What Works for Women and Girls

pants meeting once per week for three weeks in rural South Africa with sexually experiencedyoung people ages 14 to 19 found that young men universally felt that female virginity was adesirable characteristic. However, once in a relationship, boyfriends often insisted on sexualintercourse to establish that their girlfriend was a virgin. Young women acquiesced as youngwomen believed that their virginity should be saved for the right partner. Young women thenlost their valued status as a virgin in the process of proving virginity, with some young womenclaiming coercion: “…he forces you to have sex to prove to him that you are still a virgin”(Harrison, 2008: 185).Changing Gender Norms Requires Programming for Both Men and Women...TogetherWhile numerous programs have shown results in addressing gender norms with men toreduce HIV risks (Colvin, 2009; Pulerwitz et al., 2006), these programs reach a tiny fractionof the population in need (Barker, 2009). Some programming reinforces traditional gendernorms. PAHO analyzed gender roles in 200 HIV-related public service announcement TVspots from Latin America and found that TV spots reinforced the traditional gender roles thatare partly responsible for the HIV epidemic, with women bearing the sole responsibility of HIVprevention and men as more interested in sex than women (Parodi and Lyra, 2008). Changingprevailing gender norms dictating multiple sexual partners for men and sexual ignorance andsubmissiveness for women and girls, that can lead to increased HIV rates, is critical. Researchsuggests that “relational gender programming” that works with both women and men togethermay be most successful in changing gender norms (Levack and Greene, 2010).The role of gender norms in fueling the AIDS pandemic is clear but insufficiently addressedin programs (UNIFEM, 2008). For example, AIDS programs face a gender-related paradox thatin most countries, women are more vulnerable to HIV transmission—in Africa, 61 percentof new HIV cases are in women—yet statistics on treatment show that more women thanmen access ARV services. Both statistics are related to gender norms that discourage womenfrom obtaining knowledge about sex and protection and discourage men from seeking healthcare. “Addressing gender norms—the societal messages that dictate appropriate or expectedbehavior for males and females—is increasingly recognized as an important strategy to preventthe spread of HIV infection” (Pulerwitz et al., 2006: 1).While this particular section addresses transforming gender norms, several other interventionsregarding gender norms permeate the rest of the chapter as they relate to violenceagainst women, women’s legal rights, employment, education, etc. Changing gender normsrequires political will and leadership at every level, from national policymakers to communityleaders. A multi-pronged approach is needed to work with men directly to support safer malesexual behavior, as well as with the media, community, religious leaders and others who canimpact gender norms. Some of the most effective interventions involve working with youngboys to promote gender equitable attitudes and behaviors. At the same time, attention to publicpolicies that reinforce or transform gender norms for both women and men is critical (Barkeret al., 2010).WHAT WORKS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS291