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Impact Data - Domin Nakloke (Unlocking Love)

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Launched in July 2017 by the Timorese non-governmental organisation (NGO) Ba Futuru, Domin Nakloke (Unlocking Love) is an entertainment-education film series in Timor-Leste that explores issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, gender equality, and healthy relationships. Centred around the trials and tribulations of a group of best friends, its intended audience is young people.

The first four episodes - titled Selfie, Shout It Out, No Means No, and Love Is Respect - are detailed at the Related Summaries link, below, and may be viewed on the Domin Nakoloke website. Each episode is coupled with a talk show element that allows for debriefing around the series content, provides expert advice for young people, and features celebrity guests.

Ba Futuru explains that Timor-Leste is a post-conflict country where the use of violence against women and children is commonplace and is an often culturally accepted behaviour. Despite Timor-Leste passing the Law Against Domestic Violence in 2010, rates of domestic violence remain high, and there is still a lack of knowledge that domestic violence is illegal. In this context, Ba Futuru contends, it is critical to equip women and children with knowledge of support services and how to seek assistance when violence does occur, while also reducing the acceptance and normalisation of violence against women and children.

Methodologies

The first 3 episodes were shown to viewer groups with 186 students (110 females and 76 males) aged from 16-20 years old. Baseline, endline, and follow-up data were collected for the purposes of evaluating the impact of the series on knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The Domin Nakloke follow up surveys were undertaken in 3 schools, 2 in Manatuto (Kayrala and Primeira Dama) and 1 in Dili (Cristal), around a month after the students initially took part in the viewer groups. In Manatuto, there were 2 follow-up sessions with a total of 33 students, and in Dili, there was one for 35 students. They were carried out in the months of September and November 2017.

For the fourth episode, in 2019, more than 200 youth participated in viewing sessions across 4 municipalities (Manufahi, Dili, Bobonaro, and Covalima). Matched pre-post data were available for 146 youth out of an estimated 220 student viewers (about 66%).

Knowledge Shifts

With regard to Shout It Out:

  • Before viewing, only 50% of viewers knew it was illegal for a person to hit their spouse; afterwards, this reduced to 11% still reporting that it is legal.
  • Before viewing the episode, only 56% of viewers reported that they knew the places where a victim could get assistance for gender-based violence (GBV) and could list a place, whereas after viewing, 96% of the viewers said that they now knew the places where victims of GBV could get assistance could list a place.
  • When viewers were asked whether or not they knew that a neighbour could report a case of domestic violence, 72% said "yes", they knew this; after viewing, this increased to 97%.
  • Viewers were asked if they witnessed violence happening in their community what would they do in order to get help. Before viewing, 63% said they would help, and 56% of them could list a way could list a way to help. After viewing, 96% said they would help, and 91% could list a way they would help the victim. Moreover, 94% of the viewers stated that after viewing the film they now felt confident to use the pot-banging action to try to stop violence.

With regard to Love Is Respect:

  • The percentage of respondents who knew that health risks are greater for a teenage pregnant girl (under 19) and her baby than for a woman above 20 increased from 64% to 88%.
  • The percentage of respondents who knew that a pregnant girl has a right to stay in school increased from 51% to 94%.
Practices

With regard to Love Is Respect and intended behaviour:

  • Girls (N=97) were asked: What would you do if you had an unplanned pregnancy? Before watching the episode, only 38% said they would continue to go to school; after watching, 80% said they would.
  • Boys (N=49) were asked: What would you do if you got a girl pregnant? Before watching the episode, 45% said they would help her consult a health professional; after watching, 84% said they would.
  • Youth reported that the episode motivated them to find out more about pregnancy prevention and discuss it with others.
Attitudes

Regarding Selfie:

  • When asked if students think a relationship is good when your romantic partner forbids you from doing certain activities that you want to do (regularly controlling your life), 44% thought this was a good relationship before viewing the films; this decreased to 8% after viewing the film.
  • When viewers were asked in the survey if they think it is good to use violence to control their romantic partner when in a relationship, before viewing, 33% said "yes"; after viewing, this percentage had decreased to just 3%.
  • When asked if they think there can be negative consequences if one shares someone's sexy photo on social media, the percentage before was 84%; it increased to 95% after the viewing. Fifty-six percent were able to list the potential negative consequences before viewing, whereas afterwards, 91% viewers were able to list the negative consequences.

Regarding Shout It Out: In the pre-survey, 37% of viewers reported that if a woman does something wrong, her boyfriend or husband should hit her, which reduced to 18% of viewers still agreeing with this afterwards.

Regarding No Means No:

  • When asked if they thought it was okay for a man to make sexual advances towards a woman when she is wearing sexy clothes, before viewing, 36% of viewers stated that they thought it was okay to do so; however, after viewing only 6% still stated that it was okay.
  • Viewers were asked, "If you want to have sexual relations but your girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't want to, is it okay for you to force them to have sexual relations?" Before viewing, 12% responded "yes", and after viewing, this decreased to 3%. Viewers were also asked if the people were already married whether it was okay to force their spouse to have sex with them. Beforehand, 40% said "yes"; however, after viewing, this decreased to just 9%. Moreover, beforehand, only 57% of viewers reported that it is never okay to force someone to have sex, but after viewing, this increased to 91%.

Regarding Love Is Respect:

  • The percentage of respondents indicating that youth should learn about sex and pregnancy prevention in school increased from 52% to 87%.
  • The percentage of respondents indicating that it is important for young people to discuss pregnancy before having sex increased from 75% to 92%.
  • The percentage of respondents indicating they would be supportive of pregnant girls attending school increased from 57% to 92%.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues

Those interviewed reported having shared information with their friends from the first 3 films, including 41% of males reporting that they had reminded other males to not sexually harass others, and 59% of males reporting that they reminded others to not use violence against their romantic partner.

Access

The first 3 films quickly went viral on Facebook, with the first episode receiving more than 20,000 views in 24 hours. As of May 2019, for the 4th film, there had been approximately 66,700 views total on Facebook and YouTube.

Other Impacts

After viewing the first 3 films, 95% of viewers interviewed reported that they think the film series is relevant to their life, and 97% of viewers surveyed reported that they think the Domin Nakloke film series got them to think about how to have better romantic relationships.

Follow-up Survey Results:

  • 94% stated that it is not good to use violence to control their romantic partner when they are in a romantic relationship.
  • 96% stated that it is not okay for a man to hit their wife or girlfriend when they do something wrong.
  • 87% reported that it was illegal for a person to hit their spouse.
  • 96% understood that a neighbour could report an incident of domestic violence.
  • 96% stated that it is not okay to force someone to have sex with them when they don't want to have sexual relations.
  • 94% stated that it is not okay for a person to force their spouse to have sexual relations when they don't want to.
  • 97% stated that the film series got them to think about how to have a better romantic relationship.
  • 97% stated that the film series was relevant to their everyday lives.
  • 100% stated that the film series helped them change their behaviour.
  • 100% of viewers stated that they discussed relationships issues with their friends after watching the films.
  • 41% of the males said that they reminded other males not to sexually harass others.
  • 64% of the males said that they reminded other men not to use violence against their romantic partner.
  • 100% stated that they have also have shared the information from the films with their family and friends and could give examples of this.
  • 99% stated that the film reminded them that they should not retaliate with violence even if they experience violence from another person.
Source

Emails from Sierra James to The Communication Initiative on September 22 2017, December 20 2017, and June 4 2019; Domin Nakoloke website, Domin Nakoloke on Facebook, and GlobalGiving website (including the downloadable document "Domin Nakloke Student Viewer Survey Results") - all accessed on September 22 2017; and Domin Nakloke Episode 4: Love is Respect - Results of Pre- and Post-tests [PDF], accessed on June 5 2019.

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