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Pujar A, Howard-Merrill L, Cislaghi B, Lokamanya K, Prakash R, Javalkar P, Raghavendra T, Beattie T, Isac S, Gafos M, Heise L, Bhattacharjee P, Ramanaik S, Collumbien M. Boys' perspectives on girls' marriage and school dropout: a qualitative study revisiting a structural intervention in Southern India. CULTURE, HEALTH & SEXUALITY 2024; 26:701-716. [PMID: 37548151 DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2023.2241525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Girls' education has for many decades been central to the global development agenda, due to its positive impact on girls' health and wellbeing. In this paper, the authors revisit boys' attitudes, behaviours and norms related to girls' education, following the Samata intervention to prevent girls' school dropouts in Northern-Karnataka, South India. Data were collected from 20 boys in intervention villages before and after the intervention, and analysis was undertaken using a thematic-framework approach. Findings suggest that while boys did hold some attitudes and beliefs that supported girls' education and delayed-marriage, these remained within the framework of gender-inequitable norms concerning girls' marriageability, respectability/family-honour. Participants criticised peers who sought to jeopardise girls' respectability by teasing and community gossip about girls-boys' communication in public. Boys who rejected prevailing norms of masculinity were subjected to gossip, ridicule and violence by the community. Boys' attitudes and beliefs supported girls' education but were conditional on the maintenance of gendered hierarchies at household and interpersonal levels. Social norms concerning girls' honour, respectability and the role of boys as protectors/aggressors appeared to influence boys' response to girls' school dropouts. Future interventions aiming to address girls' education and marriage must invest time and resources to ensure that intervention components targeting boys are relevant, appropriate and effective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashwini Pujar
- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), IT Park, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, India
| | - Lottie Howard-Merrill
- Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | - Ben Cislaghi
- Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | - Kavitha Lokamanya
- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), IT Park, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, India
| | - Ravi Prakash
- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), IT Park, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, India
- Center for Global Public Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Prakash Javalkar
- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), IT Park, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, India
| | | | - Tara Beattie
- Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | - Shajy Isac
- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), IT Park, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, India
- Center for Global Public Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Mitzy Gafos
- Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | - Lori Heise
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Nursing, Baltimore, MA, USA
| | - Parinita Bhattacharjee
- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), IT Park, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, India
- Center for Global Public Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | | | - Martine Collumbien
- Department of Public Health, Environments and Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
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Closson K, Prakash R, Javalkar P, Beattie T, Thalinja R, Collumbien M, Ramanaik S, Isac S, Watts C, Moses S, Gafos M, Heise L, Becker M, Bhattacharjee P. Adolescent Girls and Their Family Members' Attitudes Around Gendered Power Inequity and Associations with Future Aspirations in Karnataka, India. Violence Against Women 2023; 29:836-859. [PMID: 35959552 PMCID: PMC9950596 DOI: 10.1177/10778012221097142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Intergenerational differences in inequitable gender attitudes may influence developmental outcomes, including education. In rural Karnataka, India, we examined the extent of intergenerational (adolescent girls [AGs] vs. older generation family members) dis/agreement to attitudes around gendered power inequities, including gender roles and violence against women (VAW). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression examined associations between intergenerational dis/agreement to attitude statements and AGs' future educational and career aspirations. Of 2,457 AGs, 90.9% had a matched family member (55% mothers). While traditional gender roles were promoted intergenerationally, more AGs supported VAW than family members. In adjusted models, discordant promotion of traditional gender roles and concordant disapproval of VAW were associated with greater aspirations. Results highlight the need for family-level programming promoting positive modeling of gender-equitable attitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ravi Prakash
- India Health Action Trust, Lucknow, India,University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada,Ravi Prakash, India Health Action Trust,
405A, Ratan Square, VS Marg, Lucknow 226001, India.
| | | | - Tara Beattie
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | | | | | | | - Shajy Isac
- India Health Action Trust, Lucknow, India,University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Charlotte Watts
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | | | - Mitzy Gafos
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK
| | - Lori Heise
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health & Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Boston, MA, USA
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Marphatia AA, Saville NM, Manandhar DS, Cortina-Borja M, Wells JCK, Reid AM. Quantifying the association of natal household wealth with women's early marriage in Nepal. PeerJ 2021; 9:e12324. [PMID: 35003910 PMCID: PMC8684741 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Women's early marriage (<18 years) is a critical global health issue affecting 650 million women worldwide. It is associated with a range of adverse maternal physical and mental health outcomes, including early childbearing, child undernutrition and morbidity. Poverty is widely asserted to be the key risk factor driving early marriage. However, most studies do not measure wealth in the natal household, but instead, use marital household wealth as a proxy for natal wealth. Further research is required to understand the key drivers of early marriage. METHODS We investigated whether natal household poverty was associated with marrying early, independently of women's lower educational attainment and broader markers of household disadvantage. Data on natal household wealth (material asset score) for 2,432 women aged 18-39 years was used from the cluster-randomized Low Birth Weight South Asia Trial in lowland rural Nepal. Different early marriage definitions (<15, <16, <17 and <18 years) were used because most of our population marries below the conventional 18-year cut-off. Logistic mixed-effects models were fitted to estimate the probabilities, derived from adjusted Odds Ratios, of (a) marrying at different early ages for the full sample and for the uneducated women, and (b) being uneducated in the first place. RESULTS Women married at median age 15 years (interquartile range 3), and only 18% married ≥18 years. Two-thirds of the women were entirely uneducated. We found that, rather than poverty, women's lower education was the primary factor associated with early marriage, regardless of how 'early' is defined. Neither poverty nor other markers of household disadvantage were associated with early marriage at any age in the uneducated women. However, poverty was associated with women being uneducated. CONCLUSION When assets are measured in the natal household in this population, there is no support for the conventional hypothesis that household poverty is associated with daughters' early marriage, but it is associated with not going to school. We propose that improving access to free education would both reduce early marriage and have broader benefits for maternal and child health and gender equality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akanksha A. Marphatia
- Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Naomi M. Saville
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Mario Cortina-Borja
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan C. K. Wells
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alice M. Reid
- Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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