We have brilliant news from the My Voice, My Power, pilot!
If you’ve been following along with us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you’ll know that the pilot of one of our latest projects, My Voice, My Power, is in its final stages.
If you haven’t been following along (why not?! Better get on that!) and you don’t know what My Voice, My Power is, it’s an innovative new programme we’ve created targeting gender equality, teenage pregnancy, and vital sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education that ALSO brings Girl Empowerment Self Defence to Rwanda for the first time! If this is the first time you’ve heard of My Voice, My Power, you can get up to speed about it here.
Now you’re all caught up, here are the headline stats
Though the project hasn’t yet fully wrapped due to delays caused by the Covid situation, we do have our endline stats - and we have some exciting results from our pilot cohort to share!
Girls went from an average 66% transformative understanding of gender equality knowledge, and the social constructs of gender and power, across the group to an average understanding of 93%!!!
In real world terms, this reflects a drastic improvement in healthy attitudes and behaviours related to gender discrimination and violence, understanding and reclaiming such key tenets as ‘I have the right to be treated the same as a boy’ and that violence is never the fault of the victim.Girls’ knowledge of sexual reproductive health and rights went from an average of 46% to 89%!
Boys’ attitudes and behaviours around gender and equality significantly and positively improved from 68% across the group to 89%
Boys’ knowledge of SRHR rose from an average of 64% to 87%.
Girl Empowerment Self Defence
And now, for the GESD-related figures.
At the beginning of this programme, the girls had very little understanding of the practical measures they could take to recognize potential targeting from predators or escape from a potentially dangerous situation.
Once again, we want to reiterate that violence is *never* the fault of the victim, and that substantive social change comes through changing deeply ingrained beliefs about gender. But we are also pragmatists, and feel deeply that girls have the right to defend themselves whilst the hard and often slow work of widespread social change is occurring.
That said, there was just a 33% understanding across the group of these tactics (for example, knowing some of the ploys attackers use to first test their victims, how to use their voice to stay safe, or physical moves they can use to temporarily disable an attacker in order to run to safety). Following our pilot round of My Voice, My Power, we can proudly say the girls’ understanding of these things rose to an incredible 95%!!!
Additionally, there was a positive improvement in girls’ attitudes and behaviours, with their understanding of their rights and value (e.g. understanding they do not have to be polite in unsafe situations, that their ‘no’ should always be respected, and violence is not their fault but the attacker’s) rising from an average of 59% to 91%!
🎉🎉💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾🎉🎉
GESD has already had a proven effect in reducing teenage pregnancies as a result of sexual assault across sub-Saharan African countries. A study conducted in Nairobi (capturing data before GESD training and one year after) showed school drop-out due to teen pregnancy decreased by 46% in the schools who received training. And one of the main reasons for the development of My Voice, My Power in the first place was that recent studies of Rwandan teen mothers show that 87.7% of girls under the age of 18 reported their first experience of sex was as a result of coercion. Meanwhile, understanding of SRHR and Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) among girls in Rwanda is generally low across the board.
But these new stats from our pilot round of this programme show that My Voice, My Power, if scaled up and replicated throughout Rwanda, has the power to make real and tangible progress on the national issue of teen pregnancy, driven by gendered power dynamics, sexual coercion, and lack of SRHR knowledge.
The next steps
The boys and girls from My Voice, My Power will continue spreading what they’ve learned and influencing their peers across their community through their brand new advocacy club, which they have since named The New Mindset Warriors Club! This club is designed and led by the youth themselves and has a clear advocacy agenda influenced by all the members. We have emboldened them to spread their newfound knowledge through fun and engaging activities in their local communities. Though this community-level activism has been slightly delayed due to Covid restrictions, the club is still meeting regularly and we will be joining them for community advocacy events as soon as we are able. They might perform drama sketches or songs at community days to educate folks about gender and GBV, or encourage peers to join their monthly meetings, or even invite local leaders to hear them speak on these related topics of their choice. Through our programme they gain the knowledge and confidence to do these things and talk about often taboo subjects with their families and friends.
As for the Paper Crown team, we are more convinced than ever of the power of My Voice, My Power and GESD training. We know that youth across Rwanda need access to this crucial information, and we are working hard to secure the funds to do this. We want to see Rwandan youth emboldened to create a safer and more equitable world for themselves - one where they understand their sexual and reproductive health and rights, and can proactively break the cycle of gender inequality and violence.
Contact us
If you want to know more about My Voice, My Power, or our other previous programmes and projects, you can find out more about our work in action here.
If you’re interested in hiring the Paper Crown team to create a programme or workshop for your organisation, contact us here.