Terms of Reference: PRIO/CARE STUDY

The role of men in combatting violence against women in Burundi

1.Project summary

The aim of this four month project is to study the Abatangamuco, or “Those who bring light where there is darkness”movement in Burundi. The movement is supported by NORAD through CARE Norway. The Abatangamuco are grassroots groups of men that act as positive role models in their communities supporting the empowerment of women, particularly the fight against gender-based violence (GBV). The proposed research project is aimed at understanding how being an Abatangamuco changes the attitudes and behaviour of the men by examining how the masculine identities of the Abatangamuco members inform and are transformed by their involvement in the project. This project will help us better understand how to mobilize men in NGO efforts to prevent GBV. It will also help fill gaps in the existing scholarly literature on gender-based violence in which the role and impact of masculinity is understudied and far too often overlooked. This study could therefore be a useful resource for practitioners working against GBV in the field, and form the basis for further research on the impact of engaging men against GBV, both in Burundi and in other contexts. The research findings will be actively used by CARE Norway to inform and direct a potential scale-up of the Abatangamucoinitiative as well as to guide CARE Norway’s strategies to engage men in various other contexts.

Budget:465200 NOK[EH1]

Project period:22August 2011 - 30 December 2011

2.Background[1]

The different security needs of men and women form part of the emerging human security humanitarian and research agenda. In responding to these needs, however, the focus has primarily been exclusively on women, and far too little research has been geared towards understanding the interaction between men and women. In order to understand the reasons behind GBV and improve the empowerment of women, it is necessary to evaluate the role of men in societies facing gendered challenges.

CARE Norway has for years addressed unequal gender relations as an essential underlying cause of poverty. CARE has traditionally been focused on women’s empowerment, but is increasingly addressing the issue of engaging boys and men in gender equality as a central component of their long term efforts. This approach is a response to e.g. CAREs “Strategic Impact Inquiry” on Women`s Empowerment, which was a three-year, participatory and rigorous review of the impact that CARE’s programming in 30 countries had on women`s empowerment. One of the critical lessons learned was that unless boys and men are actively engaged as allies for women’s and girl’s empowerment, it is unlikely that large scale results will be sustained over time. Therefore, CARE Norway is integrating this approach into already existing programmes with the overall long-term goal to empower women and girls.

CARE’s overall programme goal in Burundi is women’s empowerment – e.g. through improved sexual and reproductive health and rights, and combating sexual violence. One aspect of their efforts towards realizing these goals has been to support the local Abatangamuco initiative. The Abatangamuco is a group of rural men who actively question established practices and expectations of men using violence against their wives. They seek to both lead by example and to raise awareness in other ways among their male peers of the need to improve the situation of women. This unique approach means that the most relevant way of evaluating the impact of the project is to evaluate how the men involved transform the content of their masculine identities and thus their approach to GBV and female emancipation as a result of being an Abatangamuco. The success of the project can thus be measured in the extent to which it generates transformations of attitudes and behaviour in its members. The project’s impact on the greater community depends in its entirety on the extent to which this is achieved.

There is growing global evidence that mobilising men as allies in gender equality is effective, particularly if “gender-transformative models” are applied to the work. The research questions proposed for this study will indicate the extent to which the Abatangamuco initiative integrates such transformative models. This type of impact is not measured by the indicators incorporated in CAREs women’s empowerment programming, making this study very timely and valuable to CAREs future work on engaging men.

3.Research Questions and Methodology

The main research questions for this project are:

  • How has involvement with the Abatangamuco changed the participating men’s perception of their own masculinity, and behaviour patterns?
  • How and to what extent does the Abatangamuco-project address masculinity worldviews that perpetuate GBV?

Sub-questions to be addressed are:

  • How do the men understand their engagement against GBV before and after CARE got involved with the project?
  • What are the men’s motivations for change, and what barriers do they face?
  • How is the Abatangamuco movement viewed in their communities?

The research design will be qualitative and field work based. As the primary focus of the study is the Abatangamuco members themselves, we will conduct a series of semi-structured interviews with a carefully selected number of the members. We aim at interviewing a total of approximately 15-20 men. The selection of these will be based on suggestions from local staff in Burundi and on voluntary participation. This set of 15-20 interviews will provide the necessary material for the researchers to identify trends, similarities and differences among the respondents. Further, this in-depth analysis will enable us to build an understanding of how these men’s perceptions of their own masculinity is connected to their engagement in the Abatangamuco. The structuring of the interview guide will be developed in close cooperation with CARE and local partners. In order to contextualize the 15-20 core interviews with Abatangamuco members we will conduct a set of additional interviews (approximately 5) with so-called knowledgeable others. These are key individuals in NGOs, local administration and similar, who interact with the member of the movement on a regular basis. These interviews will be based on a pre-established interview guide along the same lines as that developed for the interviews with the Abatangamuco, but aimed at mapping the external perception of these men and their actions in light of established expectations of men’s gendered roles.

This data collection will be contextualised by a number of existing research and evaluation documents conducted by or for CARE. These studies, spanning from life story accounts to survey-based baseline studies, will provide the starting point for the first phase of the project, where we will prepare for the field work and develop interview guides. We will also collaborate with our local partners in this early phase, to make sure that the interview guides correspond to facts on the ground and that they are sensitive to the local, cultural context.

The interviews will be carried out by Hilde Wallacher in collaboration with local research assistants over the course of a three week field visit. The collaboration with local capacities from the organisation Fontaine ISOKO will facilitate easier access to the communities, as well as valuable cultural and empirical knowledge necessary for a successful field work and analysis. This collaboration will also facilitate further exchange of expertise as well as capacity building in qualitative research methodologies.

The scope of this project is thus to study the effect of the programme on the men involved, on their self-perception, and on how they evaluate their own behaviour when it comes to GBV and interaction with women. This study will be most valuable to understand more about the incentives that causes men to engage for the empowerment of women, and what role their masculine identities play in this process. CARE Norway realise the value of building on a study of this kind to further evaluate the impact of the Abatangamuco-programme on levels of GBV and other indicators of female livelihood and emancipation.

4.Research Ethics

The informants in this study will be informed of their rights to withdraw from the project at any time and to refuse to answer requests for information, and that all involvement in the research is voluntary. Some aspects of the interviews, such as statements about past domestic violence, may be regarded as sensitive, thus interview confidentiality will always be observed. The interviews will be anonymously recorded, and the identifiers given will not be of such a nature as to allow third parties to trace the statements back to the individual informer. Additionally, all interviews as well as documents that may identify informers will be securely stored. Referral to legal, health and/or psychosocial services will be offered to respondents if needed.

5.Deliverables

The specific objectives of this study will be:

1)PRIO Policy Brief for NORAD and CARE with a summary of key findings and a list of recommendations.

2)Working Paper with in-depth discussions of methodology and findings, aimed at the research community. This will form the basis for a potentially publishable article, aimed at a peer reviewed journal specialising in one or more of the topics of gender studies, African studies, peace and conflict studies, or grass root organisation.

  1. Disseminated through PRIO and CARE mailing lists and web sites, Fontaine Isoko’s networks, and the academic seminar outlined below.

3)Seminar (as discussed and agreed by CARE Norway and PRIO) for CARE staff, interested PRIO researchers and the Norwegian research community discussing key findings of the studies and implications for CARE’s field based work as well as for further research.

4)Op.ed in Norwegian newspaper(as discussed and agreed by CARE Norway and PRIO), co-authored by Ellen Beate Langehaugand Hilde Wallacher.

6.Activity plan and timeframe

Duration of consultancy:450 project hours. The consultant should be able to submit the final outputs latest by 30th December 2011.

Activity / Duration / Dates [EH2]
Background studies, development of interview guides, identification of and communication with local capacities.
PRIO to share interview guides with CARE Norway and CARE Burundi for input.
CARE will organise meeting with expert on engaging men prior to field visit.[EH3]
Field visit. Interviews conducted. See ToR/timeline for field visits attached.
Analysis of interviews.
Meeting between CARE Norway and PRIO to discuss findings before write-up.
Writing of working paper and policy brief.
Seminar* / TBD
Op. ed. In Norwegian Newspaper* / TBD
Total / 450 project hours

*The time for the seminar and the op.ed. will be organised upon agreement between PRIO and CARE Norway. These deliverables may not be finalized before 30th December 2011.

  1. Supervision, reporting and support

The assignment should be carried out by PRIO with IngerSkjesbæk as a project leader and Hilde Wallacher as a project researcher.

Throughout the duration of the consultancy CARE Norway staff will be the will be readily available for guidance and consultation with the overall responsibility being covered by the programme director.

Programme Quality and Learning coordinator, Idrissa Amadou, and Gender and Learning advisor, Jean Nimubona, will be focal points for CARE Burundi.

  1. Budget

The researchers will spend altogether 450 project hours to finalise this project.

This will amount to a total of xx xxx NOK. See breakdown below:

Project leader IngerSkjelsbæk / 51,000
Project researcher Hilde Wallacher / 360,000
Travel and local assistance costs / 54,200
Total budget / 465,200[EH4]

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[1]References:Abdelal, Rawi et. al [eds.]; Measuring Identity – A Guide for Social Scientist, Cambridge University Press, New York 2009.Barker, Gary and Jennifer Schulte; Engaging Men as Allies in Women’s Economic Empowerment: Strategies and Recommendations forCARE Country Offices, International Center for Research on Women, April 2010.Diarra, Marthe and DésiréMunezero; Umwizero Project Baseline Study, Interim report, April 2010.

[EH1]NB: Updated costs from C-B re local assistance

[EH2]PRIO to fill in.

[EH3]Most likely Eric Ramirez Ferrero

[EH4]Updated costs from C-B re local assistance