Conflicting policy narratives: Moving beyond culture in identifying barriers to gender policy in South Africa

Mannell, Jeneviève

doi:10.1177/0261018314538794

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…For example women are increasingly taking on traditionally male roles as the head of households (some by necessity and others by choice) coinciding with a number of young people not getting married or marrying much later in life . Discussions about women's rights have taken centre stage, often conflicting with notions of gender in ways that challenge gender norms but can also reinforce them . Conversations about same‐sex relationships and transgender rights are also happening, however, the specific needs of these groups are still being neglected in ways that exclude some of the most vulnerable young women and men from interventions .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why interventions to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV have failed young women in southern Africa

et al. 2019

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Introduction Adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 years have some of the highest HIV incidence rates globally, with girls two to four times more likely to be living with HIV than their male peers. High levels of intimate partner violence ( IPV ) experienced by this age group is a significant risk factor for HIV acquisition. While behavioural interventions to prevent IPV and HIV in southern Africa have seen some success in reducing self‐reported experiences of IPV , these interventions have largely failed to achieve similar outcomes for young women. Discussion We identify three main reasons for the failure of IPV / HIV interventions for many young women in southern Africa. First, interventions are usually developed without the meaningful involvement of both young women and young men. Youth input into research design is largely focused on user testing or consultation of targeted groups, involving relatively low levels of participation. Second, interventions are focused on addressing individual risk factors rather than broader social and structural contexts of being a young woman. “Risk factor” interventions, rather than supporting women's agency, can pose a major barrier for supporting changes in behaviour among young women because they often fail to dislodge well‐entrenched gender and age‐related inequalities. Third, current intervention models have not adequately accounted for changes in gender norms and relationships across southern Africa. Individuals are getting married later in life (or not at all), new technologies are transforming romantic interactions and opening new opportunities for violence, and discussions about women's rights are both challenging gender inequalities and reinforcing them. Conclusions In order to move beyond the status quo of current approaches, and to support real innovation, IPV / HIV prevention interventions need to be co‐developed with youth as part of a meaningful participatory process of research, intervention design, youth involvement in development and implementation. This process of co‐development needs to be radical and break with the current focus on adapting existing interventions to meet the needs of young people, which are not well understood and often do not directly reflect their priorities. Broader social contexts and compound lenses are needed to avoid narrow approaches and to accommodate evolving norms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why interventions to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV have failed young women in southern Africa

et al. 2019

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“…As the driving force in society, education can either liberate or become a tool to reinforce stratification (Mannell, 2014). With a political ideology of democracy in South Africa, the hope is that education's curriculum reform (C2005, OBE), can lead the way in diminishing race, class, and gender inequalities.…”

Section: Policy Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Perils of Outcomes-Based Education in Fostering South African Educational Transformation

Schmidt¹

2017

OJPS

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This chapter explored a South African education policy. Specifically the author examined outcomes-based learning and the implications of this borrowed curriculum in South African schools. The author focused on curriculum as a platform for discussion of the unique approach that the South African government employed to modify their adoption of democracy and transformation. Unfortunately, many scholars reluctantly concede that South Africa's ambitious policy initiatives failed to provide social justice in schools. Education is often the driving force in society: socially, economically, and politically. In particular, education can either liberate social ideologies or become a tool to reinforce stratification. With a political ideology of democracy emerging in South Africa, one would think that democratic educational structures would act to diminish race, class and gender inequalities; however, this has not been a pervasive result.

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“…The 2010 Equalities Act created further demands, with the introduction of new equalities or 'protected characteristics', which have impacted on policy implementation (Mannell, 2014;Conley and Page, 2014). One particular effect is the introduction of a single equality duty across all of the characteristics to replace multiple duties, which might offer the opportunity to develop more integrated approaches.…”

Section: The Addition Of New Equalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approaches such as gender impact assessment tools are appealing because they offer opportunities for measureable results, particularly if resources are constrained (Kuhlmann, 2009;Lee-Gosselin et al, 2013), but gender discourse becomes invisible and fragmented by the 'pretence' that it is being addressed (Mannell 2014). At the same time, implementation is limited by individual and organisational resistance, both active and passive (Lee-Gosselin et al, 2013), and is harder to overcome in organisations where the role of equality leads is marginalised by departmentalism and their status within the organisation, meaning they need the support of others within the hierarchy (Callerstig, 2014).…”

Section: The Continuing Relevance Of Gender?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender equalities work in health organisations in England

Payne¹,

Bennett

2015

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal

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Purpose – An increasing number of countries have introduced duties for public-sector organisations who, in addition to addressing discrimination, are now also required to promote equality of opportunity between different groups. The purpose of this paper is to explore the limited progress of gender equality policies, through a study of the local implementation of equalities policies. The authors highlight the role of equalities leads in the public sector as local “agents of change”, and explore explanations of the implementation gap between policy and practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports on a small-scale qualitative study with equalities leads in the health sector in England. The study comprised semi-structured interviews with equalities leads from nine health organisations which were purposively selected to include a mix of areas and populations. The interviews focused on the leads’ backgrounds and their perceptions of barriers to their work. Findings – The equalities leads had a range of experience prior to their current post, though most had little formal subject-specific training. They highlighted a number of barriers to effective implementation of gender equality strategies, including resource issues, the impact of organisational change, the increased the number of equalities they were expected to address, organisational perceptions that gender was no longer a priority and resistance to what are seen as “tick box” exercises. Originality/value – The value of this paper is that it adds to the understanding of the challenges facing the implementation of gender equalities policies in the health sector, the reasons for these and the role of local policy implementers in the effectiveness of national equalities policies.

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Conflicting policy narratives: Moving beyond culture in identifying barriers to gender policy in South Africa

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

Why interventions to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV have failed young women in southern Africa

Why interventions to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV have failed young women in southern Africa

The Perils of Outcomes-Based Education in Fostering South African Educational Transformation

Gender equalities work in health organisations in England

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