MoOPD02 6 Ajay Kumar

Changing Gender Attitude and Reducing Gender Based Violence among Young Men in Rural and Urban India: 

Changing Gender Attitude and Reducing Gender Based Violence among Young Men in Rural and Urban India Ravi Verma Julie Pulerwitz Vaishali Sharma Mahendra Ajay K Singh Subha Sanker Das Anita Nura ICAAP, Colombo, August 2007

Research Questions: 

Research Questions How can we promote gender-equitable norms and behaviors among young men in low income settings in India? What are the differing impact of peer led group education interventions on rural versus urban young men? Will interventions focused on changing gender norms reduce violence against women and also reduce HIV risk ?

Why Young Men?: 

Why Young Men? Half of new HIV infections occur in young men below age 30 Multiple factors fueling HIV risk for young men, Strong patriarchal norms and structures low perception of HIV risk, limited prevention knowledge and lack of acceptability of condoms High Migration and mobility of young men between rural to urban settings Less or no exposure to the program

Why compare rural and urban men?: 

Why compare rural and urban men? To test if peer led group education modules tested with urban men1 will also work with rural men? And To test the hypothesis that changes in the rural men compared to their counterparts in urban areas will be smaller 1. Verma, Pulerwitz, Mahendra et al. "Challenging and Changing Gender Attitudes Among Young Men in India", Reproductive Health Matters, 2006, 14(28); 1-10

Study Population : 

Study Population Study Population Cohort of young men aged 15-29 years Study Sites Three Urban Slums in North East Mumbai Two Rural Blocks in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh)

Project Phases: 

Project Phases Formative research Qualitative data Intervention* Recruitment peer leaders Design of Yaari Dosti Module Training of Peer leaders Group formation Group Education Sessions (23 Sessions) Evaluation Pre and post test survey Attitudinal changes (Gender Equitable Men Scale-GEMS) Behavioral changes (Sexual Behavior, Violence including sexual violence and inter-personal communication) * Session C-14 at 4.30 on 22nd August

Indian Adaptation of GEM Scale: 

Indian Adaptation of GEM Scale Original GEM Scale (developed in Brazil) includes 17 ‘inequitable’ items on violence, sexuality, domestic life, and reproductive health Adaptation in India consists of 15 items (alpha=.75) 11 original items 4 new, India-specific items Examples “There are times that a woman deserves to be beaten” “Men are always ready for sex.” “A married woman should not need to ask her husband for permission to visit her parents/family”

Socio-demographic Profile of young men at Baseline: 

Socio-demographic Profile of young men at Baseline

Changes in Support of Select Indian GEMS Items  (% agreed): 

Changes in Support of Select Indian GEMS Items (% agreed) *P<.05, Chi square test

Changes in Support of Indian GEMS Items  (% agreed): 

Changes in Support of Indian GEMS Items (% agreed) *P<.05, Chi square test

Change in overall GEMS Score: 

Change in overall GEMS Score ***P <.001; Chi Square test Rural N= 300 Urban N= 175

Change in Select Behaviors 1: 

Change in Select Behaviors 1 *P <0.001- Chi square test

Change in Select Behaviors 2: 

Change in Select Behaviors 2 *P <0.001- Chi square test

Association between Condom use and Violence with key indicators at post test: 

Association between Condom use and Violence with key indicators at post test High equitable young men in rural area have 1.5* times more likelihood of using condoms compared to 1.7* times among young men in urban India and are 2 times* less likely to be violent with their partners Young men who discussed condom use, STI/HIV etc with their partners were 4 and 5 times* more likely to use condom in rural and urban India respectively *p < 0.001 – logistic regression controlling for age, Occupation and education

Conclusions: 

Conclusions A definite impact of Intervention is visible in both rural and urban areas across different indicators Considering the strong patriarchal norms and structures, young men in rural areas need more sustained and intense efforts. need to create supportive environment to facilitate normative change Necessary to build alliances for large scale discourse on men and masculinities Need for explicit inclusion of discussions of manhood/masculinities in educational activities

Partnership: 

Partnership MAMTA/DAUD CORO for Literacy, Mumbai Instituto Promundo, Rio de Janerio Population Council, New Delhi Collaboration: USAID, Durex, MacArthur Foundation, Hewlett Foundation