violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

3Tostan’s approachIn November 2005, representatives of 70 villages in Senegal’s northeastern region ofMatam participated in a public declaration that they were ending the practice of FGMand forced child marriage. Matam is a very conservative region, where a few years agothese subjects could not even have been discussed. Thousands of villagers from up to300 km away witnessed the ceremony. Dignitaries, officials and the media were also inattendance. Rural women, adolescents, chiefs, religious leaders and Government officialspledged their commitment. This declaration, the 19th of its kind in Senegal, is thefinal stage in a programme of public education and advocacy at village level.This programme was undertaken by the Tostan Community Empowerment Programme,in a drive for the collective abandonment of FGM and early marriagethroughout the country. Since 1997, 1,628 communities have committed themselvesto abandoning these practices. The Tostan strategy consists of the formation of villagecommittees, setting up classes on women’s health and rights at village level, and socialmobilisation by class members. At the end of the programme, a public declaration ismade at a major ceremony. This is seen as a vital part of the process, since it marks collectivesocial endorsement of change.An evaluation by the Population Council in 2004 found that Tostan’s programmesignificantly affected the knowledge and beliefs of the people who participated in theclasses, and of those in their circles. For example, the proportion of girls aged 10 andunder who had not been cut increased from 46% to 60% among intervention participantfamilies, but remained unchanged at 48% in the comparison group. Approval ofFGM and intent to cut girls decreased significantly, and the intention to cut amongparticipating women fell from nearly 75% at baseline to less than 25%. Anotherencouraging finding was that knowledge about human rights increased significantlyamong study participants. The proportion of women who were aware of their rightsto health, education, and a healthy environment increased from 11% to 94%, whileknowledge among men increased from 41% to 92%. 20889Violence against children in the home and family