Tipping Point

CARE explains that, in Nepal and Bangladesh, child marriage is rooted in a complex dynamic of limited choices and material resources (economic insecurity, lack of livelihood options, household labour) and prevailing social norms about family honour, control of sexuality, and the low social status of girls. For that reason, the focus is working not just with adolescent girls but also others who influence them and have the power to create enabling environments for them. The Tipping Point teams are developing methods to: deepen girls', boys', parents', and community members' critical awareness of gender equity and rights and promote solidarity within peer groups; promote positive/gender-equitable norms through exemplifying and celebrating alternative behaviours; create spaces for dialogue between adolescents, parents, and other community members to promote communication, trust, and support for gender equity and rights; and encourage networks, solidarity groups, and organisations to collaborate, shift discourse, and take action to support gender-equitable opportunities for girls and boys. The monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) approach for this initiative is built on developmental and feminist evaluation principles. The project is using Outcome Mapping as its core design, monitoring, and learning tool. This supports an iterative process in which as actors engage and issues emerge, shift, and take unexpected turns, CARE can tailor its strategies to new situations.

To cite an example of Tipping Point's advocacy work: On August 13 2016, the Tipping Point team in Bangladesh organised am event in Dhaka to share the findings of the Tipping Point Community Participatory Analyses (CPA) Report with national-level stakeholders. The chief guest at the event was Meher Afroze Chumki, the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs. Other key speakers included CARE Bangladesh's Assistant Country Director, the Executive Director of the Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers Association and an adolescent girl and boy from the Tipping Point project. The event also included a panel discussion highlighting experiences and perspectives from India and Nepal, as shared by Apeksha Vora from the Nirantar Trust in India and Ayusha Nirola, Advocacy manager for CARE Nepal. Key messages highlighted during the discussions included: the need to look beyond a focus on legal enforcement towards strengthening social movements for change and the importance of interventions by governments and others to promote alternatives for girls. There was also recognition of the importance of addressing sexuality as a driver of child marriage and promoting girls' sexual and reproductive health and rights. Seventeen national daily and Bangla newspapers covered the launch event along with 5 TV channels and 5 online newspapers.

Tipping Point teams design and implement campaigns such as aamra o korchi (we are also doing), initiated by the CARE Bangladesh Tipping Point team to address social norms for male engagement into household chores. To promote gender equality, the campaign kicked off on the eve of the National Girl Child Day and was continued as a month-long series of events from September 29 2016 to October 29 2016 in all 30 primary villages of Sunamgonj. Men and boys came forward to show that they too take equal responsibilities for household chores in 4 events, 2 for each primary village from both the partner organisations' area. A corporate Spice Company SQUARE was engaged for supporting the campaign activity. The company provided spices to the participating men and boys. Also during this time period, the Bangladesh team hosted: a community dialogue on issues of investment in girls and the benefits of delayed marriage, an art competition and debate competition, a rally, a discussion on the importance of celebrating Girl Child Day, and games on roles of men and women in household chores and work outside home. The Technical Coordinator, Advocacy participated in Upjila-level meetings in both Upjilas.

Some examples of Tipping Point activities in Nepal include: engaging with Girls Not Brides (GNB) in Nepal to monitor the implementation of "Public police" and to support advocacy initiatives at national levels. Adolescent girls from the Tipping Point project in Nepal also learn how to use computers at the Uddan Center. Tipping Point centres are places for girls to gather in facilitated Girls Groups, where they meet up with their peers to work through challenges. In the groups, they learn not only about the ills of child marriage but also pathways to form goals in life, play (e.g., football), and speak out for adolescent empowerment collectively.

Tipping Point's online exercise Walk in Her Shoes is designed to foster empathy and recognition of positive alternatives to child marriage through the stories of girls who have challenged deeply entrenched norms. "Through their experiences we hope you can envision a world where girls do have a voice and choices in their life and see how that can catalyze their potential as change agents. For each of these girls you will experience the typical reality where her choices are limited and her voice is not heeded, followed by what happens when we are able to create access to alternative paths and girls are able to make decisions about their own lives."

Click here for access to all Tipping Point programme resources.

Girls, Rights, Gender

Tipping Point's research has found that, for parents in particular in the communities in which CARE works, the perceived risks of marrying a girl young are outweighed by the perceived benefits in terms of lower dowry, family respect, avoiding risk of love affairs, finding an acceptable match, and reducing the family's economic burdens. The marriage process is a complex set of steps and exchanges involving families, neighbours, business interests, and government people - each with a specific interest and influence in the process. Throughout this, though, the voices and decision-making power of the adolescents themselves are absent/negligible against the authority of fathers and brothers. When adolescents, especially girls, try to assert their choices around if, who, and when to marry, they are often stigmatised by their families and communities.

Access impact research on Tipping Point at Related Summaries, below.