Empowering Women
A summary of our Endangered Gender project evaluation
The Endangered Gender project
began in 2012 (as Save The Girl Child)
to try and combat sex-selective
abortions within Hisar, Haryana in
India. According to the 2011 census,
the child sex ratio for children under
the age of six was 918 girls to 1,000
boys, representing a decrease from
927 in 2001. Haryana has one of the
country’s lowest sex ratio – 834 girls
per 1,000 boys.
Between August and November
2015, the University of East London
undertook an evaluation of the
project, with 6eld research
conducted between 27th-30th
October.
The evaluation found that the
project activities have been
instrumental in enabling adolescent
girls and married women to
articulate their aspirations.
Social Activators were identi6ed as
crucial to the success of the project.
They are all highly respected and
trusted by the communities which
has allowed them to play an
instrumental role in facilitating
access to healthcare services
speci6cally related to pregnancy and
immunisations. The Social Activators
made themselves available to
pregnant women around the clock.
The community identi6ed lack of
education and early marriage as
major challenges for women in the
community. The evaluation team
found that the project played a huge
role in increasing awareness about
Empowering Women
A summary of our Endangered Gender project evaluation
Continued...
the right to education for women and
raising awareness on women’s
reproductive health issues,
particularly birth-spacing and
contraceptive options. 33% of
women and 29% of men have
demonstrated improved
understanding of women’s health
issues since the start of the
project. Children are also
increasingly aware of these issues, to
the extent that they can challenge
parents about the number of children
they have. The Social Activators have
played an important role in informing
women how to look after themselves
during pregnancy and their
contraceptive options. The report
also highlighted the potential role
the Social Activators could play in
connecting women who have
su9ered domestic violence to police.
The data found that the preference
for boys within families was seen as
the main driver of sex-selective
abortions, largely because of the fact
that only boys can continue the
family name. Girls were also seen to
be a wasted investment because
once they married they ceased to be
part of the parental household. The
role of girls and women in upholding
honour was referred to, with the fear
of dishonour a rape of early
pregnancy would bring upon the
family. With regards to awareness of
the laws criminalising sex-selective
abortions, there is still considerable
progress yet to be made with 42% of
all respondents showing no
awareness of any legal provisions
relating to pregnancy.
The project was praised for
empowering girls, indicated by
increased con6dence to air their views,
attend festivals, participate in school
and aspire to employment. Girls
however are still undervalued by men in
the community, highlighting the need
for further work to be done with men
and boys to combat discriminatory
attitudes and practices.
The evaluation highlighted areas of
improvement which are currently being
taken into account by Neeru Chaudhary,
the Head of Programmes at Childreach
India. The 6ndings highlight that
ensuring women have access to repro-
ductive or contraceptive services is
essential, but that sex selective
abortion is one symptom of gender in
equality in the community and
therefore, the project can become even
more relevant as a wider reproductive
and maternal health project, addressing
speci6c community concerns by
empowering women through skills
training and community advocacy to
achieve systemic change required to
ensure the ful6lment of women’s
rights.
To read the full report, email
comms@childreach.org.uk