Abstract
This extended case study explores the process of social change in two Gambian Jola communities, whose participation in the Stepping Stones HIV prevention programme in 1998, caused them to end intimate partner violence (IPV).
RESEARCH QUESTION:
How did the Stepping Stones programme prevent intimate partner violence in two West African communities: what was the mechanism of change, was there any evidence of change in the social reproduction of the patriarchal marital system before or after the intervention, and how does this contribute to the theory of empowerment?
Starting from the theoretical origins of Stepping Stones in the philosophy of Paulo Freire, this study aims to develop a theory of change for Stepping Stones, which could be used to understand and evaluate cultural action and empowerment in general. The study includes a review of the history of the region, and analysis of interviews and focus groups with intervention and control communities. Data collection focussed on gender identity, the marital system and the social control of marital disharmony, past and present.
FINDINGS:
Production and social activity were divided by gender. Most IPV occurred in the context of the polygynous marital system, which used arranged marriage and daughter exchange to maintain the extended family. Young women were often married to much older men and love marriages were unusual. Emotional satisfaction could be derived from extramarital relationships, which had their own cultural forms predating conversion to Islam in the 1930s. The jealousy of older husbands towards their younger wives was a significant driver for IPV. When husbands gave inadequate financial support to their wives, there was increased participation in extra-marital relationships as wives tried to secure the money needed to look after their children. Cash cropping had been promoted from the 1920s by the colonial powers, which caused a change in the gendered relations of agricultural production and a move away from collective labour and responsibility. Men’s domination of cash cropping allowed them to sequester financial resources.
Stepping Stones utilised a gendered analysis, working simultaneously with groups of husbands and wives; together and apart, ‘privately’ and ‘publicly’, using a ‘fission and fusion’ strategy. This led to a democratisation of social space, in which women were afforded the opportunity to strengthen their corporate identity in private discussion amongst themselves and their voices were given equal weight to the men in public discussion. The programme ended with proposals for change from each group which were accepted by consensus. The community agreed to try to end extramarital relationships, and in return husbands would financially support their wives and include them in household decision-making. This represented a role change for women from ‘wife’ to ‘partner’.
The cessation of violence had the support of men and women because they shared the goals of happy relationships, families, and communities. It was successful because the quality of marital relationships improved, and because of the imposition of ‘bylaws’ against violence. Women acted individually, together, and with community members to ensure the ban was successful. Following the programme, marital relationships continued to improve. In the early days some of the changes were contested, but by the time of the study there seemed to be a comfortable acceptance of the wives’ new role, and many husbands and wives described their relationships as becoming increasingly loving. The cumulative involvement of wives in household decisions appeared to induce a change in social norms against the continuation of arranged marriages for their daughters.
Freire’s theory of pedagogy was inadequate for explaining the Stepping Stones process of change without being elaborated to include the critical perspectives of both Margaret Archer and Pierre Bourdieu.