Case-Studies
Case-Study 1
Education of communities and capacity-building to eradicate early marriage in Kenya
In the Kwale and Kinango Districts of Kenya, the average age of brides stands at a mere 12 years. Despite the illegality of child marriage in Kenya, the practice remains deeply ingrained, frequently serving as an economic alternative for impoverished families.
Within the context of Joint Recommendation by CEDAW and the CRC, the Early Girl Child Marriage Project was initiated in March 2008 by the NGO Plan International. It envisioned to employ innovative approaches to safeguard girls from the illicit practice of child marriage.
Most specifically, the project aimed at altering the cultural practices which recurrently allow for child marriage, by working at societal level towards recognising and confronting HPs to their children.
The project brought together a consortium of diverse stakeholders, enhancing collaboration between policy makers, civil society organisations, local advocates, and health professionals. Before designing the correct action plan, an analysis of the cultural attitudes which perpetuate discriminatory norms was conducted, to establish an overall framework of action. The most positive outlook came from the cross-sectoral capacity building, regarded for teachers, school management committees and local leaders.
Evidence collected on the impact of the project shows how intergenerational dialogue forums facilitated by children heightened awareness of the harmful consequences of traditional practices, already paving the way for a mentality shift.
Additionally, the enhanced community-level support, has the potential to lead to more favourable attitudes towards girls’ rights. Duty bearers, such as teachers, have posteriorly exhibited increased commitment to combating early marriages, ensuring girls stay in school and complete their education.
Case-Study 2
Changing social norms in Ethiopia through awareness-raising
United Nations Women has implemented several action plans in African countries, to help change social attitudes that lead to the prevalence of crimes against females. In October 2023, a summary of its campaign in Ethiopia was published, enlightening about the extent to which underlying social factors can affect cultural realities.
The case study illustrates the issue of child marriage in the region, through the testimony of Mengistie Tegenie, a young man whose four sisters were forced to marry at an early age. The initiative of UN women, in partnership with other local and international organisations, started in 2021 and has allocated funds to prevent and respond to child marriage in countries across Africa.
The main task has been the creation of awareness raising campaigns at grassroot level, in the form of community conversations engaging women, children, and men. The key innovation was the involvement of community leaders, who can help modify the notion on the extent to which harmful practices affect women and girls.
Case-Study 3
Family Justice Centres – Belgium – help victims of Harmful Traditional Practices
This pioneering approach to domestic violence brings together different organisations such as police, public prosecutor’s office, social welfare, local municipalities, youth (protective) services, probation services, amongst others, together under one roof.
Whilst an essential element of the system is that organisations have representatives in a single location, its as much about getting to know each other, knowing each other’s possibilities and limitations. It’s about creating a joint vision and a joint language to strengthen cooperation and tailor-made solutions. This is at a policy level, but especially at a victim’s level, because no two cases are the same. Everything – whether related to risk, harm, what’s driving the violence, how the violence can be addressed, impacts on the victim and family members – must be explored collaboratively. This means screening for risk factors, sharing information, analysing the situation, looking for patterns, determining the harmful practice profile (compared to families in distress, coercive control, high conflict divorce….) and developing a tailor-made approach for each individual situation, never losing sight of the safety of everyone involved, especially the safety of children. Decisions are made according to the victims’ best interests – not by what is easiest or quickest.
In the case of harmful traditional practices, Family Justice Centres can provide a multi-agency and systemic approach to assist victims. To illustrate its functioning, the team working on honour related violence within the Limburg Family Justice Centre, can be flagged as an example. The Centre works in coordination with police officers and welfare professionals to attend victims who suffered this form of violence.
When it comes to dealing with victims of harmful practices, it is fundamental to carry out an extensive analysis of the nature, level and immediacy of risk. In that regard, having a strong understanding of family ties, the community environment, and drivers behind the practice are essential. Moreover, the centres ensure that multiple agencies completely understand the risks of honour and other harmful practices, to advert further possible risks.
Likewise, the approach taken in honour violence cases is quite tailored to the circumstances of the victim. For instance, engagement with community members is not always possible, since it can add danger to the well-being of a victim. In certain cases, even, total separation from the family may be the only successful solution to avoid jeopardising the victim, or even family members opposed to unlawful practices. Total separation is extremely difficult for victims, who in many cases decide to go back to gain acceptance. In these circumstances, the center can support safer returns engaging with the family and community leaders to find a suitable resolution in line with the victim’s wishes and needs.
Case-Study 4
Evaluation of London Harmful Practices Pilot
An example of an evaluation process can be seen following the pilot project led by the Mayor of London. The MOPAC Harmful Practices Pilot aimed to improve the way agencies identify and respond to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), ‘Honour’ Based Violence (HBV), Forced Marriage (FM), and Faith Based Abuse (FBA), with a focus on early identification and prevention, safeguarding and support, and community engagement. It involved three key areas of work: training for professionals; an Educator Advocate (EA) service and community engagement activity. The final evaluation report built on a year one interim report produced in June 2016, which focused primarily on implementation, views of those attending the first tranche of training sessions, and the early experiences of professionals and communities receiving services as part of pilot delivery.
The aims of the evaluation were to critically review implementation, capture the views of practitioners and capture the views of communities. According to the report, the ‘evaluation fieldwork incorporated a holistic range of methods to capture both the numbers and the stories’ of those involved in the pilot’. This included: stakeholder surveys, training feedback surveys, community engagement surveys, semi-structured face-to-face or telephone interviews with stakeholders, pilot staff, practitioners, and clients; observations at four training sessions and five community engagement events; and performance data around both individual cases supported and overall pilot delivery.