Equal Access International | Diffusion of Gender Norms Change at the Community Level
Project Summary:
In response to the well-recognized burden of intimate partner violence (IPV), there has been a growth in funding for primary prevention, emphasizing on norms change as an approach to widespread and sustained prevention. Norms and diffusion theorists believe only a small group of "trendsetters" may be needed to reject a standing norm and to effect change. But research into how norms change, particularly diffusion from a group to a community, is limited and best practices are nonexistent.
This project, spearheaded by Equal Access and Emory University, seeks to minimize the gap in evidence on the diffusion of gender norms in low-income settings, with the end goals of preventing violence against women (VAW) more broadly. In this light, the project investigates the diffusion effects of an existing norms-change intervention by identifying the characteristics which support the diffusion through mixed-methods analysis of existing data spanning over 24 months, and maps the longitudinal diffusion of ideas, attitudes, and practices within a community through participatory research and GPS documentation of support for violence-free households.
