and the ability to negotiate within control their reproductive health and make a sexual relationship, such as the ability to decisions about family formation enhances refuse sex with a partner or to ask a partner to their agency in other aspects of life, including use a condom ( igure 4.1). Evidence suggests education and access to economic opportu- that economic and political opportunities nities. Second, the individual characteristics that affect women’s and girls’ ability to exer- cise agency in those domains are identi ied, and the impacts of overlapping disadvantage are explored. Third, evidence about what works in promoting women’s exercise of their sexual and reproductive health and rights is reviewed. We build on several recent con- FIGURE 4.1 Education as a key tributions, including those by the ICPD, the driver of women’s ability to exercise United Nations Population Fund, the Council choice in sexual relationships on Foreign Relations, Women Deliver, and the International Center for Research on Women 100 100% 95 (ICPD 2014; Mathur, Greene, and Malhotra 80 2003; UNFPA 2013; Vogelstein 2013). Probability (%) 90 85 60 80 The next section reviews the magnitude 75 40 70 of the challenge and the repercussions for 65 20 women’s health and well-being. We then 60 highlight lessons learned and promising 0 55 0 5 10 15 20 approaches. The inal section summarizes Years of education the key indings and highlights important directions in the way forward. Refuse sex Ask partner to use condom Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys How great is the challenge? for 37 countries, 2006–12: Albania, Armenia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, the Democratic This section presents new analyses of Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, women’s ability to make choices about their the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, sexuality and their sexual and reproduc- Haiti, Honduras, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, tive health across 55 developing countries, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, which represent 40 percent of the world’s Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. population. 104 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Fertility choices pregnancies, which means that they had wanted to delay that pregnancy or not have In many countries today, women have far it at all. Addressing the global unmet contra- fewer children than they did four decades ceptive need—de ined as nonuse of contra- ago. Although many factors have had a role ception by women who do not want to get in this transformation, one of the main pregnant for at least two years—could avert mechanisms through which this change has 54 million unplanned pregnancies annually come about is women’s use of contraception. (Singh and Darroch 2012). For example, in Colombia, average fertility was six or seven children in 1960, whereas in Unmet need may result from inadequate 2009, it was closer to two. In 2005, 78 percent access to family planning methods because of Colombian women used contraception, of factors such as distance, cost, insuf icient compared to only 21 percent in 1970.1 supplies, and inconvenient hours. However, beyond ensuring adequate supply, increas- Lower fertility has instrumental value, ing women’s agency, education, and access increasing women’s life expectancy and to economic opportunities all can be impor- enabling them to pursue economic opportu- tant drivers of contraceptive use. A study in nities (UNFPA 2013). Increased use of con- South Africa found that a woman’s level of traception reduces the number of high-risk education and her control over her earnings births and lowers maternal mortality rates.2 are enabling factors for the voluntary use of The bene icial impact of smaller family size modern contraceptive methods (Stephenson, on children’s health and education is also Beke, and Tshibangu 2008). In Sub-Saharan well documented (UNFPA 2012b). Recent Africa, women in wealthier households who research also suggests that when fertility are more educated are far more likely to use declines and the value of human capital in contraception than their less advantaged the economy increases, men are more willing peers. Only 10 percent of women with no to share household decision-making power education and 10 percent of those in the with women to ensure their children get bet- poorest households use contraception, com- ter education (Doepke and Tertlit 2009). pared to 42 percent of women with sec- Yet many women are unable to real- ondary or higher education and 38 percent ize their fertility preferences (ICPD 2014). of women from the wealthiest households Annually, in developing countries alone, (UNFPA 2010). Across four African countries about 80 million women have unintended (Ghana, Namibia, Uganda, and Zambia), a woman’s increased participation in house- hold economic decision making, her ability to negotiate sexual activity, and a couple’s “Each year, almost one in ϔive women in agreement on fertility preferences were all developing countries become pregnant associated with increased use of contracep- before turning 18, and 7.3 million girls tives that were either female-only methods under age 18 give birth.” (such as pills, intrauterine devices [IUDs], injectables, or implants) or methods that require some degree of cooperation from Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 105 partners (such as male and female condoms) 1 in 9 (11 percent) women in Sub-Saharan (Do and Kurimoto 2012). Africa say their husband makes the decision Open communication and joint decision alone. In Liberia, nearly one-third of women making about family planning contribute to say their husbands make this decision alone. voluntary contraceptive use and the achieve- On average, across 55 countries, 6 percent ment of fertility intentions (Amatya et al. of women who are not current users report 1994; Ezeh 1993). Studies have shown that that they do not intend to use family plan- communication between partners is impor- ning in the future because their husbands or tant for realizing women’s choices about others are opposed, with Timor-Leste being family formation and their sexual and repro- the highest, at 22 percent. ductive health. Women who have dif iculty These patterns help explain why women communicating with their partners, or do so who want to delay or prevent pregnancy only infrequently, are less likely to use con- might choose to use more concealable traception or more likely to conceal its use methods such as injectables and IUDs. (Biddlecom and Fapohunda 1998; Storey et al. Women’s covert use is generally motivated 1999). In some cases, male partners restrict by a desire to keep partners, in-laws, or contraceptive use altogether (Casterline, other family members from inding out Sathar, and ul Haque 2001; Kamal 2000). that they are trying to prevent a pregnancy Communication with other family members (Guttmacher Institute 2000). And women can be important too. For example, women in who are in violent relationships are more urban slums in Karachi are more likely to use likely to report that their partners have family planning following discussion with tried to sabotage their use of contracep- their mothers-in-law (Kadir et al. 2003). tion and that they have used a method To what extent are women involved in covertly (Clark et al. 2008; Gee et al. 2009). decisions about their fertility? Our analysis However, enabling women to access and shows that across 55 developing countries, use contraceptives in secret is an inade- three-fourths of couples make joint deci- quate and temporary solution—and one sions regarding contraception, whereas that carries risks. In some cases, women in 15 percent of cases, women make this fear—or actually face—violence from their decision themselves. Only a minority partner if their covert use of contraceptives of women—about 1 in 14—report that is discovered (Bawah et al. 1999). In some their husband makes this decision alone. contexts, enabling women’s full control over However, the regional averages vary: up to family planning shows greater results; for 1 in 16 women in South Asia and more than example, unwanted births in Zambia were reduced only when women had individual control over contraceptive decision making “We do not use contraception. Otherwise (Ashraf, Field, and Lee 2010). people will think we’re sterile.” It is not just husbands and partners who —Women’s focus group, Morey, Keita Department, limit women’s agency over fertility decisions. Tahoua Region, Niger (World Bank 2014) Often family members and community 106 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity leaders exert in luence over these choices Early sexual activity too, as in the following examples: and pregnancy ■ In Jordan, women—young brides in Early sexual initiation puts girls at greater particular—face signi icant pressure risk for HIV and other STIs, early preg- from their mothers-in-law to prove their nancy, and early childbearing (Hindin and fertility and bear children (Libbus and Fatusi 2009). Every hour, 50 young women Kridli 1997). are newly infected with HIV (UNAIDS ■ In Tanzania, family planning decisions 2013a). In 2012, more than 5 million young are in luenced by religious leaders and people (ages 15 to 24) were living with HIV, by male dominance over females (espe- with an estimated 2,400 new infections cially in polygynous relationships) each day (UNAIDS 2012). In Sub-Saharan (Keele, Forste, and Flake 2005). Africa, HIV prevalence among young people decreased by almost half between 2001 and Satisfying the unmet need for contracep- 2012, but prevalence among young women tives and improving sexual and reproductive remains more than double that among health services would also reduce the num- young men (UNAIDS 2013b). ber of abortions. This is important because almost half of all abortions are unsafe (Sedgh Each year, almost one in ive women in et al. 2012), meaning that they are carried developing countries become pregnant out by individuals lacking the necessary before the age of 18, and 7.3 million girls skills or in an environment that does not under the age of 18 (2 million of whom are adhere to minimal medical standards.3 These under age 15) give birth (UNFPA 2013). situations account for close to 13 percent of This is dangerous. In developing countries, all maternal deaths. Young women face par- pregnancy-related causes are the largest ticular challenges in accessing abortion care contributor to the mortality of girls ages and account for approximately 40 percent 15 to 19, killing nearly 70,000 girls each of, or as many as 3.2 million (UNFPA 2013), year (UNFPA 2013). Early childbearing unsafe abortions worldwide (Shah and also increases the risk of childbirth com- Ahman 2004). plications such as obstetric istula, which commonly occurs among young girls who Abortions are illegal or highly restricted give birth before their bodies are physically in 53 countries (Center for Reproductive mature and causes chronic incontinence, Rights 2014). Such restrictions have been often resulting in social exclusion, among directly linked to adverse health conse- other consequences. quences (Guttmacher Institute and IPPF 2010). Procedural requirements can under- Globally, over the past 15 years, adoles- mine access to services even where cent fertility rates have dipped slightly, albeit abortions are legal. Other, often related, bar- with large variation across countries and riers to accessing safe abortion care include regions. The average rate in developing coun- social and religious stigma and travel and tries is 10 percent, compared to 2 percent in distance-related constraints. developed nations (Population Reference Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 107 Bureau 2013). Sub-Saharan Africa has the Honduras, and Nicaragua) reported no highest regional rate—about 12 percent change since 2000 (Azevedo et al. 2012). in 2010—and the rate is rising in Burundi, Not surprisingly, early marriage is Chad, the Republic of Congo, Lesotho, and strongly correlated with early childbear- Zimbabwe (Haub 2013). Following current ing (Hindin and Fatusi 2009). The highest trends, the region will take nearly 50 years rates of adolescent births occur in West to reach Europe’s current levels of adoles- and Central Africa and South Asia, where cent fertility. early marriage rates are high (UNFPA Overall, adolescent fertility in Latin 2013). Figure 4.2 shows the regional share America and the Caribbean (72 births per of married adolescents who are, or who 1,000 women 15 to 19 years of age) is lower wish to become, pregnant. Married girls than in Africa (Haub 2013). The annual in Sub-Saharan Africa show higher levels reduction in births between 1997 and 2010 of pregnancy intention than their counter- was 2.7 percent in South Asia and 1.6 percent parts in Asia and in Latin America and the globally, compared with just 1.3 percent in Caribbean. These high levels of pregnancy Latin America and the Caribbean. The coun- desire may also re lect social pressures to tries with the highest teenage pregnancy prove fertility immediately after marriage rates (the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, (Bearinger et al. 2007). FIGURE 4.2 Pregnancy desires of married adolescent girls 100 Married adolescent girls (%) 90 Want to avoid pregnancy, 80 using no method 70 Want to avoid pregnancy, 60 using a traditional 50 method 40 Want to avoid pregnancy, 30 using a modern method 20 Want pregnancy or are 10 intentionally pregnant 0 Sub-Saharan South, Central, Latin America Africa and Southeast Asia and the Caribbean Source: Guttmacher Institute and IPPF 2010. Note: Girls ages 15 to 19 years. 108 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Following from our earlier discussion ■ Young girls are also the least likely about overlapping disadvantage, poor group to have reliable information on young women have fewer choices and their rights and contraceptive options, opportunities (Guttmacher Institute and they are the least likely group to use IPPF 2010). In several Latin American health facilities, and they generally countries—including Bolivia, Colombia, have an incomplete understanding of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, how their reproductive system works and Peru—adolescents who have more edu- (UNFPA 2010). cation, live in urban areas, and come from ■ Unmarried girls are frequently denied wealthier families are less likely to get preg- care because providers require parental nant (Azevedo et al. 2012). Mexican women consent (UNFPA 2006; Zavodny 2004). who gave birth during adolescence were found to be more likely to depend on social Research from East Asia and the Paci ic assistance. This also highlights the potential suggests that restrictive laws—such as long-term consequences for children born those requiring parental consent for HIV to young mothers, including low cognitive or STI testing or those permitting parental test scores, poor behavioral outcomes, grade access to a minor’s medical records with- repetition, and economic disadvantage out the child’s consent—are a signi icant (Levine, Pollack, and Comfort 2001). barrier to sexual and reproductive health services (UNESCO 2013). In Indonesia and At the same time, adolescents who are Malaysia, only married women can access sexually active and wish to avoid pregnancy comprehensive sexual and reproductive ser- face a number of barriers to exercising vices, and in Cambodia, parental consent is agency over these decisions, including lim- required for HIV testing of children under ited mobility and inancial resources, lack of age 18 (UNICEF 2013a). accurate information, stigma related to sex- ual activity before marriage, and restrictive Where girls have greater educational policies (Singh and Darroch 2012). Whether and economic opportunities, evidence sug- married or unmarried, young women and gests that they are more likely to take up girls around the world have greater dif iculty those opportunities than to have children in than older women in accessing comprehen- their teenage years. In Chile, extending the sive contraceptive services and care (UNFPA school day reduced teenage motherhood; 2010). The evidence on this point is striking: an increase in full-day school enrollment of 20 percent reduced the likelihood of teen ■ Across 22 Sub-Saharan African countries motherhood by 5 percent (Berthelon and for which data are available, adoles- Kruger 2011). Beyond the formal education cent girls have the lowest contraceptive system, life-skills courses also have dra- prevalence rate; roughly only 1 in 10 ado- matic impacts. For example, in Marathwada, lescents who are married or in a union India, attendance in life-skills classes use any form of contraception, compared increased the median age of marriage for to roughly 1 in 4 women ages 30 to 44 girls in the area from 16 to 17 in just two (UNFPA 2010). years (ICRW 2006b). Elsewhere in rural Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 109 India, a three-year program that provided While the prevalence in India is not among recruiting services to women resulted in the highest recorded, the sheer size of its more women choosing to enter the labor population means that India has the high- market or to obtain more schooling or post- est number, accounting for one-third of the school training than women getting mar- world’s child brides. ried and starting families. When given the Why is child marriage so common, choice, women opted for greater economic often despite legal prohibitions? Social opportunities (Jensen 2012). norms and expectations are again critical factors. Families may perceive marriage Child marriage as a way to provide for their daughter’s future, believing it will improve her eco- Child marriage in developing countries nomic and social circumstances. The remains pervasive, with one-third of girls reality, however, is that girls who marry being married before age 18 and one in young are more likely to remain poor nine being married before age 15 (UNICEF even after marriage (Mathur, Greene, and 2013b). If present trends continue, more Malhotra 2003). than 142 million girls will be married before the age of 18 in the next decade—that is, There is often a large age difference 39,000 girls each day (UNFPA 2012a). This between child brides and their husbands practice is driven by poverty, social norms, (UNICEF 2005). Such age gaps can dis- and pervasive discrimination against girls. empower the wife (Jain and Kurz 2007). CEDAW calls on all countries to take neces- Research from a number of countries— sary action to eliminate child marriage and including Cambodia, Colombia, Haiti, India, encourages lawmakers to set the minimum Kenya, Peru, South Africa, Turkmenistan, and age of marriage at 18 years (United Nations Zambia—suggests that having a much older 1967). Early marriage forces girls into adult- husband can dramatically increase the risk hood and, frequently, motherhood before of intimate partner violence (UNICEF 2005). they are emotionally or physically mature— Similarly, in Peru (Flake 2005) and India and often before they can complete their (ICRW 2006a), girls who married before the education. age of 18 were twice as likely to experience violence compared with women who mar- Average regional prevalence of child ried later. marriage ranges from 21 percent in Africa and 17 percent in Latin America and the Growing evidence from Sub-Saharan Caribbean to 8 percent in Eastern and Africa shows that girls who marry early are Southern Europe (Raj and Boehmer 2013; also at greater risk of contracting HIV or see also map 4.1). These averages mask con- other STIs. Marriage before age 20 is con- siderable variation across countries. Among sidered a risk factor for HIV infection. For the 111 countries with data, the prevalence example, in Kenya and Zambia, HIV infec- of child marriage ranges from 2 percent in tion rates were found to be higher among Algeria and Libya to as high as 74 and 75 per- married girls than among their unmarried, cent in Niger and Bangladesh, respectively. sexually active counterparts (Bruce 2007). 110 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity MAP 4.1 Child marriage prevalence in 111 countries Child marriage 1–10% 11–20% 21–30% 31–35% 36–40% 41–50% 51–75% Sources: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys, International Center for Research on Women reports, and United Nations Children’s Fund statistics, using the latest available data for women ages 20 to 24, 2001–12. Note: Countries in gray do not have comparable data available. Similarly, in Uganda, the HIV prevalence small but signi icant difference grows as rate for girls 15 to 19 years of age was age at marriage increases. Each year mar- higher for married girls (89 percent) than riage is delayed beyond age 18 is associated for unmarried girls (66 percent) (Kelly with higher odds of a woman being able to et al. 2003), and the age difference between exercise agency to refuse sex. These results spouses was a signi icant risk factor. Child illustrate the important link between early brides are often unable to ask their hus- marriage, adolescents’ sexual and repro- band to get an HIV test, to abstain from ductive control, and experiences of intimate intercourse, or to demand that he use a partner violence. condom (Clark 2004). Our analysis of 55 countries shows that Using Demographic and Health Surveys girls living in poor households are twice as for 37 developing countries, we ind that likely to marry before the age of 18 com- women who marry after the age of 18 are pared with girls in higher-income house- 2 percent more likely to feel able to refuse holds, as are rural girls compared with those sex than women who marry early. This from urban areas. A girl may be married off Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 111 to pay debts or given away by her family in about 6 percentage points, the proba- exchange for a wife for her brother (Mathur, bility of having at least some secondary Greene, and Malhotra 2003). Dowries are schooling by 8 percentage points, and another driving force: in some cases, the the probability of secondary school com- younger the bride, the cheaper the dowry pletion by almost 7 percentage points her family has to pay (Luffman 2012). Other (Wodon, forthcoming). local traditions may be at play; for example, in Bangladesh, the Kyrgyz Republic, and These patterns—of cultural norms, edu- Somalia, there is still a practice of forcing cation, and links to poverty—begin to point girls who have been abducted and raped to to the layered challenges that policy makers marry the perpetrator to protect their fam- need to address. ilies’ honor (UN Women 2010). Whether divorce is socially accept- Beyond poverty, we see other dimensions able and inancially viable can also affect of overlapping disadvantage. Child marriage women’s agency. Overall, divorce is still not is closely associated with illiteracy, and more widely accepted, and in some regions, it is schooling tends to raise the age of marriage: becoming even less so, as in Latin America ■ Evidence from Bangladesh and Sub- and the Caribbean and South Asia.4 Although Saharan Africa suggests that women divorce is currently illegal only in the who married early are over 5 percentage Philippines and Vatican City, in 13 out of the points less likely to be literate and over 70 countries for which data are available, 8 percentage points less likely to have any women do not have equal rights to initiate secondary education (Field and Ambrus a divorce. These countries include some 2008; Nguyen and Wodon 2013). middle-income and high-income countries, such as Israel, Jordan, and Malaysia (Htun ■ In Zimbabwe, only 4 percent of girls and Weldon 2011). Beyond what the law ages 15 to 19 who had attended pri- says on paper, recent qualitative research mary school were married, compared across 20 countries found that the unequal to 40 percent of those who had received division of assets and custody of children no education; in Haiti, the shares were are signi icant obstacles to divorce, along- 15 percent and 43 percent, respectively side opposition by families and commu- (UNICEF 2005). nities, social isolation, and stigma (World ■ A study across 18 of the 20 countries Bank 2011a). with the highest prevalence of child mar- riage found that girls with no education The foregoing has highlighted the were up to six times more likely to marry nature of constraints on family formation as children than girls who had received and has hinted at some important emerg- secondary education (ICRW 2006a). ing opportunities for action. The following ■ Across Africa, each additional year a girl section discusses the evidence on what is married before age 18 has been found works and identi ies key priorities for to reduce her probability of literacy by moving forward. 112 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity been shown to contribute to the strength- “A man can easily divorce his wife ening of women’s agency (Fleming et al. because his decision is ϔinal. [On the 2013). other hand] it is difϔicult for a woman to obtain a divorce because people Engaging men and other will try to reconcile the couple and, gatekeepers moreover, if she wants a divorce, she Paying attention to male attitudes and must reimburse the bride-wealth gender dynamics when designing family even if she had 10 children.” planning interventions is important because —Women’s focus group, Toulou Karey, Loga Department, responsibility shared between women and Dosso Region, Niger (Word Bank 2014) men ultimately promotes greater agency for women in sexual and reproductive health Program and policy decisions. Initiatives that engage men in evidence: What works? sexual and reproductive health and con- traceptive choices show promise, although Several types of interventions have been they need to be carefully designed to avoid shown to expand women’s and girls’ con- unintended consequences (Chant and trol over their sexual and reproductive Guttman 2000). In some cases, such inter- decisions. These include interventions that ventions have been found to reinforce tra- promote more gender-equitable communi- ditional power dynamics or to produce only cation and decision making around sexual modest behavioral change (McCleary-Sills, and reproductive health and that improve McGonagle, and Malhotra 2012; Rottach, women’s access to and the quality of repro- Schuler, and Hardee 2009). In Ghana, for ductive health services and information. example, men who were educated about Interventions have also tested incentives emergency contraception preferred this to for preventing child marriage and for sup- longer-term methods and saw themselves porting girls and their families. Interven- as the primary decision makers on the issue, tions to expand education and economic often without regard for their partners’ opportunities offer promise when the need preferences (L’Engle et al. 2009). But evi- for safe spaces, life skills, and job skills are dence of positive impacts is also emerging. considered. Women’s agency can also be Mass media campaigns are associated with supported through more progressive laws, higher approval of contraception and better including those related to marriage and communication between partners about use property. (Barker, Ricardo, and Nascimento 2007). As discussed in chapter 2, a common The mass media campaigns that were eval- factor across many successful approaches uated as being most effective went beyond is an acknowledgment of the powerful role providing information and encouraged boys of gender norms. Approaches for effectively and men to talk about speci ic topics, such as engaging men, boys, communities, and tra- gender-based violence (UNFPA 2013). ditional authorities to change norms around When the Male Motivator project sought sexuality, marriage, and reproduction have to address men’s limited engagement in Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 113 fertility issues in Malawi, more than one-third exercise of agency in their sexual and of married women reported never having spo- reproductive health. ken to their husbands about family planning. Male outreach workers engaged men who Improving access to and quality were not using contraception in discussions of information and services about gender roles and norms, especially Improving the quality of services and around the norm of having large families to availability of contraceptive methods can demonstrate virility. As a result, contraceptive increase agency. Weak services often have use increased signi icantly, which was attrib- low usage rates. A recent Egyptian study uted to greater ease and frequency of commu- suggests that certain dimensions of qual- nication between partners, resulting in more ity are particularly important, including joint decision making (Shattuck et al. 2011). privacy during medical examinations and Interventions that engage other gate- respect for patient con identiality, as well keepers of women’s health—older male as facility cleanliness, friendly staff, shorter and female family members and commu- wait times, and limited staff turnover nity leaders—can improve communication, (Rabie et al. 2013). Community-based dis- especially between young people, couples, tribution approaches can circumvent wom- and other family members (Mwaikambo en’s mobility constraints (McCleary-Sills, et al. 2011). As highlighted in box 4.1, McGonagle, and Malhotra 2012). However, working with customary leaders such as these may also have the unintended conse- village chiefs can enhance adolescents’ quence of reinforcing gender inequalities. Box 4.1 Engaging traditional gatekeepers in adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Malawi Chapsinja, a rural area outside of Lilongwe, is known for customary practices such as initiation ceremonies, during which information is delivered to young people by traditional counselors or akunjira. A study by the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) documented that traditional counselors were strongly against condom use and that some of the messages they conveyed during the ceremonies likely contributed to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, and coerced sexual initiation rates for girls. FPAM launched a community mobilization campaign to introduce sexual and reproductive health services and information. They worked with akunjira to transform existing rituals into opportunities for health-promoting messages. Girls and boys were encouraged to go to school and become sexually active only when they are socially, mentally, and physically mature. At the same time, young people were trained as peer educators and volunteer condom distributors in their communities. HIV testing has become more frequent, and according to preliminary results, HIV prevalence is declining. The Chapsinja senior chief now plans to serve as a bridge to chiefs in surrounding areas. Source: Boehmova 2013. 114 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity For example, in Bangladesh, community- high-quality reproductive health informa- based distribution was found to reinforce tion and care (Commission on Population women’s seclusion by limiting interac- and Development 2014). tions in the public space (McCleary-Sills, McGonagle, and Malhotra 2012). Methods for measuring the acceptability of services can be incorporated into perfor- Ensuring universal access to compre- mance monitoring. Such measures can include hensive adolescent-friendly services can client ratings of overall service satisfaction reduce the likelihood of early pregnancies. and such indicators as perceived respect for Evidence from around the world shows that dignity, provision of satisfactory information the friendliness of staff, quality of care, cost and explanation, informed choice and consent, of services, and ease of getting to a facility and availability of preferred contraceptive are important determinants of adolescents’ methods. These monitoring indicators link to access to and use of sexual and reproduc- mechanisms of social accountability, as high- tive health services (Erulkar, Charles, and lighted in box 4.2. Alford 2005; Kesterton and de Mello 2010). The 47th session of the ICPD in 2014 upheld Client awareness is important. In Peru, the responsibility of governments to safe- the FEMME (Foundations to Enhance guard adolescents’ rights to privacy, con i- Management of Maternal Emergencies) dentiality, respect, and informed consent Project aimed to standardize care with new and to address the legal, regulatory, and emergency obstetric guidelines. Among social barriers adolescents face in receiving other things, these guidelines stressed Box 4.2 Social accountability and service delivery Social accountability mechanisms that help improve the quality of service delivery can improve women’s ability to exercise agency over their own health and their health outcomes, as in the following examples: › In Uganda, the introduction of a local accountability mechanism gave clients greater control over the delivery of primary health services, including through provision of information about staff performance. A year later, child survival rates improved, leading to a 33 percent reduction in under-five mortality. › In Peru, a citizen surveillance program increased the number of births in health facilities by almost one-third in just one year, and increased access to culturally appropriate delivery options. › Recent work from Orissa, India, identified three effective processes that had positive impacts on reproductive and maternal health: generating demand for rights and better services through information campaigns, leveraging intermediaries to legitimize the demands of poor and marginalized women, and sensitizing leaders and health providers to the needs of women. Sources: Björkman and Svensson 2009; Díaz et al. 2001; Grépin and Klugman 2013; Papp, Gogoi, and Campbell 2012; World Bank 2011b. Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 115 women’s rights as patients and their rights in 2012, following the introduction of an to privacy during care. As a result of the RBF approach (World Bank 2013a). project, the maternal mortality rate declined More accessible family planning meth- by 49 percent in intervention facilities, ods and information also made a difference compared to 25 percent in control facilities in Ukraine, where removing barriers to pro- (Rottach, Schuler, and Hardee 2009). viding sexual and reproductive health ser- vices led to a two-thirds decline in abortions Results-based inancing (RBF)—whereby since the early 1990s. This decline was attrib- health service providers are paid accord- uted to policies and programs that priori- ing to their performance along a previously tize young people’s sexual and reproductive agreed-upon set of outcomes—has been used health, for example, through better training to expand women’s options for reproductive of staff, through the addition of specialized health services and to improve sexual and health facilities, and through public-private reproductive health outcomes. In Rwanda, partnerships that increased the range of incentives have been introduced for commu- available contraceptive methods and reduced nity health workers that are based on their their cost (UNFPA 2013). performance of certain functions, such as referrals of women for prenatal care, institu- Vouchers can cut the costs of accessing tional delivery, referrals of new users of fam- services, which overcomes a critical bar- ily planning, and the number of current users rier to exercising agency, particularly for (World Bank 2013b). Preliminary results young people. In Nicaragua, vouchers valid from several countries suggest that ef iciency, for three months can be used for one free equity, and accountability can be strengthened consultation and a free follow-up visit for ser- through the results-based approach, as in the vices such as counseling on family planning following examples: and prenatal care. Vouchers are distributed to adolescents and youth by nongovernmen- ■ In Afghanistan, the number of women tal organizations in markets, outside schools, delivering their babies with the support in clinics, on the streets, and door to door, and of skilled birth attendants more than they can be transferred to another adolescent doubled from April 2010 to December (UNFPA 2013). 2012 in RBF-supported facilities (World Innovations in information and Bank 2013c). communication technologies (ICTs) show ■ In Cameroon, the number of births promise in improving quality and access, attended by skilled professionals more including through enhanced social account- than doubled between 2012 and 2013 ability, although more rigorous evalua- in the regions involved in an RBF project tions are needed in developing countries (Robyn, Sorgho, and Zang 2014). (Gurman, Rubin, and Roess 2012). Promising ■ In Nigeria, coverage of institutional deliv- directions using mobile technology include eries increased by 30 percentage points (to the following: 39 percent), and coverage of prenatal care ■ Text messages can be a feasible method increased from 16 percent to 77 percent to send information and service referrals, 116 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity especially for adolescents (Levine et al. communities exposed to such a show than 2008). in unexposed communities; the effect was ■ Reminders by text message have also greatest among women in lower socioeco- been used to improve adherence to nomic groups and women in the middle or antiretroviral treatment and to increase end of their fertile years (La Ferrara, Chong, births delivered by skilled attendants and Duryea 2008). In the Arab Republic of (Lester et al. 2010; Pop-Eleches et al. Egypt, community norms—most notably 2011). desired family size and the community level of family planning use—are associated with ■ Similarly, mobile solutions can improve changes in individual family planning use patient awareness. For example, Project over time (Storey and Kaggwa 2009). This Masiluleke’s text message campaign in link is also re lected in fertility rates falling South Africa, which promotes HIV/AIDS following several national media campaigns awareness, nearly tripled the volume of to promote child spacing and limited family calls to a local HIV/AIDS helpline (United size. As a result, the average number of births Nations Foundation–Vodafone Founda- per woman declined from 5.3 in 1980 to 3.1 tion Partnership 2009). in 2005 (El-Zanaty and Way 2005). New partnerships using ICTs are emerg- ing. In Nigeria, the World Bank Group is sup- Promoting alternatives to early porting an initiative using an SMS (short marriage message service) platform, both to elicit cit- izen feedback on health services and to pro- Programmatic efforts to combat child mar- vide important maternal health information riage have gained momentum over the past from the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action.5 two decades, with some encouraging results, In Tanzania, Vodafone and the Comprehensive albeit many still on a small scale. Most eval- Community Based Rehabilitation Hospital in uated programs—18 out of 23 in a recent Dar es Salaam have partnered to ensure that systematic review (Malhotra et al. 2011)— poor women can receive corrective surgery focus on girls themselves, through life-skills for obstetric istula. Through this program, training, vocational and livelihood skills women from the poorest communities receive training, sexual and reproductive health the funds for transport costs to the hospi- education, communication campaigns, tal through M-PESA, a mobile phone–based mentoring and peer group training, and money transfer (UNFPA 2011; Vodafone “safe space” models. Several programs have Foundation 2011). changed knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in just a few years, although it is not yet clear It has been shown that media can help to which speci ic components are most in lu- promote changes in perceptions about ideal ential (Malhotra et al. 2011). family size and contraceptive use. In Brazil, soap operas have successfully promoted Programs are increasingly addressing lower fertility by portraying smaller families poverty, education, and lack of economic as a positive norm. Over a 20-year period, opportunities as drivers of child marriage fertility rates were signi icantly lower in (see box 4.3). We have seen clear evidence Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 117 Box 4.3 A promising approach to delaying marriage in Ethiopia Ethiopia has high rates of child marriage. In Awi zone, in the rural Amhara region, one in five girls marry before age 15, and nearly half (44 percent) marry by age 17. Nearly all (92 percent) of these marriages are arranged by their families. In 2004, the regional government partnered with the Population Council on a two-year project to delay marriage and keep girls in school. This program, Berhane Hewan (“Light for Eve”), provided families with cash conditioned on their daughters remaining unmarried and in school for the duration of the program. Other elements included social mobilization of girls led by female mentors, provision of school supplies, livelihood skills for out-of-school girls, and “community conversations” on early marriage and reproductive health. Berhane Hewan was among the first projects targeting child marriage to be rigorously evaluated, and the results are promising. Girls (ages 10 to 14) enrolled in the program were only one-tenth as likely to be married as girls in the control site. Participants were also three times more likely to be in school. Married girls in the project site were three times more likely to be using contraception compared to married girls in the control site. Source: Erulkar and Muthengi 2009. that attending school reduces the likelihood sometimes tied to investment in daughters’ of child marriage. It follows, then, that education and to the condition that they improving access to quality schooling and do not marry before age 18. In 1994, the improving retention of girls in school are, Haryana government in India launched Apni among other things, important routes Beti Apna Dhan (ABAD, or “Our Daughter, to preventing child marriage (Malhotra Our Wealth”), which gave poor families et al. 2011). Rising education levels have an incentive to keep their daughters in been a critical factor in increasing the age school and unmarried until the age of 18 of marriage in a number of economies, and sought to increase family and commu- including Indonesia; Sri Lanka; Taiwan, nity perceptions about the value of girls. A China; and Thailand (ICRW 2013). recent impact evaluation showed that girls enrolled in ABAD were signi icantly more Together these indings suggest that a likely to be in school and unmarried at age program providing a conditional cash transfer 18 than were girls in the control group, (CCT) for early adolescents that transitions although the effects on attitudinal changes to an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) for by parents about the value of girls were less older girls may yield the best results for both clear (Nanda, Datta, and Das 2014). schooling and delaying pregnancy. Other evidence suggests that both CCTs Given the links to poverty noted previ- and UCTs can play an important role: ously, it is no surprise that inancial incen- tives can help combat child marriage. ■ In Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, program Payments to girls or their families are experience suggests that conditional 118 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity cash transfers (CCTs can be an effective successfully engage community and religious instrument to delay marriage and child- leaders in efforts to chip away at the norms bearing (Lopez-Calva and Perova 2012; that perpetuate the practice. Some programs Azevedo and Favara 2012), although the engage not only teachers but also community underlying mechanisms are not fully clear.6 leaders. Others use conditional cash trans- ■ Evidence from the Punjab Female School fers to improve public transportation to go to Stipend Program in Pakistan suggests schools or improve the quality of schooling that CCT effects on early childbearing (Wodon, forthcoming). An important exam- were long lasting (Alam, Baez, and Del ple is the Tostan program in Senegal, which Carpio 2011). mobilized communities to change norms and expectations around female genital cutting, ■ An evaluation of a cash transfer program child marriage, and the value of the girl child in Malawi found that teenage pregnancy (see box 2.1 in chapter 2). and marriage rates were substantially lower in the UCT arm than in the CCT arm, Programs can include one-on-one meetings because of the greater impact of uncondi- with parents, community meetings and educa- tional transfers among out-of-school girls tion sessions, committees and forums to guide (Baird, McIntosh, and Özler 2011). These services for girls, communication campaigns indings suggest that a CCT program for and public announcements, and pledges by early adolescents that transitions to a UCT community gatekeepers. The Maharashtra Life for older girls may yield the best results Skills Program in India engaged parents and for both schooling and early pregnancy. other adults in committees to develop an ado- lescent life-skills curriculum. The results show Policies can also enable adolescents to the power of community engagement in chang- make informed fertility choices and broaden ing deeply entrenched social norms. In less than their options. In a program in rural Egypt, three years, girls’ age at marriage increased girl-friendly spaces combined literacy and by one year (from 16 to 17), and unmarried life-skills training with sports and changed girls expressed greater self-con idence and girls’ perceptions about early marriage. an increased ability to negotiate with parents. Evaluation results show an increase in liter- Among young married women, knowledge acy and school enrollment: nearly 70 percent and use of health services increased, and other of program participants entered or reen- decision makers showed greater support for tered school. After the project, participants women’s reproductive health needs (Pande expressed their intention to marry later, and et al. 2006). girls reported increased self-con idence, In Uganda, the Empowerment and with 65 percent feeling “strong and able to Livelihoods for Adolescents (ELA) pro- face any problem” (Brady et al. 2007, 2). gram illustrates the ways in which Successfully addressing child marriage agency-enhancing goals can be included in requires locally developed solutions that are economic empowerment. ELA targeted girls tailored to the context and re lect an under- ages 14 to 20 and provided life-skills train- standing of the social and religious motiva- ing and local market–informed vocational tions for child marriage. Several programs training. The program signi icantly improved Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 119 girls’ agency over sexual and reproductive Implementing legal responses health decisions, with a 26 percent reduc- Although not suf icient on their own, legal tion in rates of early childbearing and a 58 reforms are important. Laws must be backed percent reduction in rates of child marriage by enforcement, including clear mandates, and cohabitation. A 50 percent increase in procedures, and funding and accountabil- condom use was also reported among girls ity mechanisms. Where legal provisions are who were sexually active. The share of girls more progressive than social norms, knowl- who reported engaging in sex against their edge and compliance may remain low. Child will dropped from 14 percent to 7 percent marriage has been illegal in Bangladesh since (Bandiera et al. 2014). the 1920s, yet three-quarters of girls are mar- Overall, multisectoral approaches are likely ried by their 18th birthday. In such contexts, to be more effective than a single-stream a multipronged approach is needed (box 4.4). intervention. This is because the risk factors for early pregnancy are closely intertwined— Even where progressive laws exist, gaps including, for example, lack of education or in implementation and procedural require- economic opportunities—and multiple vul- ments render services inaccessible in some nerabilities that place girls at risk of unin- countries. Take abortion services, for exam- tended pregnancies must be addressed ple. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Nepal together. Moreover, the prevalence of adoles- ruled that the country’s abortion law had cent mothers among the poor points to the not been suf iciently implemented because need for interventions to address other chal- the cost was prohibitively high.7 In 2011, lenges. To help break an intergenerational the European Court of Human Rights found pattern of poverty, improving the socioeco- that, for the second time, Poland’s lack of a nomic conditions of children born to young comprehensive legal framework for imple- mothers can be critical (Azevedo et al. 2012). mentation violated its obligation to ensure Box 4.4 Closing the gap between laws and practice in the Arab Republic of Egypt A recent review of laws and the code of medical ethics showed that Egypt recognizes most of women’s key rights related to family planning and reproductive health. Reproductive rights are also recognized in the Standards of Practice for Service Providers in Family Planning. Yet the standards and guidelines are not legally binding and, therefore, cannot be relied on to enforce or pursue breaches of rights, such as denial of service, coercion over a woman’s choice of contraceptive method, or denial of informed consent. Women’s lack of agency continues to be a challenge, with data from four regions showing that awareness of the right to autonomy is notably lower than other rights. In some instances, women are asked for spousal consent to receive sexual and reproductive services, although this is not required by law. In 2007, to help close this gap, Mansoura University launched joint medico-legal and ethics training courses for health and law students. Source: Rabie et al. 2013. 120 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity access to safe abortion services.8 In Ghana, Legal interventions can also ensure despite progressive abortion laws, unsafe the right to free and full consent to marry. abortion continues to be one of the lead- Countries can enhance penalties for those ing causes of maternal mortality in the who force girls and women into unions. country.9 Amendments to the penal code of the Kyrgyz Republic, for example, increased the penalties Progressive laws on abortion, when for the practice of bride kidnapping, in which implemented effectively, can save women’s women and girls are taken against their will lives by broadening their options in the case for the purpose of marriage (UN Women of an unintended pregnancy, thereby mini- 2012). The government can also enforce a mizing their risk of dying from an unsafe minimum age of marriage by requiring birth procedure. Legalization in Bangladesh, certi icates prior to issuing marriage reg- Romania, and South Africa led to measur- istrations, although this in turn requires a able declines in abortion-related mortality functioning mechanism of compulsory birth (Benson, Andersen, and Samandari 2011). In registration (Center for Reproductive Rights South Africa, the annual number of abortion- 2013). Employing women in the justice related deaths fell by 91 percent after lib- system can also help to increase women’s eralization of the abortion law (Jewkes and trust in the law and make them feel con ident Rees 2005). about seeking help.10 *** Sexual and reproductive autonomy are intertwined with women’s agency and opportunities in life more broadly. Fertility decisions should be made on the basis of informed choices and life plans that women and girls themselves value. This is especially relevant for vulnerable adolescents, who may perceive motherhood as their only option for social mobility and recognition. It is important to engage men, boys, and community and family opinion leaders as informed and responsible decision makers and as advocates for women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Programs that target and engage only women and girls will bring only partial results. Notes especially in conservative cultural con- texts, it is more dif icult to collect reliable  1. These data are from the United Nations information on such women. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women’s Indicators and  3. This description accords with the World Statistics Database, http://unstats.un.org Health Organization’s de inition of unsafe /unsd/demographic/gender/wistat/. abortion. For more information, see the  2. Statistics on unmet need understate the organization’s website at http://www true demand for family planning. They .who.int/reproductivehealth/publications often exclude unmarried women because, /unsafe_abortion/en/. Chapter 4 Control over Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights | 121  4. This inding is from the World Values Gates, and Yasmin Ahmed. 1994. “The Effect Survey, 2010–14 (wave 6). For more of Husband Counseling on NORPLANT information, see the survey’s website at Contraceptive Acceptability in Bangladesh.” http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org. Contraception 50 (3): 263–73. 5. For more information about the Mobile   Ashraf, Nava, Erica Field, and Jean Lee. 2010. Alliance for Maternal Messages, see “Household Bargaining and Excess Fertility: the organization’s website at http:// An Experimental Study in Zambia.” Working mobilemamaalliance.org/mobile-messages. paper, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.  6. Teenage fertility may decrease through Azevedo, João Pedro, and Marta Favara. 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Washington, DC: World Bank. $700 Million by 2015 to Improve Women and Children’s Health in Poor Countries.” Zavodny, Madeline. 2004. “Fertility and News, September 23. http://www.worldbank Parental Consent for Minors to Receive .org /en/news/press-release/2013/09/23 Contraceptives.” American Journal of Public /world-bank-group-invest-700-million-2015 Health 94 (8): 1347–51. Chapter C Key hapter 5 K ey messages > Access to and control over land can expand women’s agency, increasing self-esteem, economic opportunities, mobility outside of the home, and decision-making power. > Fewer women than men report owning land or housing. More women who are married, divorced, or widowed report owning land than do single women. Women are more likely to report they own land jointly than individually. > Social norms, customary practices, inaccessible and weak institutions, and, in many cases, women’s lack of awareness of their rights are important barriers to the full realization of women’s land rights. > Three key areas of legislation—family law, inheritance law, and land law—affect the right to own and control property. Complex and sometimes contradictory sets of statutory laws, customs, and norms affect women’s land ownership. > Law reform and improved implementation, better gender-sensitive administration, and richer sex-disaggregated data are all needed to ensure women’s land rights are fully realized. CHAPTER 5 Control over Land and Housing Women’s control over securing rights to land and other produc- land and housing as a tive resources in the eradication of pov- development challenge erty and reduction of gender inequality (Hanstad, Tran, and Bannick 2013). Equal Access to and control over housing and land rights to access, use, and control of land are can expand women’s agency and increase enshrined in international agreements, such their access to a range of opportunities. The as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights World Development Report 2012 emphasized and the Convention on the Elimination of that assets are instrumental in increasing All Forms of Discrimination against Women agency through boosting voice and bargain- (CEDAW), and regional agreements, such as ing power in household decision-making, the Arab Charter on Human Rights. These access to capital, and overall economic inde- rights have become increasingly important pendence (World Bank 2011). This chapter with the advent of large-scale land deals explores the bene its for women of owning in developing countries. Women are often and controlling land, presents new analysis marginalized in such processes because they about ownership patterns, and highlights lack formal land rights and are not included evidence about what works to increase in negotiations leading up to the leasing or women’s ownership. Access to movable sale of land (Behrman, Meinzen-Dick, and assets and credit are clearly important for Quisumbing 2011). women’s economic empowerment but are outside the scope of this book. Women’s ability to exercise agency over land and housing is determined by the inter- A growing global consensus recognizes play of laws—including statutory, custom- the intrinsic and instrumental importance of ary, and religious laws—and social norms. Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 131 Where good laws do exist, social norms that opportunities (Quisumbing and Maluccio dictate men are the sole decision makers in 2003), and can exacerbate land conflict the household may mean that those laws (Deininger and Castagnini 2008; Joireman are not implemented. We focus on three 2008). Studies document that women’s access key areas of legislation—family law, inher- to land and housing can affect girls’ survival itance law, and land law—that affect the rates (Qian 2008), their nutritional status right to own and control property (Hallward- (Du lo 2003), and investment in girls’ school- Driemeier and Hasan 2013). Together they ing (Luke and Munshi 2011), suggesting govern the distribution of household prop- far-reaching bene its. erty and assets, and discrimination against Amartya Sen (1990) has noted that women in these areas can result in unequal female land ownership can increase a wom- property rights. Today, 37 of 143 countries an’s contribution to the common good of included in Women, Business, and the Law the household, giving her a stronger voice. 2014 still have discriminatory laws in place A broad selection of literature af irms this (World Bank and IFC 2013). view, showing that enhanced ownership of assets, particularly land, raises house- Potentially transformative hold well-being through increased female effects bargaining power (Doss 2005; Smith et al. 2003). This increase can translate into Control over land and housing has instru- greater participation in household spending mental value. Women who have more control decisions and stronger, more realistic exit over land—whether through inheritance, land options in the case of an unhappy or abu- titling, improved documentation, or stronger sive relationship. Twenty years ago, Bina communal rights—tend to have greater self- Argawal’s study of rural South Asia identi- esteem, respect from other family members, ied gaps in land ownership and control as economic opportunities, mobility outside of the most important contributor to dispari- the home, and decision-making power (Bhatla, ties in economic well-being, social status, Chakraborty, and Duvvury 2006; Rodgers and and empowerment (Agarwal 1994). More Menon 2012). Constraints on their land own- recent studies reinforce and extend this ership can reduce the ef iciency of land use inding with the following associations: (Udry 1996), can decrease women’s economic ■ In Vietnam, women with a joint title are “When I have the feeling of security, more aware of legal issues, are more that my land will not be taken away, I likely to proactively seek a Land Tenure am able to grow food on it to feed my Certi icate, have more say in the use and family and support my community. My disposition of land, and are more likely to community is more secure when I am earn independent incomes than women secure.” who are not on the title (World Bank 2008). ■ In Peru, squatter households given prop- —Parents of Children with Disabilities (ZPCD), Zimbabwe, Huairou Commission member erty titles experienced a 22 percent (Scholz et al. 2013) reduction in fertility rates, and females 132 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity who received a joint title were two times legislation alone. Access to credit, markets, less likely to have a child than females in education, extension services, technology, families in which the title was in the male personal mobility, and public voice all in lu- partner’s name only. Receipt of titles also ence women’s ability to claim and make use allowed women to seek paid work instead of property rights (Spichiger et al. 2013). of spending time safeguarding their land against property invasion (Field 2007). What do ownership and control ■ In Nepal, women who own land are sig- mean? ni icantly more likely to have a inal say Ownership and control are de ined in in household decisions, and children of box 5.2. Generally, survey measures of own- mothers who own land are less likely to ership use self-reported ownership, which be underweight, with associated bene its is obtained simply by asking respondents for almost all maternal and child nutri- whether they own land. This means that tional outcomes (Allendorf 2007). land may be reported as “owned” even when ■ In Ecuador, joint land ownership increased this is not strictly the case legally. Questions women’s participation in household deci- about asset ownership more generally typ- sions about crop cultivation (Deere and ically refer to the household and are only Twymen 2012a, 2012b). sometimes followed by inquiries about individual ownership, which is needed to ■ In rural Karnataka, India, ownership of conduct gender analysis. Questions about land and housing improved women’s access and control may differ depending on mobility outside the home and their ability the purpose of the survey. The Demographic to make decisions about their work, health, and Health Surveys (DHS), for example, ask and household spending (Swaminathan, men and women individually about owner- Lahoti, and Suchitra 2012). ship of land and housing. Our analysis of 15 countries suggests the The different types of ownership and use overall level of gender equality in a country rights outlined in box 5.2 affect the degree is correlated with the share of women who of women’s control over land or housing, report owning housing ( igure 5.1). which in turn can have important bearing on For single women, land ownership can household decision making and well-being. provide independence. It may allow them to It is also important to recognize that joint postpone marriage or stay in school longer. ownership does not necessarily mean that In India, for example, changes in the inher- women and men have equal management itance laws allowing unmarried daughters rights over the land or housing they own. to inherit ancestral land delayed the age Land and housing rights may differ in of marriage and increased investment in urban versus rural areas. Increased urban- education for girls (Deininger, Goyal, and ization means that owning housing in urban Nagarajan 2010; see also box 5.1). areas will become increasingly important Expanding women’s ownership of land for providing a place for women and their and housing is not a panacea, nor is land families to live as well as a potential source Cha Chapter pter pte Chapte C Co r 5 Con Control ontro tro tr r l over over ve ver Land L nd La Ho Housi usi us ng | 133 d and Housing 13 FIGURE 5.1 Correlation between women’s property ownership and gender equality Gender Inequality Index, 2012 0.7 Côte d’Ivoire Congo, Burkina Faso 0.6 Rep. Haiti Mozambique Senegal Zimbabwe Uganda 0.5 Gabon Honduras Indonesia Nepal Burundi Rwanda 0.4 Armenia 0.3 0 20 40 60 80 100 Women who own housing, land, or both (%) Sources: Demographic and Health Surveys data, 2010–12; United Nations Development Programme Gender Inequality Index (2012). Box 5.1 Can control over land reduce gender-based violence? Chapter 3 reviewed the extent and gravity of gender-based violence, focusing primarily on violence in the home. Women’s asset ownership may provide exit options from unhappy or abusive relationships and can reduce vulnerability to domestic violence. In Kerala, India, a panel survey of ever-married women (that is, married women, widows, or divorcees) found that more than 70 percent of the women who owned land or housing and who had experienced long-term physical violence had left their husband and the matrimonial home, and few had returned. In contrast, almost all of the 20 percent of women who did not own such property went to live with their parents, and, ultimately, half returned to their husbands. Land and housing ownership also demonstrated a more secure exit option than employment: only one-third of women were employed, and the majority were in low-paying and irregular employment. In West Bengal, India, women who did not own land or housing were more likely to report domestic violence than those who did—57 percent of women without property compared to 35 percent of women who were property owners. In contrast, in Sri Lanka, women who owned property did not report lower rates of intimate partner violence than women who did not own property. The mixed nature of these findings may be due in part to women acquiring property after marriage, when a pattern of violence may already be entrenched in the relationship, but further exploration is needed. The introduction of joint titling in Ethiopia’s Amhara region in 2000, supported by strong implementation, has meant that men are more reluctant to ask for a divorce because they risk the division of their property. However, whether this trend is beneficial for women or ties them to abusive relationships is unclear. It is important to bear in mind that most of the studies do not show causal relationships but instead demonstrate associations. Sources: Agarwal and Panda 2007; Teklu 2005. 134 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity of income. In rural areas, agricultural land more likely to own it jointly, whereas men may be more important for men’s and wom- are more likely to own land alone. Often en’s livelihoods and have greater bene its women can access land only through male for women’s agency than house ownership relatives. A women’s ability to inherit or (Rakodi 2014). This is an area in which hold onto land in the case of divorce is data and evidence are limited and further often limited, and daughters may not research is needed. be entitled to inherit land. Our analysis of DHS data finds that women who are younger, are single, and have less educa- How large is the challenge? tion are more disadvantaged than others Data on land ownership are scarce and and that certain characteristics, such as often not comparable across countries, being married or working, can increase but available data suggest that women are women’s likelihood of owning land and disadvantaged. Women who own land are housing. Box 5.2 What do we mean by ownership and control? Clarifying the terms ownership and control in relation to land and housing is important. Reported ownership indicates that a respondent reports owning land or housing (a question usually posed at the household level). However, even when a woman self-reports as a joint owner of a land parcel with her husband, often his name alone appears on the documentation. Documented ownership indicates that an individual’s name is on the relevant document, either alone or jointly with someone else. This document may be a formal land title or a customary certificate, certificate of sale, or inheritance documentation. Inclusion on a document provides a verifiable form of ownership; this is important for women in the wake of a divorce or a husband’s death and also in the case of a sale or transfer of land. Effective ownership is about decision-making power over how to use and dispose of property. Individuals may have partial ownership rights, such as user rights to cultivate, rent, and even bequeath land but still lack authority to sell the land. In general, women’s documented ownership of land is lower than self-reported ownership. For example, 8 percent of women and 15 percent of men are self-reported landowners in Ghana, which falls to 1 percent and 2 percent, respectively, among those with a formal ownership document. Individuals can have control over land under customary law in a number of countries, including Malawi and Rwanda. Under customary law, individuals may have rights of use, with differing degrees of freedom to lease out, mortgage, bequeath, or sell. Land rights also may have a temporal or locational dimension: they may accrue only for a person’s lifetime or some lesser period and may be conditional on the person residing on the land or locally. The extent to which an individual perceives herself to be an owner may affect her choices about the land and decision making more broadly. Sources: Agarwal 1994; Doss 2012 ; Doss et al. 2011, 2013. Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 135 Existing disparities proportions of men and women report own- ing land jointly, but in the other countries, the A recent review of 17 microstudies from Sub- share of women reporting joint ownership of Saharan Africa suggests that regardless of land is much higher than that of men. indicator and country, women are disadvan- taged relative to men in self-reported land Widespread debate surrounds the mer- ownership, documented ownership, manage- its of joint versus individual titles, but rig- ment control, and decision-making authority orous evidence is limited, and the patterns over land. In Africa, the size of the gender gap are complex and differ widely within and varies by country and type of land and by between countries. Social norms are impor- type of landholding (Doss et al. 2013). tant; contravening social norms by obtain- ing individual property rights may carry Our analysis of DHS data suggests that high social costs, making joint property women are less likely to report owning rights more attractive (Jackson 2003). In land or housing than men in most of the 13 Chandigarh, India, where joint titling was countries covered.1 In some cases, the gaps introduced in 2000, women reported valuing are striking ( igure 5.2). In several countries, joint tenure because their husbands could the share of male landowners exceeds that not sell the property without their consent, of female landowners by a large margin, but and joint titling improved their self-esteem the reverse is never true; where women and access to inancial and economic infor- report owning more land, as in Rwanda, the mation and increased their involvement in difference tends to be slight. With respect household decision making (Datta 2006). to housing, in a few countries, women’s In Heredia, Costa Rica, joint titles gave bar- reported ownership is equal to or slightly gaining power to women during divorce pro- greater than men’s: In Burkina Faso, more ceedings but also meant that couples were than twice as many men than women more likely to stay in unhappy or violent (65 percent and 31 percent, respectively) relationships because neither could afford to report owning housing; in Mozambique, buy out the other (Blanco Rothe et al. 2002). 64 percent of women and 59 percent of men The effects on women’s decision- report owning housing. In some countries, making power vary. In Mali, Malawi, and very few women or men own property: in Tanzania, women with individual prop- Nepal, roughly one-quarter of men and less erty ownership increased their agricul- than one-tenth of women report owning tural decision-making power compared to housing. women with joint ownership, but individ- Men’s reporting of sole ownership is ual property ownership had little effect on higher in all 13 countries, most notably nonagricultural decision making. In India, in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, individual property ownership had little Honduras, Nepal, Senegal, and Uganda. in luence on agricultural and household Women tend to report owning land jointly decision making, and joint ownership had rather than owning it alone, except in a negative correlation with women’s inputs Honduras and Nepal ( igure 5.3). In Armenia, into household decision making. Social Honduras, Indonesia, and Senegal, similar norms in India may mean that women with FIGURE 5.2 Share of women and men who report owning housing and land Nepal, 2011 Senegal, 2010 Côte d’lvoire, 2011–12 Burkina Faso, 2010 Women and men Honduras, 2012 who own housing Zimbabwe, 2010 Uganda, 2011 Indonesia, 2012 Rwanda, 2010 Ethiopia, 2011 Burundi, 2010 Mozambique, 2011 Armenia, 2010 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Population (%) Nepal, 2011 Senegal, 2010 Honduras, 2012 Women and men Côte d’lvoire, 2011–12 who own land Burkina Faso, 2010 Zimbabwe, 2010 Uganda, 2011 Armenia, 2010 Indonesia, 2012 Source: Estimates based on Ethiopia, 2011 Demographic and Health Surveys Mozambique, 2011 data for 13 countries, latest year available. Rwanda, 2010 Burundi, 2010 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Population (%) FIGURE 5.3 Joint and sole reported ownership of land, by gender 50 45 Sole Joint 40 Landowners (%) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 C Bu o a m s ia ia N e Se da e E t ire o n ia C ur o E t oire bi a e N e m da ba a o n ia M do as Se nda a ia M do as d’ i d’ i R w al U g g al R w al U g g al e nd am si qu m d e nd bw s bw qu s en H op H op r k en Fa In ur Fa In ur ep an ep o Zi an Zi an oz n e oz n e ôt r u bi ne ôt u Iv Iv a ne rm ba d Bu r m hi d hi a in in A A B rk Bu Women Men Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys data, latest year available, 2010–12. Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 137 higher social status who are property own- Marital status and work ers prefer to say that they are not involved Our analysis of DHS data for 15 countries iden- in agricultural decision making. More data ti ies some of the characteristics associated and evidence are needed (for example, on with women’s land and housing ownership. individual ownership at the plot level) to Marital status, participation in labor markets, enhance our understanding of how indi- and geographic location in luence whether vidual and joint ownership affects women’s women are likely to report owning property. role in household decision making (Doss Figure 5.4 shows that in rural areas, married et al. 2014). women (including women who are formerly Postcon lict reconstruction may provide married or in de facto partnerships) have the opportunities for reinforcing women’s land highest probability of owning land and are rights. In the aftermath of the con lict in Rwanda, for example, the government ini- tiated a policy of inclusive land reform to avert the possibility of future disputes over Social norms in India may mean that land. The resulting Matrimonial Regimes, women with higher social status who Liberties, and Succession Law (2000) and are property owners prefer to say that Organic Land Law (2005) have improved they are not involved in agricultural inheritance rights and joint titling for decision making. women (UN Women 2013b). FIGURE 5.4 Probability of rural land ownership, by marital and working status 50 45 40 Predicted probability of owning land (%) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Living Never Married Widowed Formerly Working Not together married married working Source: Estimates using Demographic and Health Surveys data for 15 countries, latest years available, 2010–12. Note: Figure shows predicted probabilities of land ownership in rural areas, controlling for age, work status, number of children, husband’s education, marital status, various household characteristics, property regime (sep- arate or community of property), and country fixed effects. 138 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity about ive times more likely to own land than inheritance rights to each other’s estates, are women who have never married.2 Work- in addition to provisions governing those ing increases the likelihood of land ownership who pass away without a will. In 28 of 143 too. In some countries, the effect is particularly countries in the Women, Business, and the notable. Women who work in the Republic of Law database (http://wbl.worldbank.org/), Congo, for example, are 24 percent more likely statutory inheritance laws differentiate to report owning land than women who do between women and men. These countries not work. Evidence from India also suggests include all those covered in the Middle East that land ownership is a strong predictor of and North Africa and nine in Sub-Saharan self-employment for rural women (Menon Africa (Burundi, Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, and Rodgers 2011). In urban areas, married Mauritania, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, and women are three times more likely to report Uganda). Ten countries (Cameroon, Chile, the owning housing than never married women. Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Gabon, Laws and norms Haiti, Mauritania, and the Philippines) limit married women’s rights over property by Statutory laws, customs, and norms affect requiring women to have their husband’s land ownership. Customary and local ten- permission to enter into a transaction con- ure systems are widespread. Worldwide, cerning land (but lack a similar requirement as many as 2 billion people live under cus- for men). tomary tenure regimes (USAID 2013), and less than 10 percent of land in Africa is held Customary inheritance laws prevail con- under statutory land tenure (Cotula et al. stitutionally in more than one-quarter of 2009; Deininger 2003). These sets of laws countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and are and norms can be complex and sometimes often biased against women (Harrington and contradictory. Most developing countries Chopra 2010). Customary land in Ghana is have hybrid or plural land tenure systems, speci ically excluded from statutory inher- where statutory property tenure rights exist itance laws and, instead, usually devolves alongside customary regimes. Customary to a male heir in accordance with custom tenure is often recognized under statutes or (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2013). In in constitutions; in Cambodia, the Land Law some instances, judges may have a choice (2001) grants collective ownership rights to as to which law to apply. This is the case in indigenous communities (Xanthaki 2003), Sri Lanka, where inheritance questions may and in Rwanda, the Organic Land Law be answered by the body of case law, Roman- (2005) recognizes customarily acquired Dutch law, Shari’a law, or customary law, land (Ali, Deininger, and Goldstein 2011). depending on the ethnic group (Scalise 2009). Inheritance regimes re lect norms The reform of discriminatory inheri- around women’s property ownership and tance laws can have broad positive effects. are often very complex. Key aspects include Females whose fathers died after the 1994 whether sons and daughters are treated reform in India were 22 percentage points equally and whether spouses have equal more likely to inherit land than those whose Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 139 fathers died before the reform came into of other family members (Stanley, Lamb, and effect. The reform also had additional ben- De Martino 2013). e its for women’s agency, including an In Rwanda, a land tenure regularization increase in women’s age at marriage rel- pilot found that legally married women ative to men and increased educational were more likely to have their informal land attainment (Deininger, Goyal, and Nagarajan rights documented and secured and to be 2010). However, implementation of the law regarded as joint owners than women in is still weak, suggesting potentially more customary unions. Analysis of the pilot pro- far-reaching results. For example, public gram’s effect showed the probability of hav- of icials may be ill informed, and women ing documented land ownership fell by nine may lack awareness of their rights. Social percentage points for women in customary norms can lead to women giving up their unions (Ali, Deininger, and Goldstein 2011). rights in return for protection from male In response to these indings, the govern- relatives, and families may feel they have ment changed the program to enable women ful illed their inancial obligations to their in all types of unions to register land. This daughters by providing a dowry on mar- result suggests the wider social context, riage (Landesa 2013). including social norms and customary prac- Across plural legal systems, no clear pat- tices, needs to be explicitly considered when tern exists as to which source of law is more introducing land tenure reform. advantageous for women; this will depend on While the lack of statutory rights can local context. Where discriminatory practices leave women vulnerable to displacement prevail, statutory laws may provide women or land grabbing in the event of widowhood with more secure rights than under custom. or divorce, social norms can limit the effec- In other cases, women’s rights may be better tiveness of statutory laws, depending on protected under customary tenure (Knight the woman’s social position, education, and 2010). Statutory titling systems introduced residency in a rural or urban area (Agarwal in Kenya resulted in titles being held mostly 1997). In some places, long-standing social in men’s names only and failed to recognize norms shape women’s access to rural land. women’s customary rights to use the land It has been found that plow-intensive farm- (Harrington and Chopra 2010). Statutory ing communities that were historically more laws can reinforce norms around women’s dependent on male labor limit women’s role traditional roles in land cultivation. In India, in agricultural activity and their access to the Odisha Land Reforms Act allows only land (Alesina, Guilano, and Nunn 2013). female heads of households to lease their land for cultivation on the premise that women Discriminatory family laws can place should not have to engage in such activities control in the hands of men even in cases directly (Doss et al. 2014). In many countries in which joint ownership is formally recog- in Europe and Central Asia, privatization of nized, re lecting patriarchal social norms farmland meant that the male head of house- around men’s and women’s roles within hold is the person listed formally on the title the household. In 29 countries, married or deed, thereby reducing the de facto rights women cannot be the head of household 140 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity or head of the family in the same way as a directly affect access to land. In some coun- man. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, tries, no alternative to the default regime a married woman must obtain her hus- exists. The main types of marital regimes are band’s permission for all legal acts in which outlined in box 5.3. she incurs a personal obligation, including Our analysis across 15 countries sug- registering land in her name, and the hus- gests that the type of marital property band has the right to administer joint mar- regime affects the reported levels of wom- ital property. In Cameroon, a husband can en’s property ownership; women who live legally dispose of joint property without in countries with community of property his wife’s consent and can even administer regimes are more likely to report own- his wife’s personal property (World Bank ing land and housing than those who live and IFC 2013). These examples indicate the in countries with separation of property possible need for wide-reaching reforms of regimes. This is illustrated in map 5.1, with family laws as part of the process of land the size of the circles re lecting the share reform in order to achieve the intended of property owned by women. In Burundi, effects. Ethiopia, and Mozambique, countries with Head-of-household provisions can also community of property regimes, more than limit the effect of land titling programs. three- ifths of women report owning prop- The Committee on the Elimination of erty. In contrast, Nepal and Senegal, coun- Discrimination against Women (2011), in tries with separation of property regimes, its Concluding Observations on Sri Lanka, have the smallest share—13 percent and 18 for example, noted “discriminatory practices percent, respectively. prevent women from acquiring ownership For married women, the probability of of land since only the ‘head of household’ reporting land and housing ownership is is authorized to sign of icial documenta- 17 and 29 percentage points higher, respec- tion such as land ownership certi icates and tively, if they live in a country with a com- receive pieces of land from Government,” munity of property regime compared to because social norms mean that the head a country with a separation of property of the household is most often deemed to regime ( igure 5.5). And married women be male (Committee on the Elimination of in urban areas are nearly three times more Discrimination against Women 2014). likely to own housing in those countries.3 The probability of land ownership for Default marital property regimes unmarried women in a country with a com- munity of property regime is higher too, The default marital property regime will most likely because such counties also have automatically apply to distribution of assets more gender-equal inheritance laws. upon death or divorce, unless the spouses choose otherwise. These laws and the man- Research in Ecuador, Ghana, and ner in which they are implemented often Karnataka, India, supports these indings. In re lect social norms around the allocation Ecuador, which has a partial community of and control of household property and property regime and inheritance laws that Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 141 Box 5.3 Main types of marital property regimes Community of property regimes treat all assets, including land and housing, acquired during the marriage as the joint property of the couple, with the exception of inheritances or gifts specifically earmarked for one spouse. These regimes implicitly recognize nonmonetary contributions to the household, including domestic labor and child care. In our database, 87 countries have community of property regimes. Community of property regimes can be divided into three categories: › Full: All property acquired before marriage is regarded as joint property. › Partial: All property acquired before marriage remains the personal property of each spouse. › Deferred: All property acquired during marriage is treated as individually owned during the marriage but is divided equally on divorce or death. Separation of property regimes provide that all property is individually owned unless specified as jointly owned. In the event of marital dissolution, each spouse leaves with the property he or she brought into or acquired during the marriage. Specific legislation can be enacted to recognize nonmonetary contributions, but these provisions are rare. Of the 46 countries that have separation of property regimes, only 9 recognize nonmonetary contribution. Sources: World Bank and IFC 2013. Note: The Women, Business and the Law database covers 143 countries. MAP 5.1 Women’s reported ownership of housing or land, by type of marital property regime Nepal 13% Haiti 36% Burkina Faso 40% Ethiopia 61% Honduras 40% Senegal 18% Côte d’Ivoire 34% Congo. Rep 21% Indonesia 53% Uganda 51% Gabon 29% Rwanda 59% Burundi 62% Mozambique 68% Property Regime Community Zimbabwe 44% Deferred Separate Share of women who report owning housing or land 10–39% 40–60% 61–99% Sources: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys data for 15 countries, latest year available, 2010–12, and World Bank and IFC 2013. 142 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity FIGURE 5.5 Probability that a woman will report owning housing or land in rural areas, conditional on type of property regime and marital status Never married Separation of property regime Owns land Community of property regime Married Owns housing Never married Married 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Predicted probability (%) Source: Estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys data, latest year available. Note: Figure shows predicted probabilities of housing and land ownership in rural areas, controlling for age, work status, number of children, husband’s education, marital status, various household characteristics, property regime (separation or community of property), and country fixed effects. provide for all children to inherit equally, accept a range of normative constraints on women’s share of a couple’s wealth is around their rights. Legally, they can buy land, but 44 percent. In comparison, in Ghana and the few women who did so were strongly Karnataka, which both have separation of criticized for not following customary ways property regimes and inheritance practices and were told they were dishonoring their that are male biased, women’s share of a families (World Bank 2014). In Tanzania, couple’s wealth is much lower—19 percent the Land Act (1999) abolishes customary and 9 percent, respectively (Doss et al. 2012). discriminatory practices and makes local land authorities responsible for protect- ing women, but implementation of the Weak implementation law has been slow and uneven (Spichiger of laws et al. 2013). Most countries in Europe and Social norms, customary practices, the inac- Central Asia have laws that require prop- cessibility and weak capacity of institutions, erty to be divided equally among heirs and women’s lack of awareness of their regardless of gender; however, some groups rights all pose important barriers to the real- require women to relinquish their inher- ization of women’s land rights. Qualitative itance in favor of male relatives (Stanley, work undertaken in Niger as background Lamb, and De Martino 2013). In Honduras, for this book found that women tend to the World Bank Group is working with the Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 143 government to overcome implementation administrative data can help lag implemen- challenges to enable women’s access to tation issues, but often these data are dif i- equal property rights (box 5.4). cult to access and not well maintained. Land administration systems can help to The state of the evidence: ensure women’s land rights are effectively What works? implemented. Special provisions can ensure that women and other family members enjoy Improving women’s ownership and control equal rights under land reforms where men of land and housing requires institutional are assumed to be the head of the house- change, as shown by the cogs in our frame- hold. Monitoring sex-disaggregated land work in igure 1.1, where social norms, laws, Box 5.4 Expanding women’s access to land rights in Honduras In 2003, the Honduras Land Administration Program (Programa de Administración de Tierras de Honduras, or PATH) was launched to address gaps in formalization of property rights, promote a more dynamic land market, increase investments in land, and reduce social instability resulting from conflict over land. Increasing formal property ownership for women was also seen as critical for improving rural productivity. At that time, about 30 percent of the country’s land was registered, of which women owned less than 13 percent. A World Bank Group–supported gender audit revealed that despite provisions allowing for joint titling, few women were named on a land title. The audit identified three primary constraints: limited awareness of legal rights among women and land administration personnel; land registries and other municipal offices that lacked capacity and procedural guidance on ways to implement the laws; and social norms that dictated that men were the head of household, thereby resulting in titling in their names alone. To address these gaps, PATH held almost a dozen stakeholder workshops in different municipalities. Participants included local authorities, community leaders, and indigenous peoples’ organizations, and the aim was to facilitate better understanding of the program among beneficiaries and the importance of gender-responsive design. The resulting gender strategy employed the following methods to improve implementation: › The guiding documents and instruments were revised so that implementation included specific objectives for strengthening women’s access to land. › A media campaign, including a radio program on the gender situation of women in indigenous communications, was initiated, with materials targeted at men and women of all ages to convey clear messages on the importance of land titling and ways to use titles to advance economic opportunities. › Project indicators were strengthened to include joint titling. The revised results and monitoring framework includes such targets as 30 percent of new titles to include women and 25 percent of individuals receiving training in alternative dispute resolution and in territorial planning and natural resource management to be women. Source: World Bank 2012. 144 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Promoting gender equality in “Women cannot buy land because of family, inheritance, and land laws social norms that forbid it.” Community of property regimes can pro- —Men’s focus group, Alpha Koura, Département of vide solid legal ground for advancing mar- Dosso, Région of Dosso, Niger (World Bank 2014) ried women’s ownership of property and for securing women’s property rights on dissolution of a marriage. Clear consent and household decisions interact to affect requirements should be in place for transfer gender equality outcomes. Any intervention or sale, requiring the informed written con- intended to improve women’s access to and sent of both spouses. Separation of property control over land therefore needs to begin regimes should recognize nonmonetary con- with an analysis of how existing legislation tributions to family wealth and provide for and social norms affect the distribution of equal division on divorce or death. Marital property between husbands and wives and property regimes should also extend to cover between sons and daughters. We identify those in de facto relationships. Family, inher- two broad areas of focus—ensuring gender itance, and land laws all interact. We have equality under the law and ensuring effective seen that reforms to marital property laws implementation of laws and land policies. and land laws can be undermined by discrim- inatory inheritance laws. Similarly, head of Ensuring gender equality household laws, which limit women’s rights under the law across a range of spheres, including property Gender equality in the distribution and own- ownership, should be repealed (UN Women ership of land should be clearly speci ied 2013b). Laws in other areas can also address in country constitutions and land adminis- women’s property rights. In Brazil, India, and tration laws. Constitutional protections can Serbia, for example, national domestic vio- provide oversight of all sources of law and lence legislation now provides that victims for redress against discrimination. In 2014, of domestic violence may stay in the mari- for example, the Nigeria Supreme Court tal home, regardless of who owns it (Rolnik voided Igbo customary law, which prevented 2013). girls from inheriting their father’s estate, as unconstitutional (Vanguard 2014). Any Inheritance laws should ensure that prop- divergence between different sources of law erty rights are transmitted equitably across can be addressed under the constitution. The generations. As the example of India demon- Constitution of Uganda, Article 33, for exam- strates, equalizing entitlements under inher- ple, prohibits “laws, cultures, customs, or tra- itance laws can dramatically improve girls’ ditions which are against the dignity, welfare, and women’s lives and potentially transform or interest of women.” Beyond this, strength- social norms. Discretion to circumvent wom- ening family, inheritance, and land laws for en’s inheritance rights through a will should women; reforming discriminatory laws; and be restricted. In Ethiopia, the Land Use harmonizing statutory, customary, and reli- and Administration Proclamation (2000) gious laws are all critical. requires that the transfer of land through Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 145 inheritance is legal only if the wife has signed Central Asia over the past two decades has the husband’s will, a provision that serves to demonstrated that challenges associated protect the widow’s interests (Teklu 2005). with social norms and culture cannot be solved by legal reform alone (Stanley, Lamb, Social norms mean that widows are often and De Martino 2013). This underlines that pressured to waive their rights in return for understanding local context and realities protection from male family members. Laws in the ield, including customs and tradi- that prevent women from giving up their tions and the way statutory rights play out, rights for a speci ied period of time following a is essential for the design of effective land spouse’s death can help offset such familial or reform policies and interventions. Country community pressure. In Jordan, for example, gender assessments are a useful tool to a recent law prevents women from handing advance this understanding (see box 5.5). over their inheritance for three months fol- lowing receipt and requires them to formally Where constitutional and legal reforms register the housing and land in their name strengthen the rights of women but con lict (World Bank 2013). The legal grounds for with norms and custom, changes in cus- divorce and the allocation of property rights tomary tenure systems need to be accom- on divorce in family laws should be reviewed modated.4 As far as possible, protections so that joint titling does not become a con- afforded under constitutional and statu- straint to exit. This is especially important for tory law should be extended to include sit- women living in abusive relationships. uations covered by custom. Some examples include the following: Reform of land administration laws can ■ In South Africa, the community of also have positive effects. Mandatory joint property regime applies to customary titling has led to a marked increase in mar- marriages as well as civil marriages ried women’s land ownership in Rwanda, (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2013). for instance (Ali, Deininger, and Goldstein ■ In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 2014). Laws should ensure that the surviv- where strong matrilineal rights exist, the ing spouse has, at a minimum, occupancy World Bank Group worked with the Lao and use rights over the marital home as well Women’s Union to ensure that existing as rights to movable and immovable prop- customary rights were re lected in the erty. Namibia’s Communal Land Reform Act new land registration systems.5 (2002) gives surviving spouses who reside in rural areas the right to remain on communal ■ The Uganda National Land Policy com- land that had been allocated to the deceased. mits to reform customary law, modify the This right is not affected by remarriage. rules of transmission under customary land tenure, guarantee gender equality and equity, and ensure that the decisions Harmonizing statutory, customary, of traditional land management insti- and religious regimes tutions uphold constitutional rights Experience from more than 40 World Bank and obligations on gender equality (UN Group land reform projects in Europe and Women 2013b). 146 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 5.5 Tools to guide gender land assessments The World Bank’s (2010) “Toolkit for Integrating Gender-Related Issues in Land Policy and Administration Projects” provides guidelines for a gender analysis of the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the project area, including with regard to statutory and customary property rights, land policies and legislation, land administration institutions, and land market transactions. In the West Bank and Gaza, for example, such an analysis identified that inheritance is determined according to Shari’a law and proof of ownership is issued by the Shari’a court. However, customary practice has encouraged women to cede their shares to their brothers. A gender analysis of the local conditions led the project design to counteract this type of pressure by issuing titles that include the names of all rightful heirs and specify their shares. Landesa’s “Women’s Land Tenure Framework for Analysis: Inheritance” provides a framework for assessing women’s ability to inherit land in a specific country, state, or community. Collaboration between the state and progressive traditional authorities can identify options for upholding women’s land rights in customary tenure areas. In Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China, for example, the local government took action to address land rights of women who married someone from another village. Using clear guidance and principles based on relevant Chinese laws, the district government set up a working group of government officials to review village rules and work together with villagers to change the local provisions that discriminate against women’s equal rights to land. Judicial procedures were applied to enforce compliance. After one year of the administrative and judicial intervention, 95 percent of married women in the district (about 18,000 women) were granted equal land rights. Sources: Giovarelli and Scalise 2013; PLAAS 2011; UN Women 2013b; World Bank 2010. Ensuring effective An initial gender assessment can also implementation of laws help identify potential implementation chal- and land policies lenges associated with social norms. In some cases, implementation challenges can be as Policy reforms and programmatic inter- obvious as allowing space for a second name ventions must be coupled with awareness on a land title or adjusting the ways in which raising for women, men, and local leaders acreage is distributed to address inequali- (including customary and religious leaders) ties that may result from gender differences on women’s rights as well as on the bene its in seemingly unrelated legislation, such as of women’s land ownership. In Aceh, Indo- retirement age, as in Vietnam (box 5.6). nesia, for example, the RALAS (Reconstruc- tion of Aceh Land Administration System) An obvious key to the successful imple- project worked with local Shari’a courts to mentation of land rights is the commitment, produce a manual that provided guidance willingness, and capacity of government on inheritance rights and helped protect staff and agencies. Establishing gender widows from dispossession (Bell 2011). units within land administration units and Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 147 appointing a lead gender focal point within the gender strategy has raised awareness of land registries can help (World Bank 2010). gender inequality in land access across all Female representation in land administra- agencies involved and has increased wom- tion institutions can also be mandated by en’s access to services through the provision law, as in the Uganda Land Commission, of additional opening hours and hotlines for in district land boards, and in parish-level women (Stanley, Weiss, and Vyzaki 2013). committees (UN Women 2013b). Women Awareness and training programs are should also be involved in the design of important for ensuring that women and national land policies and in the monitoring men, as well as land administration of icials, of their implementation. In Pernambuco, are aware of what rights women and men Brazil, women formed local committees to have. Some examples include the following: monitor the land titling program and make their needs known (Hallward-Driemeier and ■ In Tanzania, a World Bank Group study Hasan 2013). Similarly, in Nicaragua, a World exploring the barriers to formalization Bank Group project involving demarcation of land titles in Dar es Salaam found that of indigenous lands included participatory demand for land titles, when offered at workshops to identify the most impor- affordable prices, was very high. When tant factors affecting women and engaged affordability was combined with a cam- women in the cadastre process. The proj- paign emphasizing the importance of ect includes targets for the number of new women being registered as joint land- titles given to women in the monitoring and owners and offering discounts for female results framework. Project results suggest registration, the share of households that Box 5.6 Lessons from Vietnam’s land reform process Vietnam’s 1993 Land Law did not appear to discriminate because it used neutral language such as “individuals” and “users” when referring to targeted beneficiaries of the reforms. The 2000 Family and Marriage Law also provided for equal spousal rights to assets and property, including land. In practice, however, gender disparities resulted. Initially, the Land Use Certificates had space for only one name, which was to be filled in by the household head (generally the husband). The unintended consequence was that fewer women had their names on certificates. Gender disparities also resulted from the allocation of acreage based on the ages of household members, whereby working-age individuals received the largest shares. Because female households tended to have fewer adults of working age, they received on average less land than male-headed households. The legal retirement age for women was also five years earlier than that for men. In practice, this led to women ages 55 to 59 being allocated half the amount of land allocated to men of the same age. Vietnam has made progress in remedying these disparities. For example, a 2001 government decree stipulated that the names of both husband and wife should be included on the certificate if the land is jointly owned, and the 2003 Land Law mandates joint titling. Sources: Menon, Rodgers, and Kennedy 2013; Gender and Land Rights Database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, http://www.fao.org/gender/landrights/home/en/. 148 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity indicated they would include both hus- ■ In the Kyrgyz Republic, men and women band and wife on the title increased from were trained as community-based advis- 24 percent to 89 percent (Ali et al. 2013). ers to provide free advice to villagers on the process of applying for land ownership ■ In Romania, the World Bank’s Com- (UN Women 2013b). plementing European Union Support for Agricultural Restructuring Project ■ A land reform project in Tajikistan in included a communication and mediation 2007 sponsored by the U.S. Agency specialist in ield teams to provide infor- for International Development included mation on social issues. Local leaders support for a group of women who were also involved in public awareness mounted a legal challenge to the deci- campaigns, and special meetings were sion of a local of icial to revoke their organized just for Roma women (Stanley, land rights. The women were success- Lamb, and De Martino 2013). ful, and the court’s decision was used around the country to educate commu- ■ In Rwanda, the National Land Centre has nities and local of icials about respecting undertaken training of local land com- women’s land rights (World Bank 2010). mittees across the country. The effort ■ In Moldova, Joint Information and Services included making a video showing how Bureaus offer a one-stop shop for advice women’s rights should be recorded (UN on the job market, health care, agriculture, Women 2011). and land laws. The bureaus centralize at Local awareness-raising campaigns and least nine key service providers in one community dialogue can also be effective of ice, thereby reducing time spent visiting ways to build understanding and support for multiple locations, and they have helped women’s land rights. There are several exam- more than 10,000 women, primarily from ples from Eastern Europe and Central Asia: remote rural areas (UN Women 2013a). *** Control over land and housing affects women’s agency across a range of domains, including household decision making and access to economic opportunities. Improv- ing women’s property rights can have transformative impacts on social norms and women’s status at home and in the community. More and better sex- disaggregated data are needed to highlight gaps in ownership and access, and to inform policy and program design. Data availability and gaps are reviewed in chapter 7. A broad approach can help ensure that beneficial customary and communal rights are recog- nized and respected, coupled with reforms to promote gender equality and enable effective implementation. Chapter 5 Control over Land and Housing | 149 Notes Slum-Dwellers Willing to Pay for Formal Land Title? Evidence from Dar es Salaam.”  1. DHS data are limited to the women Case Study, World Bank, Washington, DC. between the ages of 15 and 49 and do not cover older women. Ali, Daniel Ayalew, Klaus Deininger, and Markus Goldstein. 2011. “Environmental  2. The probabilities are married women, and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure 47 percent; widowed, 40 percent; living Regularization in Africa: Pilot Evidence together, 35 percent; formerly married, from Rwanda.” Policy Research Working 23 percent; never married, 9 percent. Paper 5765, World Bank, Washington, DC.  3. For urban married women, the probability ———. 2014. “Environmental and Gender of owning housing if she lives in a country Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization with a community of property regime is 44 in Africa: Pilot Evidence from Rwanda.” percent compared to 15 percent in a coun- Journal of Development Economics 110 try with a separation of property regime. (2014): 262–75. The equivalent igures for women who never married are 16 percent in a country Allendorf, Keera. 2007. “Do Women’s Land with a community of property regime com- Rights Promote Empowerment and Child pared to 4 percent in a country with a sepa- Health in Nepal?” World Development 35 ration of property regime. (11): 1975–88.  4. This recommendation is consistent with Behrman, Julia, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, and guidelines of the Committee on World Agnes R. Quisumbing. 2011. “The Gender Food Security (2012). Implications of Large-Scale Land Deals.” IFPRI Policy Brief 17, International Food  5. 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Chapter C Key hapter 6 K essages ey messages > Women’s voices and leadership are too often denied by a combination of adverse attitudes and norms. > Women’s combined strength, through collective action and women’s movements, can play a central role in building momentum for progressive legal reform, changing adverse social norms, and promoting accountability. > Women’s political participation can positively affect the range of policy issues considered and prioritized, can in luence the types of solutions proposed, and can enhance perceptions of government legitimacy. > Women still represent less than one-quarter of parliamentarians worldwide. However, major gains in women’s political participation have been made in some regions and countries, such as Nicaragua, Rwanda, and South Africa. > Promising directions for enhancing women’s political participation are emerging, including creating quotas to help change stereotypes and providing inancing and training to help level the playing ield. > The landscape for engaging in politics and collective action is being rapidly transformed by new technologies such as the Internet and social media, although gaps in access must be overcome. CHAPTER 6 Amplifying Voices Why women’s voice and The extent to which women are able participation matter to participate in public decision making and make their voices heard is shaped by To have a voice is to be a citizen (Drèze and social norms, the legal framework, and Sen 2002). Having a voice means having the the nature of formal political institutions capacity to speak up and be heard and being such as political parties and parliamentary present to shape and share in discussions, structures. This is re lected in the interac- discourse, and decisions. Full and equal tion of formal and informal institutions in participation requires that everyone have our framework in igure 1.1. At the same a voice. Participation in decision making time, women’s greater voice can seek to enables women to voice their needs and chal- change discriminatory social norms, as in lenge gender norms in their community— the case of Malala Yousafzai, from Pakistan individually and collectively (Kabeer 2013). (see box 6.1) and can be a force for progres- If women’s participation is to be transfor- sive legal reform (see box 6.2). Women’s mative, their voices need to be heard in a greater voice and participation can also broad range of decision-making forums, from affect other areas of women’s lives, includ- households to national parliaments. Women’s ing economic opportunities and access to movements can play a pivotal role in building services. the momentum for progressive policy and legal reform. Digital technologies such as We identify three main routes for ampli- mobile phones and the Internet provide new fying women’s voices. Starting with women avenues for greater voice, increased access to themselves, we explore the role of the media knowledge, and the potential for developing and new information and communication wider social and professional networks. technologies (ICTs) for expanding voice 156 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity and the types of solutions proposed. Some “Nothing, arguably, is as important dimensions are clear: today in the political economy of devel- ■ Women’s participation results in greater opment as an adequate recognition of responsiveness to citizen needs, often political, economic, and social participa- increasing cooperation across party and tion and leadership of women.” ethnic lines and delivering more sustain- —Amartya Sen (1999b, 203) able peace (Markham 2013). ■ When more women are elected to of ice, policy making increasingly re lects the pri- orities of families and women (Jones 2005; and participation. Second, we consider not Schwindt-Bayer 2006). In Rwanda and only women’s combined strength but also South Africa, an increase in the number of the central role that women’s groups can female lawmakers led to progressive legis- play in promoting gender equality, poverty lation on land inheritance and reproduc- reduction, and shared prosperity. Finally, tive rights (Ballington and Karam 2005). we explore women’s representation in for- mal institutions, where some, albeit slow, ■ Recent cross-country analysis found that progress has been made in most countries when at least one-quarter of members of par- and regions. Collective action and women’s liament are women, laws that discriminate participation in community-level decision against women, such as laws that restrict making can also lead to greater accountabil- women from being head of household, are ity, an area we touch on brie ly in the policy more likely to be repealed (Hallward- section of this chapter. Driemeier, Hasan, and Rusu 2013). Tackling poverty and boosting shared ■ Around the world, women lawmakers are prosperity demand that everyone have the often perceived as more honest and more opportunity to participate fully in all aspects responsive than their male counterparts; of life. Public discussion is an important a study of 39 countries found that a higher vehicle for social change and economic female presence in legislatures is correlated progress. At the same time, political and with higher perceptions of government social participation has intrinsic value for legitimacy among men and women individual well-being. (Schwindt-Bayer and Mishler 2005). Evidence about the instrumental value of Conversely, as the World Bank (2013a) women’s participation in public discourse among others has shown, exclusion and lack is growing. Autonomous women’s move- of voice can reinforce disparities and lead to ments, for example, have been in luential in fewer or poorer services that address the the passing of legislation on gender-based speci ic needs of women and girls. To be pre- violence at the national level, as explored vented or stymied from participating in the in chapter 3. Women’s political participa- political life of the community is a major depri- tion can positively in luence the range of vation (Sen 1999a), and, as noted in chapter 1, policy issues considered and prioritized voicelessness is a social dimension of poverty. Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 157 Driving social change for The rapid expansion of ICTs globally is women’s agency: The role well known. Indeed, today more people can of ICTs access a mobile network than energy and clean water (Nique and Arab 2013). There Information and communication technologies, are currently an estimated 6.8 billion active such as the Internet and mobile phones, mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, are potentially powerful tools for increas- and almost 40 percent of people globally had ing women’s voice and participation in both access to the Internet in 2013, compared formal and informal public spaces. ICTs can with only 10 percent a decade ago. And yet increase women’s and girls’ access to knowl- women in developing countries are less edge and information beyond their imme- likely than men to have access to the Inter- diate environment and enable wider social net, and 21 percent (or 300 million) fewer and professional networks. By providing women than men in developing countries new ways of connecting people and creating have access to a mobile phone (GSMA and new ways for opinions to be heard, ICTs can Cherie Blair Foundation for Women 2010). be used to overcome the restricted mobility and social exclusion from public spaces that is Using ICTs to increase voice often experienced by women and girls. They and participation can also provide spaces for collective action to attract supporters and build momentum. The landscape for engagement in politics ICTs can help shape the aspirations and and public action is rapidly being trans- hopes of the next generation of women and formed by new technologies, as the case girls, including their economic opportunities, of Malala Yousafzai illustrates (box 6.1). expectations of gender roles, and leadership Internet and mobile technology have the abilities. potential to mobilize people around an issue Box 6.1 “I believe in the power of the voice of women” “When I was a girl in Swat [Pakistan], only a few of us were speaking, but our voice had an impact. And now not only I but millions of girls are speaking through our voice, through raising our books and pens. My father said, ‘Do not do one thing with your daughters—do not clip their wings. Give them the same right the boys have.’ Bad people came, and they took all normal life from us … they had so many rules as to what we could do. We could not go to market. We fought for our rights. I wrote the blog for the BBC and wrote my diary. Not only was I speaking, many of my friends were talking to the media and to news channels. Media was like a messenger, telling what we are saying to the world. We spoke, we wrote and raised our voices. We spoke, and we achieved our goal. Now Swat is now a peaceful place. Girls are going back to school and are allowed to go to the market.” Source: Malala Yousafzai in conversation with Jim Yong Kim, World Bank, Washington, DC, December 2013. 158 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity on a scale previously unimaginable (Evans key facts need to be borne in mind. In 2013, and Nambiar 2013). Collective action online nearly 8 in 10 Internet users (77 percent) can range from petitions or educational lived in developed countries (ITU 2013). forums to antiharassment initiatives and And a large gender divide in access, use, lash mobs (Postmes and Brunsting 2002). ownership, and development of ICT prod- People with Internet access can gather ucts persists, especially in Sub-Saharan voices and support globally for local causes. Africa (43 percent fewer women and girls Websites such as Avaaz.org and Change.org have access than men), the Middle East and allow users to formulate and circulate their North Africa (34 percent fewer women and own online petitions globally. A petition girls have access), and South Asia (one-third opposing the eviction of Masai villagers to fewer women and girls have access) (Intel make way for a game park in Tanzania, for and Dalberg Global Development Advisors example, garnered 1.7 million signatures 2012). and resulted in the government changing its In developing countries, both men and policy (Kielburger and Kielburger 2013). women face barriers to ICT access, notably Information and communication tech- inadequate infrastructure and high costs. nologies are being used to address threats to However, social norms can further restrict women’s security by gathering information women’s access (Cecchini and Scott 2003). and providing women with a means to take In the Arab Republic of Egypt and India, for preventive actions. In some large cities, inno- example, 12 percent of women stated that vative crowdsourcing tools have been devel- they did not access the Internet more often oped. HarassMaps in Cairo and Mumbai allow because they did not think it was appropri- incidents of harassment to be reported anon- ate, and more than 8 percent did not access it ymously online or through mobile devices more often because family or friends would and then linked to city maps, giving women disapprove (Intel and Dalberg Global Devel- an overview of potential hotspots for sexual opment Advisors 2012). At home, husbands harassment. Hollaback!, which now oper- might regulate the family’s use of radios, ates in 70 cities across 24 countries, provides mobile phones, the Internet, and televisions. women and girls with a public forum in which In some cases, husbands determine whether to voice their experiences of public harass- and how wives can use a mobile phone. In ment. Through the exchange of experiences, Afghanistan, more than half the women who participants reported a change in their pre- did not have access to a phone cited lack of vious acceptance of such behavior (Dimond permission from family members as a major et al. 2013). As more people access the Inter- obstacle (USAID 2013). Tensions can arise net and smartphones, such crowdsourcing and result in physical or verbal abuse. In and online socialization tools hold promise.1 Zambia, for example, a recent study found that many women reported social and eco- nomic bene its from mobile phones, but Addressing the digital divide phones also created con lict between spouses As a conduit to greater political participation and in some cases reinforced traditional gen- and public action, ICTs have limitations; some der power differences (Wakunuma 2012). Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 159 Collective action as a ■ In Malawi, Let Girls Lead’s Adolescent catalyst for change Girls’ Advocacy and Leadership Initiative signi icantly contributed to the drafting Beyond individual actions and informal net- and enactment of local bylaws to eradi- works, collective action mobilizes people cate child marriage. The iniative included around shared concerns, which can include advocacy with village chiefs and tradi- combating discrimination. Mobilization can tional leaders. Adolescent girls inter- take a variety of forms. It can be regular or spo- viewed after the bylaws came into effect radic and can take place through an organiza- reported cases of girls leaving marriages tion, through government entities, or entirely and returning to school, and they noted outside formal structures. It can be localized or that the new penalties and associated transnational; it can be induced from outside or community disapproval were deterring evolve organically (Evans and Nambiar 2013). child marriage (Let Girls Lead 2014). Collective action can enhance women’s A growing body of evidence suggests voice and agency and reduce gender dispar- that when women participate in self-help ities through a number of channels. It can be groups and other participatory develop- used to increase accountability, by provid- ment programs, increased agency accompa- ing a platform for participatory budgeting, nies economic outcomes (Beath et al. 2010; expenditure tracking, and community score- Blattman et al. 2013; Kandpal and Baylis cards, thereby giving citizens voice and help- 2013; Meier zu Selhausen 2012; Oxfam ing them claim resources through bottom-up 2013). In Africa, for example, the following pressure (Evans and Nambiar 2013). examples are notable: Other actions may involve informing and ■ In Mali and Tanzania, women members educating people about civil rights, provid- of agricultural producer self-help ing spaces for women’s and girls’ groups or groups bene it from increased mobil- peer support networks, or campaigning for ity, and in Ethiopia, members reported reforms of discriminatory laws or practices, enhanced control of household expen- as in the following examples: ditures. In Mali, along with greater autonomy over the use of agricul- ■ In Nigeria, the Legislative Advocacy Coa- tural incomes, group members were lition on Violence against Women cam- consulted more on community and paign contributed to the passage of the organizational decision making (Evans Violence against Persons (Prohibition) and Nambiar 2013). Bill in 2013. The new law includes a more comprehensive de inition of rape, ■ In western Uganda, members of a joint stricter sentences, compensation for micro inance and coffee cooperative victims of rape and other sexual offenses, generally have higher incomes and have protection from further abuse through used their group status to effect broader restraining orders, and a fund to support change, including around the tolerance victim rehabilitation (Kombo, Sow, and of gender-based violence and joint land Mohamed 2013). titling (Meier zu Selhausen 2012). 160 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity But the bene its of self-help groups and collective action can be a tool for driving such other participatory development projects wider social and political changes. There is a can be limited. Groups can at times exclude long history of mobilization led by women poor, less educated, or otherwise more mar- for public action to change gender-based ginalized women. A study of community norms, combat discrimination, and secure forest groups in South Asia showed that women’s rights. Collective action may low participation by women was driven by begin with a narrow focus but then evolve long-standing beliefs about women’s roles, to address broader issues. For example, the and women sometimes lost out as a result Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of decisions made by the groups (Agarwal in India began focusing on labor regulations 2001). In Bangladesh, studies of collective and expanded into women’s political leader- action in health and education have shown ship. In Botswana, the women’s group Emang that elite groups were most motivated to Basadi (Stand Up Women) initially mobilized participate and enjoyed the most bene- to oppose discriminatory citizenship laws and its (Mahmud 2002). Programs aimed at evolved into a broader campaign to reform increasing civic participation can inadver- family laws and introduce domestic violence tently exclude less networked and resourced legislation. But there are cases where wom- women. A project in Kenya that aimed to en’s collective action seeks to entrench exist- address low levels of community partici- ing gender biases. For example, conservative pation among women through leadership, women’s networks in Mali opposed progres- management, and agricultural training was sive provisions in the new Family Code, which found to mostly bene it women of higher would have bene ited many women by out- socioeconomic status, who enrolled in lawing polygamy and requiring all marriages higher numbers. The project failed to reach to be registered. They were unsuccessful, how- more disadvantaged women, especially ever, and a new, more progressive Family Code older women (Gugerty and Kremer 2008). was passed in 2012 (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2013). Even when income gains occur as a result of collective action, the link between Women’s movements have often played material gain and agency is not always a pivotal role in progressive policy and legal straightforward. For example, an impact reform. Autonomous women’s movements, assessment of a women’s income genera- together with women’s machineries (wom- tion support project in Uganda found that en’s ministries and their equivalents), can while household incomes increased, there effectively translate international norms was little evidence that women became into institutional reforms and are associ- more empowered in terms of participating ated with more progressive policy regimes in household decision making or avoid- to address violence against women (Weldon ing intimate partner violence (Evans and and Htun 2013). The fact of being autono- Nambiar 2013). mous allows movements to take on issues that political parties and other associations A recurring theme in this book is may ind too politically sensitive. For exam- the importance of normative change, and ple, political parties often have little appetite Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 161 Box 6.2 Women’s movements that drive reforms In India, the women’s movement helped secure wide-ranging reforms in the aftermath of the heinous attack of a young student on a bus in Delhi in December 2012. India’s women’s groups and their male allies used the attack and the inadequate response from India’s authorities to highlight the customary violence against women that has been ignored by a culture of impunity and silence. Galvanized by these mass protests, a committee was set up and headed by a former chief justice to review antirape provisions and make recommendations for state action. Previously in India, women’s networks had used the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to press for sexual harassment legislation. In 1997, the Indian Supreme Court relied on the constitution and India’s obligations under CEDAW to recognize the right to gender equality and a working environment free from sexual harassment and abuse. The court produced the first guidelines on sexual harassment and employment, which ultimately led in 2007 to legislation prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. Litigation is another powerful tool women’s movements have used to challenge unconstitutional discriminatory laws and to address gaps in legal frameworks. One example is the successful challenge to discriminatory customary inheritance laws in Botswana in 2013. And in the Arab Republic of Egypt, tireless mobilization by women’s groups in the wake of the revolution led to a new decree that established the right of Egyptian women whose husbands are from West Bank and Gaza to pass on their Egyptian citizenship to their children. In El Salvador, Asociación de Madres Demandantes helps women enforce court-ordered child support payments, and its work has attracted national attention and led to several measures guaranteeing greater support for children. Sources: Caivano and Hardwick 2008; Hasan and Tanzer 2013; UN Women 2011. for challenging norms and behaviors per- secure access to justice. Umoja Wa Akina ceived as private—including those affect- Mama Fizi (United Women of Fizi) promotes ing marriages or personal relationships or women’s rights and raises women’s con- those concerning morality. sciousness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, training members to document human Recent research across 70 countries rights abuses and conducting workshops on found that countries with the strongest fem- citizenship, rights, and gender-based vio- inist movements tend, other things being lence for rural women (Evans and Nambiar equal, to have more comprehensive policies 2013). Women are also increasingly play- on violence against women than those with ing active roles in wider social movements, weaker or nonexistent movements (box 6.2). as in Egypt, where female political activists Autonomous women’s movements were and reporters contributed to the revolution found to be more important than left-wing side by side with men. In 2007, the Interna- parties, the numbers of women legislators, tional Civil Society Action Network worked or even national wealth (Weldon and Htun with the Association of War Affected Women 2013). in Sri Lanka to build a groundbreaking Women’s groups can be particularly cross-party coalition of female politicians important in con lict-affected states to help to ensure participation in the peace process 162 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity in Sri Lanka. Group members visited South campaigns, sharing information, and Africa to share experiences on constitution building networks with nongovern- drafting and con lict resolution and partici- mental organizations and women’s pated in a Harvard University training course groups (Evans and Nambiar 2013). on negotiation skills and coalition building ■ In Pakistan, the women’s parliamentary (Anderlini et al. 2010). caucus contributed to police reforms by visiting women’s police stations and The potential of women’s reporting on indings. The caucus also political voice and meets regularly with the Afghan wom- participation en’s parliamentary caucus and works on Women remain underrepresented in key joint implementation of a peace process public institutions in most of the world. between the two countries (South Asian Greater representation of women in local and Regional Secretariat of Women Parlia- national government can in luence both pol- mentarians 2013). icy considerations and budget allocations: ■ In Brazil, the women’s caucus sponsored legislation to establish a gender quota, a ■ In a poll of members of parliament from law on violence against women, and the 110 countries conducted between 2006 inclusion of funds for social programs and and 2008, female parliamentarians were gender equality initiatives into the budget more likely to prioritize social issues such (Evans and Nambiar 2013). as child care, equal pay, parental leave, and pensions; physical concerns such as Although evidence on the effect of wom- reproductive rights, physical safety, and en’s participation in local government is gender-based violence; and develop- sparser, Mansuri and Rao (2013) ind a ment matters such as poverty reduction growing body of evidence from India that and service delivery (IPU 2008). shows women’s participation has positively affected social norms, as well as investments ■ Data from 19 member countries of the in public services. In India, since 1992, one- Organisation for Economic Co-operation third of all seats on village councils (gram and Development found that having panchayats) and one-third of all presiden- more women legislators resulted in cies are reserved for women (Mansuri and higher total educational spending (Chen Rao 2013). The documented effect of these 2008). In Sweden, an increase in the quotas includes the following: number of women in parliament led to a rise in budget allocations to education ■ More investment in drinking water infra- (Markham 2013). structure and better availability of public goods (Chattopadhyay and Du lo 2004; Women’s parliamentary caucuses and Du lo and Topalova 2004) committees can build collaboration on gen- der issues across political parties: ■ Less corruption, with men and women reporting they are less likely to pay a ■ In Uganda, the Women’s Parliamentary bribe when the gram panchayat pres- Association engages directly in the leg- ident is a woman (Chattopadhyay and islative process, creating awareness Du lo 2004) Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 163 Box 6.3 “If anyone listens, I have a lot of plans”: Women in Afghanistan Afghanistan’s National Solidarity Program (NSP) mandates participation of women in community development councils. Evidence of the mandate’s effect suggests that increasing women’s participation in community development processes can improve women’s mobility and enable access to a range of information, including legal rights. In most places, the NSP increased women’s mobility by giving them socially acceptable places to visit on a regular basis and by showing men that women’s mobility had a positive effect on women’s personal growth. A woman from Parwan Province reported: “NSP allowed women to come out of their houses and gather in groups. This has helped a great deal. The more women come out, the less people will talk.” At the same time, men’s perceptions have changed: “After we allowed the women’s shura (council) to become active, people do not make negative comments anymore, and if they do, nobody pays attention.” Mandating female participation improved both men’s and women’s attitudes toward female participation in community affairs (by 20 percent and 8 percent, respectively) and increased the likelihood that women would be involved in income-generating activities by some 13 percent. Sources: Azarbaijani-Moghaddam 2010; Beath, Christia, and Enikolpov 2013. ■ Positive effects on parents’ aspirations Discriminatory social norms can inhibit for their daughters (narrowing the gap women’s effective participation in politics between fathers’ and mothers’ aspira- at national and local levels. Weak networks, tions for their daughters) and simultane- limited access to campaign inancing, lower ous positive effects on the aspirations of levels of education, greater family responsi- girls themselves (Beaman et al. 2012) bilities, and fewer opportunities for acquir- ■ Increased reporting of crimes against ing political experience can all also hamper women and increased police responsive- women’s participation in public decision- ness (Iyer et al. 2012) making forums (UN Women 2005). This section examines participation rates in Requiring female participation in decision national parliaments and the judiciary and making can help counter exclusion and combat highlights the links with underlying social stereotypes (box 6.3; Mansuri and Rao 2013). norms and perceptions. Evidence from the United States, for example, suggests that living in a state with competi- As of 2014, women hold 22 percent tive female political candidates can increase of parliamentary seats globally. This is women’s self-ef icacy (Atekeson 2003). almost double the rate in 1997, at just 12 percent, but still far from parity ( igure 6.1). As of January 2014, there were 18 women Underrepresentation and biased heads of state and government, which gender norms is about 10 percent (UN Women 2014). Women remain underrepresented in key However, signi icant regional and country public institutions in most of the world. variation exists, and progress is evident: in 164 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity FIGURE 6.1 Share of women in national parliaments, by region and world, 1997–2013 25 20 parliamentarians (%) Share of women 15 10 5 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Region East Asia and Pacific Middle East and North Africa Europe and Central Asia South Asia High income countries Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America and the Caribbean World Source: Estimates based on World Bank 2013c. Note: Data not available for East Asia and Pacific in 1997 and Sub-Saharan Africa in 1999. the Nordic countries, women hold 42 per- positions (World Bank 2011).2 In 2013, only cent of parliamentary seats; in Rwanda, the about 14 percent of all presiding of icers of share is close to two-thirds (64 percent); parliament or one of its houses were women and in Andorra, Cuba, Nicaragua, Senegal, (IPU 2014b). Women are also underrepre- the Seychelles, and South Africa, the share sented in the justice sector, including in con- exceeds 40 percent (IPU 2014a). stitutional courts (box 6.4). Overall across developing regions, the Data on women’s participation at the Middle East and North Africa has the low- local level, although scarce, indicate even est levels of representation, at 16 percent, lower representation. The proportion and Latin America and the Caribbean has of women among locally elected coun- the highest, at 25 percent (the same as the cilors, for example, ranges from a low of high-income country average). 8 percent in North Africa to a high of 30 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa (UNSD Even when women enter parliament, 2010). Fewer than 5 percent of mayors they are less likely to hold ministerial posts, globally are women, and many coun- are mostly con ined to social portfolios tries, including Afghanistan, Egypt, and when they do so, and rarely hold high of icial Morocco, have only one or two women Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 165 Box 6.4 Underrepresentation of women at senior levels in the justice sector Globally, women account for 27 percent of judges. In some countries, women judges are restricted in their judicial duties. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, for example, women judges are unable to issue and sign final verdicts. In nearly two-thirds of the 123 countries for which there are data, women comprise less than 25 percent of justices in constitutional courts (map B6.4.1). But there is significant country and regional variation. In Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, more than half of justices are women. At 60 percent, Sierra Leone has the highest share of female constitutional judges in the world, and the chief justice is a woman. With six female chief justices—in Gabon, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia—Sub-Saharan Africa has more female chief justices than any other region. MAP B6.4.1 Share of female justices in constitutional courts Female justices in constitutional courts No information 0–15% Is the chief justice a woman? 16–30% 31–60% Yes Sources: Estimates for 123 countries based on Kar 2008; OECD 2012; UNICEF 2011; UN Women 2011; World Bank and IFC 2013. 166 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 6.5 Differing levels FIGURE B6.5.1 Rate of participation in political of political discussion with friends engagement East Asia and Pacific The World Values Survey asks Sub-Saharan Africa women and men in 86 countries South Asia (representing nearly 90 percent of the world’s population) about North America how often they discuss political Europe and Central Asia matters with friends. Across all Latin America and the Caribbean ■ Male regions of the world, reports of such ■ Female discussions were higher among men Middle East and North Africa than women (figure B6.5.1). People 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 were most engaged in East Asia Participation (%) and the Pacific, where one in five reported “frequent” conversations about politics, but the share of men (30 percent) was more than double that of women (13 percent). Source: Estimates based on World Values Survey data, latest years available, 1994–2009. serving in this position nationwide Attitudes toward female (Fleishman 2009; Motevalli 2013; UNSD leadership that affect women’s 2010; York 2009). In the 77 countries political participation with data, fewer than one in five mayors Social norms often reinforce the notion that are women, with the exceptions of Mauri- men are better leaders than women and limit tius, New Zealand, Serbia, and Latvia with the capacity for women to aspire to public 40 percent, 26 percent, 26 percent, and roles. On average across 86 countries, most 25 percent, respectively (UNSD 2010). men (53 percent) and a sizable proportion of Similarly, women’s participation in women (41 percent) assert that men make bet- local groups, such as community manage- ter political leaders than do women (Breznau ment groups, may also be more limited et al. 2011). An earlier survey of 46 coun- than men’s. Although group membership is tries found that most respondents in North common in some developing countries, this America, Latin America and the Caribbean, does not necessarily translate into effec- and Europe rated men and women as equally tive participation (Agarwal 2001). Globally, good leaders. In contrast, the majority of par- women are also less likely than men to par- ticipants in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kuwait, ticipate in informal political discussions. Mali, Pakistan, and the West Bank and Gaza, Data gathered on engagement in political preferred men as leaders (Horowitz 2007). discussions with friends shows that across These attitudes can limit women’s political all regions, more men report having such aspirations. For example, evidence from the conversations (see box 6.5). United States shows that despite comparable Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 167 FIGURE 6.2 Attitudes toward women leaders reflected in the share of women in parliament 70 Rwanda 60 Women in lower house of 50 Andorra Sweden South Africa parliament (%) 40 Uganda 30 Iraq 20 10 Qatar 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 People who agree that men make better political leaders than women (%) Sources: Estimates for 87 countries based on World Values Survey data, 1996–2012 latest years available and IPU 2013. backgrounds, accomplished women are less Quotas that reduce barriers likely to believe they meet the criteria to to women’s participation run for of ice than do men (Fox and Lawless Quotas may help change stereotypes and 2011). attitudes regarding women as leaders and But attitudes vary, and people in some increase women’s overall engagement in regions seem to place particular value on politics and civic life. In Rwanda and South female politicians. In Latin America and the Africa, political quotas have had a major Caribbean, for example, 54 percent of men effect on increasing women’s representa- and 70 percent of women in 2007 agreed tion. The Rwandan Constitution (Article 76, women had done a better job than men Section 2) guarantees women 30 percent had in politics. The belief that women make of all government seats, and women now equally good leaders as men is correlated compose 64 percent of parliamentarians with the percentage of female representa- (IPU 2014a). Before the African National tion in parliament ( igure 6.2). Countries Congress established a 30 percent quota where fewer respondents say that men make for female candidates in 1994, South Africa better political leaders tend to have the ranked 141st in the world in the percentage highest share of women parliamentarians— of legislative seats held by women. Just six including Andorra, Argentina, Canada, years later, the country ranked 10th and cur- Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden— rently ranks 8th in the world, with women while countries where about 80 percent of holding 42 percent of parliamentary seats respondents believe men make better politi- and 40 percent of ministerial positions cal leaders have lower shares of women par- (Haussmann, Tyson, and Zahidi 2012). liamentarians, including Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Ghana, Mali, At the gram panchayat level in India, and Qatar (World Bank 2013a). quotas for women and scheduled castes have 168 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity weakened prevailing stereotypes around Implications for policy women’s itness to participate as political lead- ers and shifted social norms. After just seven As this chapter has demonstrated, it is years’ exposure, men in villages with women important to include women in decision leaders were no longer biased against them, making at all levels—national and local pol- and parents’ aspirations for their daughters itics, community-level decision making, and were higher. After the quotas ended, women collective action processes. ICTs can facilitate continued to run for and, in many cases, win this inclusion, but there are challenges and elections (Beaman et al. 2012). barriers and much that we still do not know. Similarly, a recent study across 32 villages Increasing access to ICTs and in India assessing trends in women’s politi- making content relevant cal involvement (including voting patterns, ICTs can be a driving force in providing new knowledge about rights, and participation spaces and mediums for expanded participa- in local-level political and social activities) tion of women in the public sphere, but some inds that women’s involvement is signi i- limitations must be overcome. A broad pol- cantly higher after three years of having had icy approach that focuses on access to ICTs— women leaders and increases further after cell phones, Internet, and social media—and ive years (Sathe et al. 2013). This suggests the quality of content is required. that quotas can take time to work. Greater access to ICTs can be achieved Quotas can also be used to increase in part by reducing costs and creating safe women’s representation in the judiciary. spaces where women can access hardware For example, the Future Judges Program in and training. Ownership of computers and Jordan has a minimum quota of 15 percent smartphones for both women and men in female participants and aims to triple the many parts of the world remains a long way number of female judges by 2014. By 2013, off. Alternative public access points can help women were 17 percent of all judges, com- ill this gap. This approach can include lever- pared to 7 percent in 2010. aging existing public domains such as librar- But positive effects are not assured and ies, health centers, schools, and community will depend on the experience of the women centers. Public libraries, for example, are leaders and the nature of local hierarchies. often safe, trusted places for women and For example, women in panchayats were girls to visit, and many already have com- less effective in locations where upper puter access points and training programs castes owned most of the land (Ban and Rao that could be leveraged to meet gender 2009). Likewise, in Burundi in 2010, legis- access objectives (Gomez 2012). In Copán, lative quotas increased the share of women Honduras, for example, a local library pro- parliamentarians to 30 percent, but women vides technology training and digital literacy continued to align themselves across parti- programs to local girls and women (Beyond san lines and failed to address institutional Access 2012). Many of the girls trained in or legal gender discrimination (Evans and the program subsequently become library Nambiar 2013). volunteers, training others in the community. Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 169 Leveraging both public and private sec- consensus for progressive policy and legal tors is integral for creating a media network reform. The appropriate role for develop- that is relevant and accessible to women and ment agencies in supporting collective action girls. This requires supporting the creation processes is not always clear; however, some and the development of online content that evidence suggests that such processes are meets the needs and interests of women more effective when they develop organically and girls, especially content developed by rather than as the result of top-down support. women and girls. Fostering collaboration Nonetheless, development agencies and part- between technology providers, manufactur- ners can help support policy reforms that cre- ers, content producers, and end users to pro- ate the space for collective action to operate vide women-tailored content will be critical and can help foster stronger dialogue among (Broadband Commission Working Group on collective action groups and policy makers. Broadband and Gender 2013). Service pro- Development agencies can support knowl- viders can team up with women’s groups edge exchange among groups within and to produce tools and services that meet the across countries and can provide inancial needs of women and provide new spaces for support to pilot innovative and locally driven online or mobile collaboration. So far, little programs that use collective action processes evidence exists on successful approaches, to help shift norms and behaviors (Evans and and more research is needed to fully under- Nambiar 2013). Support to women’s groups stand what interventions work and how for speci ic interventions should embody such partnerships can best be achieved. large elements of local problem solving and Greater use of ICTs for participatory learning by doing, which can be achieved mapping can provide valuable information in part by devolving responsibility to and on mobility and access to public spaces empowering the groups with local legitimacy by highlighting speci ic constraints facing as frontline implementers (box 6.7). women and girls. Using ICTs in this way can Formal quotas or inclusion mandates provide a low-cost alternative for monitor- are often needed in self-help groups and ing and assessment, including assessments other collective participatory processes to on the perceptions of violence. For example, counter exclusion and prevailing stereo- mapping applications in urban townships types (Mansuri and Rao 2013). Such man- in South Africa provide information about dates can ensure broader representation travel distances and safe spaces for girls and within groups and enable greater access by boys. The mapping was subsequently used those who may otherwise be marginalized. to provide recommendations for public ser- vice provision, including the creation of safe spaces where adolescent girls could meet Increasing accountability and build networks (see box 6.6). Social accountability mechanisms dissemi- nate information, promote dialogue and nego- Supporting collective action tiation, and provide forums through which the Women’s movements play a pivotal role voices of previously excluded groups, such as in building the necessary momentum and women and girls, can be heard (George 2003; 170 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 6.6 Mapping and creating safe spaces for girls in South Africa The daily activities of adolescents in South Africa are overshadowed by social, economic, and physical risks that constrain their access to the public sphere and limit their economic opportunities. In particular, the threat of gender-based violence looms large for girls. As a result, they are encouraged to stay close to their home and limit their movements and activities to safe spaces. In 2004–05, the Population Council conducted a participatory mapping exercise in an urban township and rural community. Groups of students from both primary and secondary schools, roughly 11 to 15 years of age, were asked to draw the area that represented their community and rate its level of safety. Their drawings were compared with Google satellite images for each locality (figure B6.6.1). FIGURE B6.6.1 Accessible urban area, by sex and grade Image: © Population Council. Used with permission. Further permission required for reuse. In urban areas, the space mapped by younger girls (6.33 square miles) was 2.5 times larger than the area mapped by older girls (2.62 square miles). In contrast, older boys mapped an area twice as large as younger boys, 7.81 square miles compared to 3.79 miles. The results show that at age 11, girls’ physical space was larger than that of boys of the same age but then fell dramatically after puberty. The same was true in rural areas. Boys reported a number of spaces as “very” or “extremely” safe, including primary and secondary schools, but girls did not use these categories to describe any space. In fact, urban secondary schools were ranked as very unsafe by adolescent girls. Libraries were rated as somewhat safe by younger and older urban girls, whereas older boys described them as extremely safe. Older girls in particular reported most spaces in their restricted navigable areas as unsafe. The findings suggest that participatory mapping tools are a useful instrument for assessing perceptions of violence and creating targeted programs for adolescents. For example, local libraries and youth centers can be transformed into safe spaces for girls by designating girls- or boys-only spaces at different times and by providing social support networks for boys and girls to negotiate insecurity and dangers in their immediate environments. Source: Hallman et al. 2013. Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 171 Box 6.7 Working with civil society to prevent gender-based violence in Haiti In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, as people crowded into camps, women and children became increasingly vulnerable to violence and assault. To help address this risk, the World Bank Group supported the Commission of Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV), a grassroots Haitian organization comprising female survivors of sexual gender-based violence, and its international partner organization, MADRE, to address and prevent violence in five of Haiti’s internally displaced persons camps. The project worked with KOFAVIV’s community outreach workers and peer counselors—often rape survivors themselves living in the camps—and provided health and safety kits to vulnerable women and girls. This support was coupled with media outreach campaigns to promote awareness and prevention of violence as well as technical assistance to KOFAVIV from MADRE to improve project coordination, financial management, communications, long-term planning, and monitoring and evaluation. The initiative enhanced women’s civic participation by building coalitions and networks with the government, international institutions, the media, and other women’s rights nongovernmental organizations in Haiti. KOFAVIV also became a lead convener in working with civil society groups, police, hospitals, and the government to address gender-based violence in Haiti. The capacity at KOFAVIV increased as more empowered community agents became involved in the initiative. Source: World Bank 2013b. World Bank 2006). Such mechanisms are example, in the Indian state of Odisha in 2006, typically designed with the aim of improving the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Mother- service delivery and government performance, hood embarked on a program to address high which can align with the interests of women’s maternal mortality and maternal health pro- groups and thus be an important channel grams using three tools: maternal death audits through which collective action operates. via verbal autopsies; health facility check- lists; and public hearings and rallies (Papp, Varying means exist for engaging in and Gogoi, and Campbell 2013). Public hearings supporting social accountability mechanisms. provide new ways for women to collectively Channels of direct in luence include gender voice their concerns and demands in a safe audits, which focus on systems and processes space. Their demands were reinforced and within institutions, and public interest legisla- legitimized by local of icials and the media, tion such as right-to-information acts. Some contributing to leaders’ enhanced receptivity initiatives, such as the municipal govern- to women’s needs. This new understanding ment of Recife, Brazil’s partnership with the opened opportunities for improved service Women’s Coordinating Group (Coordenadoria delivery. The program results re lected a da Mulher), have emphasized women’s direct general recognition among informants that participation in budgeting (BRIDGE 2002). ‘‘subtle mindsets—among both marginal- ized women as well as leaders and service Other social accountability initiatives that providers—play as much of a role in the tackle gender issues include speci ic compo- success or failure of social accountability as nents enabling women’s voices to be heard any manifest factors and structural barriers” in ways that challenge social norms. For and that accountability tools are needed to 172 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity challenge “the ingrained socio-cultural norms 2. Level the playing ϐield. Greater that perpetuate health disparities in the irst access to inancial resources and leadership place” (Papp, Gogoi, and Campbell 2013; see training opportunities are needed. Promis- also Windau-Melmer 2013). ing approaches are under way in a number of countries: Finding opportunities to expand women’s political participation ■ In Mexico, a federal law requires that parties spend 2 percent of their funding Although women’s political participation on women’s leadership initiatives, and remains low overall, the good news is that strong lobbying by a coalition of wom- attitudes toward female leaders are chang- en’s groups ensured strong enforcement ing and a body of experience is accumulating. mechanisms. (Ballington et al. 2012). Promising approaches to increase women’s ■ In Burkina Faso, the quota law is tied participation include the following. to federal campaign funding and offers 1. Use quotas. Quota systems can help extra funding incentives to parties that overcome barriers and change attitudes ill the 30 percent benchmark (Ballington around women’s political participation. et al. 2012). Quotas work if women have a prominent ■ In Croatia, the Gender Equality Act place on party lists and the lists are enforced, requires that special measures be preferably with sanctions for noncompli- taken to promote gender balance in all ance. Women will bene it from a quota only branches of government and that regis- if they are placed in winnable positions on tered political parties adopt action plans a party list, rather than being at the bot- to achieve gender balance. The Social tom with little chance of success (Dahlerup Democratic Party established a wom- 2009). Quotas are unlikely to be a panacea, en’s wing that provided training on lead- however: social hierarchies, resistance from ership and political communications. incumbents, and entrenched gender norms This training helped develop a network can limit their effectiveness. Whether quo- of experienced women politicians, and tas work depends on the context, and care following the 2007 elections, women must be taken so that thresholds do not made up 32 percent of the party’s become a ceiling rather than a minimum parliamentary group and held in luential for women’s participation (United Nations positions within parliament (Ballington Focal Point for Electoral Assistance 2013). et al. 2012). There is now strong evidence about the The Women in Public Service Project, effectiveness of quotas and inclusion man- launched in 2011 by the U.S. State Depart- dates at the national level and in collective ment and the Woodrow Wilson Center, action groups and participatory projects partners with academic institutions around and programs. Less is known globally about the world to empower the next genera- their effectiveness in local-level political tion of female leaders through training and institutions, and more trials and impact mentoring. The aim is reach a minimum evaluation across a larger number of coun- of 50 percent representation of women in tries and regions are needed. public service by 2050. Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 173 3. Promote civil society activism. Strat- analyzed voter register data, and pro- egies to increase women’s participation in duced a comprehensive gender analysis politics and public life, led by civil society for the 2011 elections (Markham 2013). groups or individuals, can be an important ■ In parts of the Middle East and North source of support for women candidates. Africa, young men and women are For example, the Elect Haitian Women cam- brought together as activists and party paign on television and radio was run by a members to become accustomed to local women’s group throughout the coun- working side by side as equals. In the try to encourage voters to support women Republic of Yemen, youth councils have candidates (Markham 2013). In the United taught young women and men critical States, EMILY’s List recruits and trains con lict prevention and mitigation skills, women candidates, introduces them to key encouraging them to work together donors and the media, and helps them raise effectively to resolve community dis- funds for their campaigns.3 putes and advocate for local youth issues 4. Increase women’s participation (Markham 2013). throughout the electoral process. Elec- 5. Consider proportional represen- toral commissions and other bodies that tation. Proportional representation sys- conduct elections can be important entry tems outperform other systems in getting points for increasing women’s participation women into parliament and are more in national and local politics. This includes effective at implementing quotas (Krook ensuring that women have the documen- 2006; Matland 2005; Norris 1985). In tation needed to register to vote and that 2012, women accounted for 25 percent of electoral processes are inclusive. Examples members of parliament in proportional include the following: representation systems, in contrast to ■ The Democracy Monitoring Group in 14 percent in irst-past-the-post systems Uganda developed women’s participa- and 18 percent in mixed proportional tion checklists and reporting templates representation and irst-past-the-post for its observers, conducted focus groups, systems (IPU 2013). *** Women’s voices can be transformative, working to highlight and combat discrimina- tion, focusing attention on policies that can reduce gender inequality, and directing resources to programs that can enhance opportunities for women, girls, and their families. Making real advances in women’s political participation requires interven- tions and support on several fronts to foster positive changes in norms and practice. Collective action is an important vehicle for women’s voice, and autonomous women’s movements play a critical role in driving positive changes that can shift social norms over the longer term. In many parts of the world, attitudes are changing, leading to increased recognition of women’s leadership abilities at the national and local levels. 174 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Notes Ballington, Julie, Randi Davis, Mireya Reith, Lincoln Mitchell, Carole Njoki, Alyson  1. It is worth mentioning that the Harass- Kozma, and Elizabeth Powley. 2012. Empow- Maps in Cairo and Mumbai have not lived ering Women for Stronger Political Parties: up to their full potential yet, with 97 A Guidebook to Promote Women’s Political reports recorded in Mumbai since Octo- Participation. New York: United Nations ber 2012 and a little more than 1,200 Development Programme and National reports in all of Egypt since 2010. See Democratic Institute for International http://harassmap.org/en/what-we-do/the Affairs. -map/ and https://akshara.crowdmap.com /for more information. Ban, Radu, and Vijayendra Rao. 2009. “Is Delib-  2. Latest data are in UN Women (2010). eration Equitable: Evidence from Tran- scripts of Village Meetings in India.” Policy  3. For more information about EMILY’s List, Research Working Paper 4928, World Bank, see the organization’s website at http:// Washington, DC. www.emilyslist.org/. Beaman, Lori, Esther Du lo, Rohini Pande, and Petia Topalova. 2012. “Female Lead- References ership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls: A Policy Experiment in Agarwal, Bina. 2001. “Participatory Exclu- India.” Science 335 (6068): 582–86. sions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Beath, Andrew, Fontini Christia, and Ruben Framework.” World Development 29 (10): Enikolpov. 2013. Randomized Impact Eval- 1623–48. uation of Afghanistan’s National Solidarity Anderlini, Sanam Naraghi, John Tirman, Programme: Final Report . Washington, DC: Cerue Garlo, Shyamala Gomez, Suraiya World Bank. Kamaruzzaman, Turid Smith Polfus, Elena Rey, and Lina Zedriga. 2010. “What the Beath, Andrew, Fontini Christia, Ruben Women Say: Participation and UNSCR Enikolopov, and Shahim Ahmad Kabuli. 1325.” International Civil Society Action 2010. “Randomized Impact Evaluation Network and Center for International Stud- of Phase-II of Afghanistan’s National ies, Cambridge, MA. Solidarity Programme (NSP): Esti- mates of Interim Program Impact from Atkeson, Lonna Rae. 2003. “Not All Cues Are First Follow-Up Survey.” World Bank, Created Equal: The Conditional Impact of Washington, DC. Female Candidates on Political Engagement.” Journal of Politics 65 (4): 1041–61. Beyond Access. 2012. “Empowering Women Azarbaijani-Moghaddam, Sippi. 2010. A Study and Girls through ICT at Libraries.” Issue of Gender Equity through the National Sol- Brief, October, http://www.intgovforum idarity Programme’s Community Develop- . or g /c m s/w k s2013/wor k shop ment Councils: “If Anyone Listens, I Have a _background _paper/268_1367875859 Lot of Plans.” Kabul: Danish Committee for .pdf. Aid to Afghan Refugees. Blattman, Christopher, Eric Green, Jeannie Ballington, Julie, and Azza Karam, eds. Annan, and Julian Jamison. 2013. “Building 2005. Women in Parliament: Beyond Women’s Economic and Social Empower- Numbers. Stockholm: International Institute ment through Enterprise: An Experimen- for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. tal Assessment of the Women’s Income Chapter 6 Amplifying Voices | 175 Generating Support (WINGS) Program in Dahlerup, Drude. 2009. “About Quotas.” Quota Uganda.” Logica Study 1, World Bank, Wash- Project, International Institute for Democ- ington, DC. racy and Electoral Assistance and Stock- holm University, Stockholm. 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Chapter C Key hapter 7 K essages ey messages > The expansion of women’s agency demands more high-quality data, as well as meaningful new indices and measurements. > Quantitative data need to be complemented by qualitative information to accurately capture levels of agency and changes over time. > Existing data gaps present a signi icant challenge, which can be overcome through urgent, concerted local, national, and international effort. > The internationally agreed minimum set of 52 gender indicators and the statistical indicators and guidelines for measuring violence against women provide a sound basis for improving the availability of data and evidence on women’s agency. > Recent promising programs to produce more national-level data on women’s agency include Data2X, the Evidence on Data and Gender Equality initiative, and the Living Standards Measurement Study– Integrated Surveys on Agriculture. > Several promising new initiatives are combining data in composite indices to measure multiple agency deprivations across different domains. > At the operational level, project and program indicators need to establish baselines and more systematically track agency in key domains. > Investments in rigorous evaluations of what works are needed, particularly around collective voice, normative change, and the design of multisectoral programs. CHAPTER 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence Monitoring change and efforts are needed to broaden the evidence assessing progress base through rigorous testing of interven- tions that explicitly aim to enhance women’s agency. “Data not only measures progress, it inspires it.” As chapter 1 highlighted, agency is a complex construct that is inherently dif i- —Hillary Rodham Clinton (2012) cult to measure. Much of the evidence used in this book re lects what people say about We wrap up by focusing explicitly on data what they think and do in different domains and evidence. Progress in promoting wom- of their lives—their expressions of agency. en’s voice and agency needs to be captured While all data derived from self-reporting and monitored. Overcoming lack of data is are subject to a degree of bias, the advan- clearly a challenge, but it is not an excuse tage of using reported behaviors rather than for inaction. To measure progress and personal perceptions is the greater degree compare at the national level and across of objectivity and comparability across sam- countries, more and better data must be ples and contexts. produced for some areas, and new mea- This report has shown that both qualita- sures are needed for others. Efforts must tive and quantitative data can provide insights also focus on increasing data quality, raising into agency and agency constraints and standards of data collection, and promoting deprivations at the country level. Qualitative a common understanding of agency mea- approaches can be designed and imple- sures and their de initions. Policy research mented across countries—as used by the 182 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity World Bank’s On Norms and Agency (Muñoz cover economic participation, education, Boudet, Petesch, and Turk 2013) and Voices of health, human rights, and political partic- the Poor (Narayan et al. 1999, 2000; Narayan ipation. These quantitative measures are and Petesch 2002) studies, for example—or complemented by 11 qualitative indica- developed and applied to a particular country, tors covering national norms and laws on as in Niger (World Bank 2014b). The focus of gender equality that are aimed at moni- this chapter is more on the quantitative indica- toring how effectively national legislation tors used to track progress and hold decision ensures gender equality.1 Speci ic standard- makers to account. Often, however, combin- ized measures of violence against women, ing qualitative and quantitative methods will including physical and sexual violence as provide the best way to measure agency and well as child marriage and female genital to provide the benchmarks that can be used mutilation/cutting, and guidelines for pro- to track progress in increasing agency, as, for ducing statistics on these and other mea- example, in the Pathways to Empowerment sures of violence against women have been Project (Kabeer 2011). developed (UNDESA 2013). A selection of the indicators most relevant to measur- We irst take stock of current efforts to ing the agency deprivations covered in this measure women’s agency. The chapter then report, including the violence indicators, highlights key gaps that must be addressed can be found in box 7.1. to ensure a robust evidence base to inform policy making and inally outlines key Collecting data on violence brings priorities for future investment to address unique methodological challenges to ensur- these gaps. ing consistency, accuracy, and quality while also adhering to established ethical stan- Country-level data dards. Following an earlier request from A range of data exists at the country level that the United Nations General Assembly, in casts light on voice and agency. This section 2009 the United Nations Statistics Com- begins by giving an overview of internation- mission adopted a proposed core list of ally agreed gender indicators and commonly violence against women (VAW) indicators available sources before highlighting gaps and requested that UNSD and other stake- and then turning to some new and compos- holders draw on and further elaborate exist- ite measures that can be used to provide a ing methodological guidelines. In 2013, the fuller picture. United Nations published Guidelines for Pro- ducing Statistics on Violence against Women, which includes four core topics (physical, Internationally agreed gender sexual, psychological, and economic vio- indicators lence) and three optional topics (female The 2013 United Nations Statistics Divi- genital mutilation/cutting, attitudes toward sion (UNSD) guidance on gender indicators VAW, and reporting to authorities or help gives important new impetus, founded on seeking). This guidance includes the nine broad-based government agreement. The internationally agreed core indicators on minimum set of 52 agreed gender indicators VAW (see box 7.2). Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 183 The World Bank Gender Data Portal indicators are not currently collected and (http://data.worldbank.org/topic/gender) reported by countries. Whereas most of includes comparable data for 144 devel- the countries (136) in this sample collect oping and 31 developed countries.2 This sex-disaggregated data on access to credit, website draws on sources that provide none has data on the share of women who systematically and consistently compiled own land.3 Only 22 developing countries data, and it reveals that many of these collect disaggregated data on Internet use, internationally agreed and recommended and none collects data on the female share Box 7.1 Selected internationally agreed indicators on agency Economic structures, participation in Health and related services includes: productive activities, and access to › Contraceptive prevalence among women resources includes: who are married or in a union, ages 15 to 49 › Proportion of population with access to credit, by sex Human rights of women and girls › Proportion of adult population owning land, includes: by sex › Proportion of women ages 15 to 49 subjected to physical and/or sexual violence in the past › Proportion of individuals using the Internet, 12 months by an intimate partner by sex › Proportion of women ages 15 to 49 subjected › Proportion of individuals using mobile or to physical and/or sexual violence in the past cellular telephones, by sex 12 months by persons other than an intimate › Proportion of households with access to partner mass media (radio, television, Internet), by › Prevalence of female genital mutilation or sex of household head cutting (for relevant countries only) › Percentage of women ages 20 to 24 who Education includes: were married or in a union before age 18 › Adjusted net enrollment in primary education, by sex › Adolescent birth rate › Gross enrollment ratio in secondary education, by sex Public life and decision making includes: › Gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education, › Women’s share of government ministerial by sex positions › Share of female science, engineering, manu- › Proportion of seats held by women in facturing, and construction graduates at national parliament tertiary level › Women’s share of managerial positions › Educational attainment (primary, secondary, › Share of female police officers postsecondary, and tertiary) of the population age 25 years and older, by sex › Share of female judges Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, http://genderstats.org/. 184 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 7.2 Internationally agreed indicators for measuring violence against women 1. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to physical violence in the past 12 months, by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator, and frequency 2. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to physical violence during their lifetime, by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator, and frequency 3. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to sexual violence in the past 12 months, by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator, and frequency 4. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to sexual violence during their lifetime, by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator, and frequency 5. Total and age-specific rate of ever-partnered women subjected to sexual or physical violence by a current or former intimate partner in the past 12 months, by frequency 6. Total and age-specific rate of ever-partnered women subjected to sexual or physical violence by a current or former intimate partner during their lifetime, by frequency 7. Total and age-specific rate of ever-partnered women subjected to psychological violence in the past 12 months by an intimate partner 8. Total and age-specific rate of ever-partnered women subjected to economic violence in the past 12 months by an intimate partner 9. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to female genital mutilation Source: UNDESA 2013. of mobile phone or mass media users. Con- fertility (only six developing countries do versely, collection of health data is compar- not). In the domain of women’s voice, cov- atively extensive—95 developing countries erage is mixed. Nearly all countries report report on contraceptive prevalence. on women’s share of ministerial positions (171 out of 175) and seats held in parlia- To date there is also very low uptake of ment (170 out of 175). Yet fewer than half the recommended indicators of women’s (70 out of 175) report on women’s represen- and girls’ human rights. No countries sys- tation in managerial positions. Data on the tematically collect data on the prevalence proportion of judges and police of icers who of physical and sexual violence, and only 19 are female are missing from the World Bank developing countries report on female gen- Group’s World Development Indicators data- ital mutilation and cutting. Data collection base. The good news, however, is that inter- on child marriage is also limited, although national efforts are under way to support nearly all countries report on adolescent countries’ efforts to collect a wider range Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 185 of key gender-relevant data in the future, mobility, and measures of participation in including those outlined in this chapter. politics at the local level. The World Bank Group, together with governments and a Available data and indicators number of partner organizations, is working to close these data gaps. We do not have a direct measure of agency, but rather a valuable set of proxy indica- Data2X, a partnership of the United tors that measure reported experiences, Nations Foundation, the William and Flora attitudes, and behaviors. Standardized Hewlett Foundation, and the U.S. govern- measures can be used to establish levels and ment, is producing a Gender Data Blueprint patterns of women’s agency at the country to prioritize gender data gaps.4 To date, the level and to compare outcomes across coun- partnership has identi ied 26 gaps across tries. Numerous surveys have incorporated ive domains, on the basis of the need, cover- relevant questions into their standard mod- age, and policy relevance. Primary data gaps ules, particularly in the domains of intimate identi ied include violence against women, partner violence, sexual and reproductive sexual and reproductive health, access to health, asset ownership, and economic land, and voice (Buvinic, Furst-Nichols, and activity. While these indicators typically Koowal 2013). capture only proxy measures rather than Drawing on this initial work by Data2X, a direct measure of agency, these surveys table 7.2 highlights the gaps and opportuni- offer a validated set of measures that have ties for improved data collection across var- been instrumental in providing a clearer ious expressions of women’s agency. picture of women’s status across the globe. Table 7.1 presents a selection of key primary Efforts are already under way to ill some and secondary data sources, including those of the identi ied gaps. More than 70 countries used for this report, and examples of the have conducted studies speci ically to mea- agency-related measures they contain. sure the prevalence and nature of various forms of violence against women, at least 40 Together these represent a wealth of of these at the national level. Some focused publicly available data sources. However, on intimate partner violence while others gaps remain, and the need for more and bet- encompassed a wide range of physical and ter data is critical, as we discuss next. sexual violence and threats of violence per- petrated by partners, other family members, Initiatives to close data and other known men, and strangers. A num- evidence gaps ber of cross-country efforts have also been More investment is needed to produce carried out, including the landmark World national-level data that can measure levels, Health Organization multicountry study patterns, and changes in women’s agency. on women’s health and domestic violence Among the key gaps are measures of agency against women (García-Moreno et al. 2005). that capture aspirations and self-ef icacy, Of note also are the Demographic and Health measures of control over household spend- Surveys implemented by ICF International ing and investment decisions, measures of in partnership with national governments 186 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity TABLE 7.1 Selected data sources and examples of measures of women’s agency Country Data source coverage Frequency Measures of agency, examples Demographic and 90+ Typically Unmet need for contraceptives Health Surveys every five Experience of physical and sexual violence years Gallup World Poll 160 Varies by Support for women’s work and rights country (every Support for women in leadership positions one to two years) World Values Survey 75 Typically Perceptions about severity of discrimination every five Justifications for wife beating years Regional Barometer 88 Every two to Support for women in leadership positions Surveys three years Support for women’s rights Women, Business, 143 Every two Legislation to addresses domestic violence and the Law years Equal weight of woman’s testimony in court Inter-Parliamentary 186 Updated Women in elected and ministerial positions Union regularly Portfolios held by women ministers WHO Multi-country 10 One time Experience of physical and sexual intimate Study of Violence partner violence Against Women Help seeking for experiences of intimate partner violence Women’s belief in right to refuse sex WomanStats 175 Updated Women’s property rights Database regularly Presence of laws against domestic violence Multiple Indicator 90 Typically Unmet need for contraceptives Cluster Surveys every five Justifications for wife beating years Female genital mutilation prevalence OECD Social 102 Every two to Child marriage Institution and three years Women’s legal rights to land and other Gender Index property Reproductive Health 33 Country Unmet need for contraceptives Survey dependent Fertility preferences Gender and Land 80 Updated Land owned by women Rights Database regularly Women’s property rights 50 Years of Women’s 100 Annually Equal property rights (married and unmarried) Legal Rights (1960–2010) Equal rights to get a job or pursue a profession Database IFC Enterprise 135 Varies by Female participation in firm ownership Surveys country Female managers LSMS–ISA 7 Varies by Female access to credit country Household decision-making power distribution Note: IFC = International Finance Corporation; LSMS–ISA = Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture; OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; WHO = World Health Organization. Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 187 TABLE 7.2 Analysis of current data gaps and possible ways forward Expression of agency Gap Possible way forward Freedom from Current prevalence Create a global initiative to operationalize violence estimates are the UNSD guidelines to collect survey data underestimates and systematically at the country level and the IAEG- are not collected GS-endorsed minimum standard indicators. through standardized Expand the number of countries collecting the methods. minimum indicators (through stand-alone surveys such as the WHO study or integrated modules as in the DHS). Invest in panel data to track progress in reducing violence and measuring related consequences. Integrate violence modules or dedicated surveys in core postconflict programming and research. Sexual and Indicators are limited Expand existing surveys (DHS, RHS) to cover reproductive to maternal and services other than reproductive and MCH services health and rights reproductive health (for example, STI/HIV screening and prevention, services. Reliable treatment of obstetric fistula), and more data on many critical systematically gather and automate health service aspects of health are provider data. not available because Expand coverage of existing survey instruments of weak statistical to include SRH indicators for adolescents, and civil registration complemented by data from mobile phones and systems. other new technology. Collect data on factors that shape demand: accessibility, affordability, and appropriateness of services. Access to land Asset ownership is Include measures of ownership at the individual typically collected level that also consider how assets are actually at household (not controlled or shared within the household. individual) level. Track both official and customary property laws. Where data do exist (such as the LSMS), they may not be consistent across countries. Voice Comparable sex- Expand data capabilities to get accurate disaggregated information on women’s representation at data on women’s subnational levels and in political party leadership. representation at the Advocate to election management bodies for subnational level and data on voter registration and turnout to be voter registration disaggregated by sex. and turnout are not widely available. Note: DHS = Demographic and Health Surveys; IAEG-GS = Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics; LSMS = Living Standards Measurement Study; MCH = maternal and child health; RHS = Reproductive Health Survey; SRH = sexual and reproductive health; STI/HIV = sexually transmitted infection/human immunodeficiency virus; UNSD = United Nations Statistics Division; WHO = World Health Organization. 188 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity and with funding from the U.S. Agency for of surveys, with some regional and country International Development (USAID), the speci icity (UNSD and UN Women 2013). International VAW Survey coordinated by the European Institute for Crime Preven- The Living Standards Measurement tion and Control, and the study on violence Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture against women conducted by the Euro- (LSMS–ISA), a collaboration of the World pean Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Bank Group and the Bill & Melinda Gates (2014). However, a gap still remains in the Foundation, is improving the type and qual- collection of internationally comparable ity of household data collected by statistical data using standardized measurements. To of ices and is currently being implemented help close this gap, the World Bank Group in seven Sub-Saharan African countries.5 is exploring partnerships with the United Several existing survey instruments could Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the be improved by adding questions to yield Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and richer sex-disaggregated data. Beyond ask- other agencies to pilot the nine internation- ing if anyone in the household owns any ally agreed core VAW indicators in several agricultural land, which is common in sur- countries using the stand-alone survey pro- veys, the next question could ask who the moted by the UNSD guidelines. owners are. The names of all persons on the ownership document could be listed. Ques- The Evidence on Data and Gender Equal- tions on the respondent’s right to sell, rent, ity (EDGE) Initiative aims to accelerate or bequeath land and that person’s decision- efforts to collect comparable gender indi- making power over its use provide data on cators on health, education, employment, the level of individual control (Doss et al. entrepreneurship, and asset ownership. 2013). This three-year project—a collaboration between UN Women and UNSD with the Innovative ways of collecting and using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and sex-disaggregated data can help to illumi- Development (OECD) and the World Bank nate key challenges and priority areas for Group—is building on the work of the Inter- action. Across seven countries in Europe agency and Expert Group on Gender Statis- and Central Asia, for example, the World tics to develop methodological guidelines to Bank Group is working with the Food and measure asset ownership and entrepreneur- Agriculture Organization of the United ship from a gender perspective. Improving Nations to implement the Voluntary Guide- questionnaires and surveys can help coun- lines on the Responsible Governance of tries to collate data at an individual level. Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the For example, determining which household Context of National Food Security through members are going to be the subject of the gender action plans (FAO 2013). These survey can produce more nuanced data on efforts include collecting sex-disaggregated control over assets. To ill the gaps, EDGE data by recording an applicant’s gender will pilot survey modules as part of exist- at the time of submission, as in Albania ing household questionnaires (Doss 2013). and Kosovo; as part of other information EDGE is also working on the standardization collected by the land agencies, such as Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 189 personal identi ier, tax number, and social For example, work for this report suggests security number; and by linking the prop- new areas to consider for better measur- erty register with other government regis- ing freedom from violence. Those areas ters containing gender information, such include (a) measures of violence against as the civil or population register. Innova- children and adolescents; (b) consis- tive uses include linking sex-disaggregated tent and culturally appropriate measures land data to spatial data to promote more of attitudes toward violence, including targeted policy making and implementation masculinity and justi ications for differ- (World Bank 2014a). ent forms of violence; (c) measures that capture access to justice and protective UN Women has partnered with United services for survivors of violence; and Cities and Local Governments to launch data (d) measures of access to and quality of gathering in the area of women’s represen- social services such as alternative accom- tation at subnational levels and in political modation and livelihood support. party leadership (Buvinic, Furst-Nichols, and Koowal 2013). This effort will provide more Greater understanding of agency over accurate information on women’s political sexual and reproductive health decisions participation and the barriers women face to could be gained from knowing more about exercising agency in this domain. sexual autonomy, including experiences Continual improvement in the capacity of of forced or unwanted sex and pregnancy statistical agencies in developing countries is intentions, such as whether respondents essential to ensure sustainability and scaling believe they have a right to determine the up of data collection. The World Bank Group timing and number of pregnancies they has a number of inancial instruments that have and what the reasons are for unin- offer potential support for improved measures tended and mistimed pregnancies. Control of voice and agency. In particular, the Trust of land and housing could be better mea- Fund for Statistical Capacity Building, which sured with more data on women’s registra- primarily supports targeted capacity improve- tion of usufruct or ownership rights to land ments at the national level for low-income and on women’s use of land administration countries, will devote more focus and atten- services. Speci ic measures are also needed tion to illing critical gaps in gender statistics. that can track implementation of laws to make it possible for women to register land Additionally, new indicators on agency and property in their own names or jointly. are needed. Selecting such indicators will Tracking women’s appointments to high- require consultation with a broad range level positions in national organizations of experts, stakeholders, and national and leadership positions in the public and statistical of ices and agreement between private sectors would help researchers to governments and the relevant intergov- better document changes in women’s voice ernmental agencies to select, test, and and in luence in speci ic national contexts. evaluate options and methodologies. The development and testing process can begin Policy research efforts are needed to at the project or service-provider level. deepen the evidence base through rigorous 190 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 7.3 Measuring and expanding agency in Latin America and the Caribbean In Latin America and the Caribbean, as in other regions, lack of rigorous measures for agency and low awareness of the importance of agency impede progress. To fill this gap, the World Bank Group’s Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE) supports initiatives aimed at expanding data, indicators, and evidence on agency and its effects on other dimensions of gender equality and road testing evidence on how to expand agency. In all projects supported by the Latin American and Caribbean UFGE, agency either is one of the outcomes or plays an instrumental role in achieving other project objectives. Some examples follow: › In Ecuador, the Text Me Maybe pilot intervention aims to increase the evidence-base on the role of agency in policy interventions that address teen pregnancy prevalence and risk factors and road test the effectiveness of text message reminders in changing behaviors. › In St. Lucia, UFGE funds support efforts to reduce women’s vulnerability in natural disasters by enhancing their agency, especially for female heads of households, through climate adaptation activities. › In northeast Brazil, a pilot intervention to enhance women’s agency in agricultural production integrates tools to measure their empowerment relative to productivity, income generation, access to markets, and gender roles and decision-making power within the household, producer groups, and the broader community. The Latin American and Caribbean UFGE also supports capacity building for project teams in conceptualizing and measuring agency, including through a recent workshop to review existing measures of various dimensions of agency and resources for addressing empirical challenges. The first results from this work will be available in September 2014. For more information about the UFGE, see http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/publication /umbrella-facility-for-gender-equality. testing of interventions that explicitly aim to expansion of choice. Choice is quite dif- enhance women’s agency. Such efforts are ferent from income poverty, for example, under way, for example, through the Social where information about the amount of Observatory in India, which documents money that an individual or family has is innovations and promising practices (World compared to some threshold. Indeed, as Bank n.d.), and through work supported by igure 1.3 in chapter 1 showed, the abil- the World Bank Group’s Umbrella Facility ity to make choices often varies across the for Gender Equality in Latin America and the different expressions of agency. Combin- Caribbean (box 7.3). ing data in an index allows different and sometimes overlapping deprivations to be Composite indices brought together to produce a composite We do not have a single measure that fully and standardized value. However, select- captures what is meant by agency and the ing the most appropriate items to capture Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 191 these synergies in a single measure with- discriminatory family code, restricted phys- out losing the meaning of the underlying ical integrity, son bias, restricted resources measures is a signi icant challenge. and entitlements, and restricted civil liber- ties (OECD Development Centre 2012). Several recent initiatives seek to meet These types of composite measures these challenges. The Women’s Empower- can offer important contributions to ment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which understanding the status of, nature of, was piloted in Bangladesh, Guatemala, and and constraints on women’s agency at the Uganda, measures women’s empower- national level. The next section explores ment, agency, and the inclusion of women recent efforts to measure progress in wom- in the agriculture sector.6 It comprises two en’s agency at the program and project subindices. The irst measures ive domains levels and presents suggestions for innova- of empowerment—namely, agricultural pro- tions on these measures. duction, resources, incomes, leadership, and time. The second, the Gender Parity Index, measures the relative inequality between Program- and project-level the primary adult male and female in each indicators and emerging household. The results can be used to good practice increase understanding of the connections At the operational level, indicators are between women’s empowerment, agricul- needed to establish baselines and track tural growth, and food security. This initia- progress. Many governments and inter- tive is being rolled out in 19 countries (Feed national development agencies have the Future 2012). developed frameworks and guidelines to monitor gender results in project activities. The Relative Autonomy Index is a The voice and agency front is one in which new approach, which was developed by experience and measurement guidance are the Oxford Poverty and Human Devel- now beginning to emerge. For example, opment Initiative to measure women’s USAID has issued a checklist, “Assessing own sense of agency.7 Box 7.4 outlines Achievement of Gender Objectives,” which the approach and shows some early ind- includes women’s self-ef icacy, attitudes ings from Chad, where the index is being toward gender-based violence and wom- tested. en’s access to opportunities, and laws pro- moting gender equality (USAID 2012). The Another important contribution is United Kingdom’s Department for Inter- the Social Institutions and Gender Index national Development has published guid- (SIGI) database, developed by the OECD. ance notes on the design and measurement The SIGI focuses on the underlying of results of programs to address depriva- social institutions that in luence gender tions of agency, including violence against roles and that can limit or enable indi- women (DFID 2012). vidual or collective agency. The SIGI is also a composite index, composed of ive The World Bank Group monitors key equally weighted subindices that measure gender indicators as part of its corporate 192 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 7.4 Using new measures of women’s autonomy in Chad: The Relative Autonomy Index The Oxford Poverty and Human Development “We know about malnutrition, but if Initiative (OPHI) is testing the Relative Autonomy the meat doesn’t go mostly to the man, Index (RAI) with men and women and between there is trouble in the house.” different women in the same household in Chad, which has some of the largest gendered economic —A woman from Loumia, Chad (Kristof 2013) and health inequalities in the world. OPHI, in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund–Chad and the Indic Society for Education and Development, used the RAI within a nationally representative survey that addressed topics such as consumption, work, living standards, education, and subjective well-being, with a focus on health behaviors and outcomes. To measure autonomy, people were asked whether their actions were coerced to some extent or done to please others and whether their actions embodied their own values. Their degree of autonomy was analyzed for actions in eight domains—including doing domestic work, doing market work, making major household purchases, participating in groups, and feeding young children. The most striking finding is that women are less autonomously motivated than men across every single domain. Women ages 15 to 26 had the lowest autonomy, in sharp contrast to men of the same age. Uneducated men had greater autonomy than uneducated women in all domains (except group membership), but men and women who participated in a group had higher autonomy in all other domains without exception. However, results show that autonomy is not necessarily associated with more life satisfaction or happiness. Levels of education and household income—commonly used indicators of agency—are not strongly associated with autonomy levels either. Given these additional insights, the results suggest that the RAI could be used to enhance or replace other indirect measures of agency. These early findings also suggest the RAI yields new information that can contribute to understanding the links between women’s autonomy, agency, and development outcomes. Further analysis will explore the relationship between the individual’s autonomy and specific behavior such as hand washing, exclusive breast-feeding, and child marriage. In Chad, early marriage is widely accepted— and 1 in 10 girls has had a child before age 15. Measuring autonomy in these ways, therefore, could help to identify high-impact pathways that empower multiple generations within the same household. Sources: Alkire, Pratley, and Vaz, forthcoming; Cruz 2013; Ford 2013. scorecard and is increasingly monitoring With the World Bank Group Corporate gender results in project activities, includ- Scorecard and the International Develop- ing useful proxy measures of agency. This ment Association (IDA) Results Measurement section brie ly reviews recent World Bank System (RMS), the World Bank Group mon- Group experience and highlights areas for itors key gender indicators and outcomes in improvement. areas where policies and operations of client Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 193 countries are being supported. For example, con lict prevention, civic engagement, social the IDA’s 17 RMS (covering iscal years 2015 inclusion, and access to inance and health, to 2017) includes the number of women among others (see examples in table 7.3). receiving prenatal care as a key health sector However, because CSIs are not yet widely indicator in relevant client countries. Since incorporated across World Bank Group 2009, standardized Core Sector Indicators projects,8 additional efforts are needed to (CSIs) gather data on a uniform set of indi- increase their uptake and expand their scope cators at the project level to enable results to for measuring agency. be reported at the corporate level. Among the more than 140 CSIs used across the World More generally, World Bank Group proj- Bank, Group about 30 are gender speci ic, ects include speci ic results indicators. tracking female bene iciaries of projects. Selected efforts to capture agency in such Gender-speci ic results track agriculture, projects are illustrated in box 7.5. TABLE 7.3 Selected World Bank Group Gender Core Sector Indicators related to agency Agency dimension Gender Core Sector Indicators Beneficiaries who experience a feeling of greater security Freedom from gender-based attributable to the project in the project areas—female violence (number) Control over reproductive health People with access to a basic package of health, nutrition, and rights or reproductive health services—(number) Land parcels with use or ownership rights of females, Ownership and control over land recorded as a result of the project—(number) Representatives in community-based decision making and management structures that are Voice and influence from the vulnerable or marginalized beneficiary population—female (number) Vulnerable and marginalized people who participate Voice and influence in nonproject consultations and decision-making forums—female (number) Targeted clients who are members of an association— Voice and influence female (number) Voice and influence Women’s employment figures and corporate board (IFC indicator) positions awarded to women—(percentage) Voice and influence Small and micro enterprise capital given to women (IFC indicator) entrepreneurs—(percentage) All dimensions depending on Direct project beneficiaries—(number), of which the project (percentage) are female Note: IFC = International Finance Corporation. 194 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Box 7.5 Examples of World Bank Group project indicators related to women’s agency Gender-based violence (GBV) › The 2008 Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Côte d’Ivoire Project measured the percentage of the surveyed population that listened to the project’s radio shows about GBV at least two times and the number of women experiencing physical intimate partner violence. › The 2012 Breaking the Cycle of Violence Project in Honduras included measures of the number of youth whose awareness of GBV increased over the course of the project. Sexual and reproductive health and rights › The 2010 Nepal Second Health Nutrition and Population and HIV/AIDS Project included the following agency-related indicators: the current use of modern contraceptives among women ages 15 to 49 and the percentage of married women ages 15 to 49 with unmet needs for family planning. › The 2014 Tajikistan Health Services Improvement Project included contraceptive prevalence rate as a results indicator, measured as the share of women in project districts ages 15 to 49 using modern methods of family planning. Control over land and housing › The 2010 Kosovo Real Estate Cadastre and Registration Project incorporated an indicator on the percentage of women with registered use or ownership rights (both joint and individual). › The 2007 Vietnam Poverty Reduction and Support Operation Credit measured asset ownership among women. Voice and influence › The 2010 Afghanistan Third Emergency National Solidarity Project included targets for the proportion of female representatives in community development councils taking active part in making decisions for community development. › The 2010 Bangladesh Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project monitored the percentage of village-level executive committees (gram samitis) in which the chronically poor held decision-making positions and the percentage of such decision makers who were women. Chapter 7 Closing Gaps in Data and Evidence | 195 *** Capturing and monitoring efforts to promote women’s voice and agency require high-quality data, but gaps remain significant. Progress requires greater invest- ment and concerted effort from governments, international agencies, and local and national implementing partners. As highlighted in this chapter, several initiatives are already under way to develop and standardize indicators that better measure agency and allow for more direct comparison across countries. Welcome research efforts are also under way to design and test new measures of agency and deepen the evidence base for policy through rigorous testing of interventions that explicitly aim to enhance women’s agency, but more are needed. Together these efforts will contribute to closing important data and knowledge gaps. They will also contribute to the post-2015 agenda by increasing demand for sound measures of progress in women’s agency and gender equality worldwide. Notes  5. The countries are Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.  1. The full listing of indicators can be found at http://genderstats.org/.  6. WEAI was developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, International  2. Analysis is based on data available on Food Policy Research Institute, and Oxford the World Bank Gender Data Portal and Poverty and Human Development Initia- includes gender data sets from the United tive. WEAI is available at http://www.ifpri Nations compiled by its regional com- .org/publication/womens-empowerment missions and sectoral agencies, as well -agriculture-index. as surveys and reports conducted or funded by the World Bank Group, such as  7. The Relative Autonomy Index (RAI) was World Development Report 2012: Gender irst designed by Richard Ryan and Ed Deci. Equality and Development (World Bank  8. For example, a recent analysis of the 2011). Other in-country sources may also portfolio in the World Bank Sustainable be available. Users are advised to check Development Network shows that data sources. CSI uptake is found in less than half (46 percent) of projects.  3. 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Forthcoming. “Women’s Autonomy in Chad: Measurement and Distinctiveness.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper Series, World Bank, Washington, DC. Arango, Diana J., Matthew Morton, Floriza Gennari, Sveinung Kiplesund, and Mary Ellsberg. Forthcoming. “Interventions to Prevent and Reduce Violence against Women and Girls: A Systematic Review of Reviews.” Women’s Voice, Agency and Participation Research Series, World Bank, Washington, DC. de Silva de Alwis, Rangita. 2014. “Women’s Voice and Agency: The Role of Legal Institutions and Women’s Movements.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 7, World Bank, Washington, DC. Duvvury, Nata, Aoife Callan, Patrick Carney, and Srinivas Raghavendra. 2013. “Intimate Partner Violence: Economic Costs and Implications for Growth and Development.” 2013. Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 3, World Bank, Washington, DC. Evans, Alison, and Divya Nambiar. 2013. “Collective Action and Women’s Agency: A Background Paper.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 4, World Bank, Washington, DC. Fleming, Paul J., Gary Barker, Jennifer McCleary-Sills, and Matthew Morton. 2013. “Engaging Men and Boys in Advancing Women’s Agency: Where We Stand and New Directions.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 1, World Bank, Washington, DC. Grépin, Karen A., and Jeni Klugman. 2013. “Closing the Deadly Gap between What We Know and What We Do.” World Bank, Washington, DC. Levtov, Ruti. 2014. “Addressing Gender Inequalities in Curriculum and Education: Review of Literature and Promising Practices to Inform Education Reform Initiatives in Thailand.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper Series, World Bank, Washington, DC. Markham, Susan. 2013. “Women as Agents of Change: Having Voice in Society and In luencing Policy.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 5, World Bank, Washington, DC. Namubiru-Mwaura, Evelyn. 2014. “Land Tenure and Gender: Approaches and Challenges for Strengthening Rural Women’s Land Rights.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 6, World Bank, Washington, DC. Rakodi, Carole. 2014. “Expanding Women’s Access to Land and Housing in Urban Areas.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 8, World Bank, Washington, DC. 200 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Vyas, Seema. 2013. “Estimating the Association between Women’s Earnings and Partner Violence: Evidence from the 2008–2009 Tanzania National Panel Survey.” Women’s Voice, Agency, and Participation Research Paper 2, World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank. 2014. “Voices of Men and Women regarding Social Norms in Niger.” Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Africa Region Report 83296-NE, World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank and TrustLaw Connect. 2013. “Women and Land Rights: Legal Barriers Impede Women’s Access to Resources.” World Bank and TrustLaw Connect, Washington, DC. http:// www.trust.org/publication/?id=1440891e-13ac-434a-bc73-9264e9aabbbf. Index Boxes, ϔigures, maps, notes, and tables are indicated by b, f, m, n, and t following the page number. A legal framework as driver for, 28–30, abortion, 106, 115, 119–20 30t, 43–47 access to inance, 51 multiple deprivations, 5–6, 7f, 22–24, access to income, 78–79 23–24f access to information, 113–16, 114b overlapping disadvantages, 5–6, 7f, access to justice, 46, 47, 86b 19–21, 20f, 21b access to services, 16, 119 political voice and participation. See accountability, 169–72, 170–71b. See also political voice and participation social accountability as research need, 1–2, 12–14 adolescent fertility. See teen pregnancy sectoral policies and programs, 47–56 Adolescent Girls’ Advocacy and Leadership sexual and reproductive health. See Initiative, 159 sexual and reproductive health and Adolescent Girls Initiative, 49, 50b rights Afghanistan social norms Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b changing, 38–43 broadcast media in, 41 as driver for agency, 25–28, 26–27b digital divide in, 158 Albania, data gaps in, 188 freedom of movement in, 15b Algeria, child marriage in, 109 political representation in, 162, 163b, Andorra, political voice and participation 164, 194b in, 164, 167 sexual and reproductive health in, 115 Apni Beti Apna Dhan (ABAD, India), 117 social norms in, 41 Arab Charter on Human Rights, 130 Africa. See Middle East and North Africa; Argawal, Bina, 131 Sub-Saharan Africa Argentina, political voice and participation African National Congress Women’s in, 167 League, 44b armed con lict as gender-based violence agency, 37–61 risk factor, 79–80 conceptual framework for, 16–18, 17f Armenia, land and housing ownership and cross-cutting public actions, role of, control in, 135 37–38 Association of War Affected Women, 161 de ined, 13b Ateneo Human Rights Centre, 46 development impact of, 2–3, 14–16 Australia expressions of, 14 education in, 55b gender-based violence. See gender- intimate partner violence in, 21 based violence social norms in, 6, 40 202 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity B social norms in, 40 Bangladesh social protection in, 52 access to justice in, 85 Breaking the Cycle of Violence Project agency interventions in, 191 (Honduras), 194b broadcast media and, 43 Bulgaria, education in, 53 child marriage in, 109, 111, 119 Burkina Faso collective action in, 160 education in, 89 economic opportunities in, 48 gender-based violence in, 72 education in, 53 land and housing ownership and control freedom of movement in, 15b in, 3, 135 gender-based violence in, 71, 72, 78 political voice and participation in, 172 political voice and participation in, Burundi 166, 194b gender-based violence in, 74b sexual and reproductive health in, land and housing ownership and control 114, 120 in, 135 social norms in, 17, 28 marital property regime in, 140 social protection in, 51, 52 political voice and participation in, 168 Beijing Platform of Action (1995), 1 social norms in, 40 Berhane Hewan program (Ethiopia), 117b teen pregnancy in, 107 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 188 Bolivia C ethnic minorities in, 21 Cambodia gender-based violence in, 72 child marriage in, 109 social protection in, 52 education in, 19 teen pregnancy in, 108 gender roles in, 18 Botswana, collective action in, 160, 161b land and housing ownership and control BRAC Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty in, 138 Reduction–Targeting the Ultra Poor sexual and reproductive health in, 108 (TUP) program, 51 Cameroon BRAC Empowerment and Livelihoods for agency deprivations in, 22 Adolescents (Uganda), 49 land rights in, 46 Brazil sexual and reproductive health in, 115 agency interventions in, 190b Canada conditional cash transfers in, 117–18 political voice and participation in, 167 ethnic minorities in, 21 social norms in, 28 gender-based violence interventions in, Center for Domestic Violence Prevention 90, 90b (Uganda), 83b land and housing ownership and control Chad in, 144, 147 gender inequality in, 12 political representation in, 162 Relative Autonomy Index in, 192b sexual and reproductive health in, 116 teen pregnancy in, 107 social accountability in, 171 child care, 51, 162 Index | 203 Child Friendly Schools model, 56 conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, child marriage 52–53, 79, 117 data gaps, 182, 184 condom use, 70–71 prevalence of, 18, 103, 109–11, 110m Congo. See Democratic Republic of Congo; promotion of alternatives to, Republic of Congo 116–19, 117b constitutional law, 6, 44–45, 44–45b, 144 social norms and, 42b contraceptives, 40, 102, 104–6 in Vietnam, 21b Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Chile of Discrimination Against Women gender-based violence in, 77, 82 (CEDAW), 1, 29, 44, 101, 109, 130, 161b sexual and reproductive health in, 108 Core Sector Indicators (CSIs), 192, 192t China Corporate Scorecard (World Bank), 192 child marriage in, 117 Costa Rica, land and housing ownership land and housing ownership and control and control in, 135 in, 146b Cote d’Ivoire teen pregnancy in, 3 agency deprivations in, 22 Ciudad Mujer (El Salvador), 49 economic empowerment in, 89 civil society, 87, 171b, 173 gender-based violence in, 72, 194b gender-based violence and, 171b land and housing ownership and control coercion, forced sex, and rape in, 135 de initions, 64 Council on Foreign Relations, 103 prevalence of, 69–71 Croatia, political voice and participation collective action, 9, 156, 158, 159–62, in, 172 161b, 169 crowdsourcing, 158 Colombia Cuba, political representation in, 164 child marriage in, 109 cultural norms, 28 conditional cash transfers in, 117–18 customary laws gender-based violence in, 68, 75, 79, access to justice and, 47 80, 81 as agency driver, 4, 29–30, 47 teen pregnancy in, 108 for land and housing ownership and commercial sex, 70 control, 138, 144, 145 Commission of Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV), 171b D communities. See also social norms data gaps, 9, 181–97 gender-based violence response composite indexes, 190–91 of, 83b country-level data, 182–91 social norm changes, role in, 38–41, 42b available data and indicators, 185, 186t community of property regimes, 140, 141m, initiatives to close data and evidence 141b, 149n3 gaps, 185–90, 187t, 190b composite indexes, 190–91 internationally agreed gender Comprehensive Community Based indicators, 182–85, 183–84b Rehabilitation Hospital, 116 monitoring and evaluation, 181–82 204 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity program- and project-level indicators, East Asia and the Paci ic. See also speciϔic 191–93, 192b, 193t, 194b countries Data2X, 185 gender-based violence in, 71, 81 Decent Work Agenda (ILO), 51 political voice and participation in, 166b Deci, Ed, 195n7 social norms in, 40 Democracy Monitoring Group Eastern Europe and Central Asia. See also (Uganda), 173 speciϔic countries Democratic Republic of Congo child marriage in, 109 collective action in, 161 data gaps in, 188 gender-based violence in, 71, 74b, freedom of movement in, 15b 79–80, 81 gender-based violence in, 71 land and housing ownership and control intimate partner violence in, 66 in, 140 land and housing ownership and control legal framework in, 29 in, 139, 142, 145, 148 Demographic and Health Surveys, 5, 19, 65, political voice and participation in, 166b 69b, 110, 132, 185 Economic Development and Cultural Change Department for International Development journal, 25 (UK), 47, 191 economic growth, 75–77, 76f depression, 74 economic opportunities, 6, 12, 48–51, 88–89 development Ecuador agency impact on, 14–16 agency interventions in, 190b freedom of movement and, 15b gender-based violence in, 78 gender-based violence and, 63–66 land and housing ownership and control land and housing ownership and in, 132 control, 130–34 marital property regime in, 140 Diawara, Demba, 42b social protection in, 52 digital divide, 158 education divorce, 111 access to justice and, 17 Djibouti, Tostan program in, 42b agency deprivations and, 6, 7f, 22, 38 documented ownership of land and child marriage and, 111 housing, 134b delays in marriage and, 2 Domestic Violence Act (1998, South Africa), gender-based violence and, 70–71, 77 45b gender equality in, 53–56, 54–55b Dominican Republic internationally agreed indicators for, 183b gender-based violence in, 72, 81 policy interventions and, 8 teen pregnancy in, 107, 108 poverty and, 19 dowries, 111 safe environments for, 54–55, 54b, 89 Du lo, Esther, 12 effective ownership of land and housing, 134b E Egypt early sexual activity and pregnancy, 106–9, broadcast media and, 43 107f. See also teen pregnancy child marriage interventions in, 118 Index | 205 collective action in, 161, 161b F digital divide in, 158 family law, 144–45 economic opportunities in, 48 family-level effects of gender-based legal framework in, 29 violence, 75 political representation in, 164 Family Planning Association of Malawi political voice and participation in, 167 (FPAM), 113b sexual and reproductive health in, 113, family planning programs, 40 116, 119b female genital cutting, 42b, 182 Elect Haitian Women campaign, 173 fertility choices, 104–6 El Salvador Finland, political voice and participation collective action in, 161b in, 167 economic opportunities in, 49 lash mobs, 158 gender-based violence in, 68 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 188 Emang Basadi (Botswana), 160 forced sex. See coercion, forced sex, and employment as factor in land and housing rape ownership and control, 137–38, 137f Forum of African Women Educationalist empowerment, 1. See also agency Centre of Excellence, 56 Empowerment and Livelihood fragility as risk factor for gender-based Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project violence, 79–80 (Bangladesh), 194b freedom of movement, 14, 15b Empowerment and Livelihoods for Future Judges Program (Jordan), 168 Adolescents (ELA, Uganda), 118 enforcement of legal framework, 45–47 G Ethiopia Gabon, justice sector leadership in, 165b child marriage in, 117b The Gambia, Tostan program in, 42b collective action in, 159 gaps in data and evidence. See data gaps education in, 16 gatekeepers, engagement of, 112–13, 113b gender-based violence in, 71 “Gender at Work” (World Bank), 48 inheritance law in, 17 gender-based violence, 2, 63–99 land and housing ownership and control access to income as risk factor, 78–79 in, 133b, 144 armed con lict as risk factor, 79–80 marital property regime in, 140 community responses, 83b political voice and participation in, 166 costs of, 14, 73–80 social norms in, 41 data gaps, 187t ethnic minorities, 19, 21 de ined, 64b European Court of Human Rights, 119 as development challenge, 63–66 European Institute for Crime Prevention economic empowerment and, 88–89 and Control, 188 economywide effects, 75–77, 76f European Union Agency for Fundamental family-level effects of, 75 Rights, 188 fragility as risk factor, 79–80 Evidence on Data and Gender Equality gender norms, promoting positive, (EDGE) Initiative, 188 80–83, 81f 206 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity individual-level effects of, 73–75, 74b Guatemala land and housing ownership and control access to justice in, 86 and, 133b agency interventions in, 191 legal reform and responses, 83–86, 84f, ethnic minorities in, 19, 21 85m, 86b teen pregnancy in, 107 measurement indicators for, 194b Guidelines for Producing Statistics on policy implications, 80–90 Violence against Women (UN), 182 prevalence of, 3, 4m, 66–73, 67m, 68f, Guinea 69b, 70f, 73f gender-based violence in, 81 relationship characteristics as risk Tostan program in, 42b factor, 77–78 Guinea-Bissau, Tostan program in, 42b reporting and responses, 71–73, 73f sectoral interventions, 89–90, 90b H social norms and, 5 Haiti social support and services, 86–88, 87b Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b voice and, 171b child marriage in, 109, 111 Gender Data Blueprint, 185 gender-based violence in, 71, 72, 171b Gender Data Portal (World Bank), 183, social protection in, 51, 52 195n2 teen pregnancy in, 108 Gender Equity Movement in Schools HarassMaps, 158, 174n1 (India), 55, 55b Health Services Improvement Project gender norms (Tajikistan), 194b as agency driver, 4, 18 High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the broadcast media and, 43 Post-2015 Development Agenda, 31n6, 64 policy interventions for, 8 HIV/AIDS, 74, 102, 106, 109, 113b political voice and participation, Hollaback!, 158 163–66, 166b, 172 homosexuality, 28 promoting positive norms, 80–83, 81f Honduras sexual and reproductive health and, 112 access to ICTs in, 168 Gender Parity Index, 191 Breaking the Cycle of Violence Project, Ghana 194b economic opportunities in, 48 intimate partner violence in, 68f gender-based violence in, 84 land and housing ownership and control justice sector leadership in, 165b in, 135, 142, 143b land and housing ownership and control sexual and reproductive health in, 102 in, 134b, 138 social protection in, 51, 52 marital property regime in, 140, 142 teen pregnancy in, 107, 108 political voice and participation in, 167 households, role in changing social norms, sexual and reproductive health in, 104, 38–41 112, 120 housing. See land and housing ownership Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and control and Development (KNOMAD), 31n3 Huairou Commission, 46 Index | 207 I sexual and reproductive health and, ICF International, 185 115–16 implementation of legal framework, training programs in, 49 45–47, 139 voice and, 155, 157–58, 168–69 land and housing ownership and inheritance law, 4, 138 control, 142–43, 146–48, 147b gender equality in, 144–45 Inclusion Matters (World Bank), 19 Intel Learn program, 49 India Interagency and Expert Group on Gender access to justice in, 85 Statistics, 188 broadcast media in, 41 International Center for Research on child marriage in, 109 Women, 103 collective action in, 161b International Civil Society Action Network, digital divide in, 158 161 economic opportunities in, 49 International Conference on Population and education in, 55, 55b Development, 84, 101, 103 gender-based violence in, 63, 71, 75, International Convention on Human Rights, 81, 85 28 intimate partner violence in, 5, 21 International Development Association land and housing ownership and control (IDA), 192–93 in, 132, 133b, 135, 138, 139 International Food Policy Research marital property regime in, 140 Institute, 195n6 political representation in, 162 International Labour Organization (ILO), 51 political voice and participation in, internationally agreed gender indicators, 167–68 182–85, 183–84b sexual and reproductive health in, International Men and Gender Equality 108, 117 Survey (IMAGES), 27b, 78 social accountability in, 114b, 171 international norms, 29 social protection in, 51, 52 Internet Resources and Information for teen pregnancy in, 14 Safety (IRIS), 88 Indic Society for Education and Intervention with Micro inance for AIDS Development, 192b and Gender Equity (IMAGE), 88 individual-level effects of gender-based intimate partner violence violence, 73–75, 74b child marriage and, 109 Indonesia costs of, 14 access to justice in, 46 poverty as factor in, 5, 21 child marriage in, 117 prevalence of, 66–71, 67m, 68f, 69b, 70f land and housing ownership and control Iran in, 135, 146 justice sector leadership in, 165b sexual and reproductive health in, 108 political voice and participation in, 167 infant mortality, 75 Iraq information and communication gender roles in, 18 technologies (ICTs), 9 political voice and participation in, 167 208 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Israel, divorce in, 111 L Italy, gender roles in, 18 labor force participation rate, 48 Land Administration Program (Honduras), J 143b joint titles, 135, 143b, 145 land and housing ownership and control, Jordan 130–53 access to justice in, 46 customary law and, 145 Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b data gaps, 187t divorce in, 111 de ined, 132–34, 134b gender-based violence in, 79 development challenge of, 1, 3, 130–34 land and housing ownership and control extent of challenge, 134–42 in, 145 gender-based violence and, 133b legal framework in, 29 gender inequities in, 135–37, 136f political voice and participation in, legal framework for, 138–40, 142–43, 167, 168 144–48, 146–47b sexual and reproductive health in, 106 marital property regimes and, 140–42, social norms in, 41 141m, 141b, 142f marital status and, 137–38, 137f K measurement indicators for, 194b Kabeer, Naila, 12, 48 policy implications, 143–48, 143b Kenya social norms for, 138–40 child marriage in, 109 transformative effects of, 131–32, 133f collective action in, 160 working status and, 137–38, 137f constitution in, 44, 45b Lao People’s Democratic Republic customary law in, 30 Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b gender-based violence in, 71, 78, 84 land and housing ownership and control land and housing ownership and control in, 145 in, 139 Latin America and the Caribbean. See also Korea. See Republic of Korea speciϔic countries Kosovo child marriage in, 109 constitution in, 44 data gaps, 190b data gaps in, 188 divorce in, 111 land and housing ownership and control gender-based violence in, 68, 70, 71, 81, 88 in, 194b political representation in, 164 sexual and reproductive health in, 46 political voice and participation in, 166, Kuwait, political voice and participation 166b, 167 in, 166 teen pregnancy in, 107, 107f Kyrgyz Republic legal aid, 46, 87 child marriage in, 111 legal framework land and housing ownership and control access to justice, 47 in, 148 constitutions, evolution of, 44–45, sexual and reproductive health in, 120 44–45b Index | 209 customary laws, 29–30, 47 gender-based violence in, 84 as driver for agency, 4, 28–30, 30t, 43–47 intimate partner violence in, 68f education and, 17 land and housing ownership and control enforcement, 45–47 in, 134b, 135 for gender-based violence, 83–86, 84f, sexual and reproductive health in, 85m, 86b 113, 113b implementation, 45–47 social protection in, 52–53 international norms, 29 Malaysia for land and housing ownership divorce in, 111 and control, 138–40, 142–48, sexual and reproductive health in, 108 146–47b Male Champions of Change initiative national laws, 29 (Australia), 6, 40 plural legal systems, 29–30 Mali policy interventions for, 8–9 collective action in, 159, 160 principles of equality, 44–45 gender-based violence in, 68, 70, 72, 81 for sexual and reproductive health and land and housing ownership and control rights, 119–20, 119b in, 135 Legislative Advocacy Coalition on Violence political voice and participation in, against Women (Nigeria), 159 166, 167 Lesotho, teen pregnancy in, 107 Tostan program in, 42b Let Girls Lead, 159 Mansoura University, 119b Liberia Mansuri, Ghazala, 162 Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b marital property regimes, 140–42, 141m, gender-based violence in, 80 141b, 142f sexual and reproductive health in, 105 marital rape, 70, 84 Libya, child marriage in, 109 marital status linked to land and life expectancy, 2, 104 housing ownership and control, life-skills training, 8, 49, 108, 118 137–38, 137f Livelihoods for Adolescents program masculinity, 26b (Uganda), 8 maternal health care, 40, 102, 104, 115 Living Standards Measurement Study– matrilineal traditions, 30 Integrated Surveys on Agriculture Matrimonial Property Act (2014, (LSMS–ISA), 188 Kenya), 45b Matrimonial Regimes, Liberties, and M Succession Law (2000, Rwanda), 137 MADRE (NGO), 171b Mauritania, Tostan program in, 42b Maharashtra Life Skills Program media, 41–43 (India), 118 men and boys. See also gender norms Malawi engagement in family planning collective action in, 159 interventions, 112–13 conditional cash transfers in, 118 social norm changes, role in, 26–27b, education in, 38 38–41 210 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity MenEngage, 40 N Men Stopping Violence (organization), 40 Namibia mental health, 74, 87 customary law in, 47 Mexico land and housing ownership and gender-based violence in, 72, 75, 78 control in, 145 political voice and participation sexual and reproductive health in, 172 in, 104 social protection in, 51, 52 national laws, 29 teen pregnancy in, 108 National Solidarity Program (NSP, microcredit, 48 Afghanistan), 163b, 194b Middle East and North Africa. See also Nepal speciϔic countries access to justice in, 85 education in, 53 access to services in, 119 education interventions in, 8 Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b land and housing ownership and control broadcast media in, 43 in, 138 development indicators in, 194b political representation in, 164 gender-based violence in, 81, 88 political voice and participation in, intimate partner violence in, 68f 166b, 173 land and housing ownership and control social norms in, 26 in, 132, 135 Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action, 116 legal framework in, 29 mobility. See freedom of movement marital property regime in, 140 Moldova Netherlands, political voice and gender-based violence in, 72 participation in, 167 land and housing ownership and control Nicaragua in, 148 broadcast media in, 41 monitoring and evaluation, 181–82 gender-based violence in, 77 Morocco intimate partner violence in, 5, 21 political representation in, 164 land and housing ownership and control social norms in, 41 in, 147 Mozambique political representation in, 164 agency deprivations in, 22 sexual and reproductive health in, 115 broadcast media in, 43 social protection in, 51 gender-based violence in, 72 teen pregnancy in, 107 land and housing ownership and control Niger in, 135 agency deprivations in, 6, 7f, 22, 23f marital property regime in, 140 child marriage in, 109 Multi-country Study on Women’s Health data gaps in, 182 and Domestic Violence against Women gender-based violence in, 70 (WHO), 66, 69b, 185 gender inequality in, 12 MyPlan (smartphone app), 88 justice sector leadership in, 165b Index | 211 land and housing ownership and control parental leave, 162 in, 142 Partners for Prevention, 78 social norms in, 25, 27b Pathways to Empowerment Project, 182 Nigeria patriarchal power, 27b, 139 collective action in, 159 Peru customary law in, 30 access to services in, 16 gender-based violence in, 72 child marriage in, 109 intimate partner violence in, 68f conditional cash transfers in, 117–18 justice sector leadership in, 165b intimate partner violence in, 68f land and housing ownership and control land and housing ownership and control in, 144 in, 131–32 sexual and reproductive health in, 115, sexual and reproductive health in, 114 116 social accountability in, 114b norms. See gender norms; social norms social protection in, 51, 52 teen pregnancy in, 108 O Philippine Judicial Academy, 46 OECD countries Philippines, divorce illegal in, 111 gender data collection in, 188, 191 plural legal systems, 29–30, 139 political representation in, 162 policy implications, 6–8 On Norms and Agency (Muñoz Boudet, political voice and participation, 162–68, Petesch, & Turk), 12, 25, 182 163b opportunity costs, 31n4 gender norms as challenge for, 163–66, Organic Land Law (2005, Rwanda), 137, 138 166b Oxfam, 82 measurement indicators for, 194b Oxford Poverty and Human Development quotas that reduce barriers to Initiative, 191, 192b, 195n6 participation, 167–68 P social norms as challenge for, 166–67, Paid Work, Women’s Empowerment, and 167f Inclusive Growth (Kabeer), 12 underrepresentation, 3–4, 16, 163–66, Pakistan 164f, 165m, 165b access to services in, 16 polygamy, 77, 160 conditional cash transfers in, 118 post-traumatic stress disorder, 74 political representation in, 162 poverty political voice and participation in, 166 agency deprivations and, 5 social protection in, 51, 52 gender gaps and, 19 Papua New Guinea prevalence of, 11 access to justice in, 86, 86b Poverty Reduction and Support Operation customary law in, 47 Credit (Vietnam), 194b gender-based violence in, 71 pregnancy Paraguay, gender-based violence in, 75 early sexual activity and, 106–9, 107f paralegal services, 46 teen pregnancy, 3, 14, 38, 106–7, 121n6 212 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity Programa de Administración de Tierras de Republic of Korea, social norms in, 28 Honduras (PATH), 143b research needs. See data gaps program- and project-level indicators, results-based inancing (RBF), 115 191–93, 192b, 193t, 194b Results Measurement System (RMS), 192 Project Masiluleke (South Africa), 116 risk factors for gender-based violence, property rights. See land and housing 77–80 ownership and control Romania proportional representation systems, 173 land and housing ownership and control Protection from Gender-Based Violence in in, 148 Côte d’Ivoire Project, 194b sexual and reproductive health in, 120 public-private partnerships, 115 rural areas Punjab Female School Stipend Program agency deprivations and, 22 (Pakistan), 118 child marriage in, 110 land and housing ownership and control Q in, 132, 134, 139 Qatar, political voice and participation in, 167 legal framework implementation in, 46 quotas for political participation, 172 Russia, freedom of movement in, 15b Qur’anic law, 25 Rwanda Adolescent Girls Initiative in, 50b R broadcast media in, 43 radio programs, 41–43 gender-based violence in, 74b, 81 RALAS (Reconstruction of Aceh Land justice sector leadership in, 165b Administration System), 146 land and housing ownership and control Rao, Vijayendra, 162 in, 37, 134b, 135, 137, 138, 139, rape. See coercion, forced sex, and rape 145, 148 Real Estate Cadastre and Registration political representation in, 16, 156, 164 Project (Kosovo), 194b political voice and participation Reconstruction of Aceh Land in, 167 Administration System (RALAS), 146 sexual and reproductive health in, 115 relationship characteristics as gender- Ryan, Richard, 195n7 based violence risk factor, 77–78 Relative Autonomy Index, 191, 192b, 195n7 S religious law. See customary laws “safe space” models, 116 reported ownership of land and St. Lucia, agency interventions in, 190b housing, 134b SASA! (Uganda), 83, 83b reporting of gender-based violence, sectoral policies and programs, 47–56 71–73, 73f economic opportunities, 48–51 Republic of Congo education, gender equality in, 53–56, land and housing ownership and control 54–55b in, 138 gender-based violence interventions, teen pregnancy in, 107 89–90, 90b Index | 213 social protection, 51–53 policy interventions, 8 training, 48–51, 50b sexually transmitted infections (STIs), 102, Self Employed Women’s Association 106, 109 (SEWA), 160 Seychelles, political representation in, 164 Sen, Amartya, 14, 131 Shari’a law, 138, 146 Senegal Sierra Leone gender-based violence in, 70 freedom of movement in, 15b land and housing ownership and control justice sector leadership in, 165b in, 135 social accountability, 114, 114b, 169–72 marital property regime in, 140 Social Institutions and Gender Index political representation in, 164 (SIGI), 191 social norms in, 41 social norms. See also gender norms Tostan program in, 42b, 118 as agency driver, 5, 25–28, 26–27b separation of property regimes, 140, 141m, broadcast media and, 43 141b, 144, 149n3 changing, 38–43, 39t, 42b Serbia, land and housing ownership and broadcast media’s role, 41–43 control in, 144 for communities, 38–41, 42b service delivery for households, 38–41 sexual and reproductive health and for men and boys, 38–41 rights, 113–16, 114b child marriage and, 109 social accountability and, 114b digital divide and, 158 sexual and reproductive health and rights, education and, 55b 101–28 gender-based violence and, 64, 69–70 access to information and services, for land and housing ownership and 113–16, 114b control, 138–40 child marriage, 109–11, 110m land and housing ownership and control promotion of alternatives to, and, 135, 139, 145 116–19, 117b policies to address, 6 data gaps, 187t, 189 political voice and participation, development challenge of, 1, 3, 166–67, 167f 101–3, 103f political voice and participation early sexual activity and pregnancy, and, 166 106–9, 107f sexual and reproductive health and, 102 fertility choices, 104–6 social protection, 8, 51–53 gatekeepers, engagement in family social support and services, 86–88, 87b planning interventions, 112–13, 113b Solomon Islands, access to services in, legal responses, 119–20, 119b 87, 87b measurement indicators for, 194b Somalia men, engagement in family planning child marriage in, 111 interventions, 112–13 overlapping disadvantages in, 19 policy implications, 112–20 Tostan program in, 42b 214 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity South Africa land and housing ownership and control broadcast media in, 41 in, 135, 138 child marriage in, 109 political representation in, 164 constitution in, 44, 44–45b political voice and participation in, 166b economic empowerment in, 88 sexual and reproductive health in, 104 education in, 54b teen pregnancy in, 107, 107f gender-based violence in, 82 Swaziland, gender-based violence in, 71 ICT use in, 169, 170b Sweden intimate partner violence in, 21 gender roles in, 18 land and housing ownership and control political representation in, 162 in, 145 political voice and participation in, 167 microcredit in, 48 political representation in, 156, 164 T political voice and participation in, 167 Taiwan, child marriage in, 117 sexual and reproductive health in, Tajikistan 104, 120 development indicators in, 194b social protection in, 52 land and housing ownership and control South Asia. See also speciϔic countries in, 148 access to justice in, 85 Tanzania collective action in, 160 collective action in, 159 divorce in, 111 customary law in, 47 education in, 53 education in, 19, 54 education interventions in, 8 gender-based violence in, 64, 71, 75, 76 gender-based violence in, 81 land and housing ownership and control intimate partner violence in, 66 in, 135, 142, 147 political voice and participation in, 166b sexual and reproductive health in, sexual and reproductive health in, 105 106, 116 teen pregnancy in, 107, 107f teen pregnancy, 3, 14, 38, 106–7, 121n6 South Sudan, Adolescent Girls Initiative television programs, 41–43 in, 50b Thailand Sri Lanka child marriage in, 117 child marriage in, 117 education in, 55b collective action in, 161 Timor-Leste land and housing ownership and control gender-based violence in, 71, 81 in, 138, 140 sexual and reproductive health in, 105 Sub-Saharan Africa. See also speciϔic Together for Girls, 71 countries Tonga, gender-based violence in, 64, 68 child marriage in, 109, 111 “Toolkit for Integrating Gender-Related contraceptive use in, 108 Issues in Land Policy and Administration gender-based violence in, 70, 71 Projects” (World Bank), 146b HIV prevalence in, 106 Tools for Change (Huairou Commission), 46 justice sector leadership in, 165b Tostan (NGO), 42b, 118 Index | 215 training, 48–51, 50b United Arab Emirates, access to transactional sex, 70 justice in, 85 Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity United Cities and Local Governments, 189 Building, 189 United Kingdom Tunisia, constitutional law in, 44 access to justice in, 84–85 Turkey gender-based violence in, 76 education in, 37 United Nations, 64 gender-based violence in, 72 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), social protection in, 52 56, 192b Turkmenistan, child marriage in, 109 United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN U Women), 188, 189 Uganda United Nations Population Fund, 103 agency interventions in, 191 United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), child marriage in, 110 182 collective action in, 159, 160 United States constitutional law in, 144 access to services in, 88 economic empowerment in, 89 broadcast media and, 43 economic opportunities in, 49 gender-based violence in, 63, 72, 75, 82 gender-based violence in, 83, 83b gender roles in, 18 land and housing ownership and control intimate partner violence in, 5, 21 in, 135, 145, 147 political representation in, 163 land rights in, 46 political voice and participation in, policy interventions in, 8 166–67, 173 political representation in, 162 social norms in, 28, 40 political voice and participation Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in, 173 101, 130 sexual and reproductive health in, U.S. Agency for International Development 104, 118 (USAID), 148, 188, 191, 195n6 social accountability in, 114b Uzbekistan, sexual and reproductive health social protection in, 51 in, 40–41 teen pregnancy in, 3, 14 Ukraine V gender-based violence in, 72, 81 Vietnam sexual and reproductive health in, 115 education in, 16, 55b Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality gender-based violence in, 74, 75 (UFGE), 190, 190b land and housing ownership and control Umoja Wa Akina Mama Fizi (Democratic in, 131, 146, 147b, 194b Republic of Congo), 161 overlapping disadvantages in, 21, 21b unconditional cash transfer (UCT) violence. See coercion, forced sex, and rape; programs, 117 gender-based violence; intimate partner unintended pregnancies, 102, 104 violence 216 | Voice and Agency Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity violence against women (VAW) indicators, Women in Public Service Project, 172 182, 184b Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture vocational training, 49, 89 Index (WEAI), 191, 195n6 Vodafone, 116 women’s movements, 9, 155, 156, 161 voice, 2, 155–79 Women’s National Coalition of South accountability and, 169–72, 170–71b Africa, 44b collective action and, 159–62, 161b, 169 Woodrow Wilson Center, 172 data gaps, 187t working status as factor in land and housing ICTs, role of, 157–58, 168–69 ownership and control, 137–38, 137f importance of, 155–56 World Conference on Human Rights measurement indicators for, 194b (1993), 84 policy implications, 168–73 World Development Indicators, 31n5, 184 political voice and participation, World Development Report 2000/2001, 14 162–68, 163b, 172–73 World Development Report 2012, 12, 14, Voice of the Poor (Narayan et al.), 182 16–17, 101, 130 World Development Report 2015, 17, 25 W World Health Organization (WHO), 66, “We Can” campaign (Oxfam), 82 69b, 185 West Bank and Gaza collective action in, 161b Y gender-based violence in, 80 Yemen, Republic of land and housing ownership and control CEDAW implementation in, 29 in, 146b freedom of movement in, 15b political voice and participation in, 166 political voice and participation in, 173 social protection in, 51 Yousafzai, Malala, 155, 157, 157b White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (India), 171 Z wife beating, 5, 15b, 28, 65, 65f, 77, 80 Zambia William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 185 child marriage in, 109 women. See agency; gender-based violence; digital divide in, 158 gender norms; land and housing education in, 19 ownership and control; voice justice sector leadership in, 165b Women, Business, and the Law database, land rights in, 46 29, 84, 131 sexual and reproductive health in, 104, Women and Children Crisis Centre (Tonga), 105 64 Zimbabwe Women Deliver, 103 child marriage in, 111 “Women Empowerment and Economic gender-based violence in, 71, 72 Development” (Du lo), 12 teen pregnancy in, 107 ECO-AUDIT Environmental Benefits Statement The World Bank is committed to preserving endan- Saved: gered forests and natural resources. 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