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CHAPTER FOURTEEN o

From Research to Action

Topics covered in this chapter:

Outreach to key constituencies
Matching your message to your audience
Sharing findings with the community
Reaching beyond your borders

R esearch is a means to an end. A
researcher’s task is only complete once the
university-based researchers
who presented their results
Example of a Stakeholder List

findings from a research project are put only at international confer- • Ministry of Health
into the hands of the individuals and ences or in academic journals. • Office of Women’s Affairs
organizations positioned to use them. For Fortunately this approach is • Members of Parliament,
violence research, this generally includes being supplanted by a new especially Women’s
policy makers, legislators, advocacy ethic of research in which Commissions
groups, the academic community, service researchers and advocates join • Local women’s groups/net-
providers, and the respondents themselves. forces to ensure that research works
This chapter briefly highlights some cre- findings are used for social • Local rape crisis center
ative ways that different research teams change. This section includes • Local journalists
have approached these challenges. several examples of how dif- • School of Public Health
ferent research teams have • Department of Justice
OUTREACH TO KEY used their findings strategi- • Local radio—call-in show
CONSTITUENCIES cally to change laws, influ- • School of Social Work
ence policy, design service • Catholic diocese
Research can either be a positive force for programs, and place the issue • Municipal authorities
change or it can sit on a shelf, advancing of violence against women on
only the career paths of individual investi- the public agenda.
gators. The field of international violence The first step is to make a list of differ-
research is filled with examples of both. ent constituent groups and individuals that
In the past, it was not uncommon for should be made aware of the research
women’s groups and others working on findings. The study’s advisory group will
violence to be totally unaware that research be particularly helpful in this regard.
on violence had been conducted in their Next strategize about the different means
country, often by foreign investigators or and venues available for reaching these

A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists 217

o CHAPTER FOURTEEN

audiences. Also recognize that the type of To unify the campaign and project a posi-
message and style of presentation that will tive image, the researchers developed an
be persuasive to different audiences will eye-catching logo and printed 20,000 stickers
likely vary. (See Matching Your Message to with the slogan “Let’s create love and peace
Your Audience, below.) in intimate relationships.” In addition, the
team distributed over 2,000 fact sheets and
Let’s Create Love and Peace in posters about violence against women (see
Intimate Relationships: National Figure 14.1). The key activity of the month
dissemination of research findings was a two-day national seminar, held at the
in Thailand National Women’s Council in Bangkok, and
It may be possible to reach a number of tar- attended by more than 400 people. On the
get groups at once by holding a stakeholder first day, the research team made an official
meeting or a symposium at which the results presentation of the research and its findings.
are presented and discussed. Members of On the second day, six women with direct
the Thai research team of the WHO multi- experiences of violence shared their own
country study, for example, worked with the stories of pain and survival followed by pre-
Task Force to End Violence Against Women sentations by other researchers and well-
and the Coalition for Women’s Advancement known experts in the field. Outside the
to organize a month-long program of activi- seminar room, various concerned organiza-
ties on violence against women in Thailand. tions set up exhibit booths to advertise their
The month was kicked off with a press con- organizations and services.
ference to present the Thai findings from the The research team evaluated the impact of
WHO multi-country study and to highlight the activities throughout the ensuing months,
current activities of organizations working to including tracking coverage of the findings in
eliminate violence and gender discrimination the media. Overall, the research findings were
in Thailand. presented at events in more than 20 provinces.
Significantly, findings on the prevalence of
FIGURE 14.1 LET’S CREATE LOVE AND PEACE forced sex in marriage also proved critical to
IN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS WAS THE
a legislative campaign to amend Article 276
MESSAGE TIED TO THE DISSEMINATION OF
STUDY RESULTS IN THAILAND of Thailand’s criminal code that gave immu-
nity to men who rape their wives.

Silence for the Sake of Harmony:
Engaging local leaders in the dis-
semination of results in Indonesia
The SEHATI Research Project, a partner-
ship between Gadjah Mada University and
Rifka Annisa Women’s Crisis Center (both
in Indonesia), Umeå University in Sweden,
and PATH, carried out a prevalence study
in Central Java that showed that one in ten
women had been physically abused by an
intimate partner. To reach a wider audi-
ence, researchers asked the Queen of the
Province of Yogyakarta in Central Java to
host the launch of their report. The launch
was attended by local authorities, media,

218 Researching Violence Against Women

FROM RESEARCH TO ACTION
o
FIGURE 14.2 STUDY REPORT FROM CENTRAL JAVA, WHICH INCLUDED PREFACES FROM THE
QUEEN OF THE PROVINCE OF YOGYAKARTA, THE INDONESIAN MINISTER OF HEALTH,
AND THE MINISTER OF WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

(From Hakimi et al, 2002.1)

and religious and community leaders. The technical, academic, or policy audiences, it
Queen also wrote a preface to the vio- is important to follow scientific convention
lence report, lending legitimacy to this and to include all required background
once taboo area of research. A similar ses- information so that others can evaluate the
sion was held in Jakarta, the capital of findings, such as sample size, measures of
Indonesia, hosted by the Minister of significance, and margins of error. For
Health and the Minister of Women’s other audiences, this information is merely
Empowerment, both of whom also wrote confusing and detracts from the message.
prefaces for the report (Figure 14.2).
Candies in Hell: Using research for
M AT C H I N G Y O U R social change in Nicaragua
MESSAGE TO YOUR A good example of how the same informa-
AUDIENCE tion can be adapted to different audiences
comes from the Nicaraguan Network of
A key to achieving impact is to tailor your Women Against Violence. The Network
message to the various audiences that you collaborated with researchers from the
seek to influence. The language, style, and University of Nicaragua in León and
message that may be persuasive to one Sweden’s Umeå University to conduct in-
group may be wholly unconvincing—or depth interviews of battered women and a
unintelligible—to another. The way the household survey on the rate of domestic
data are presented also should vary. For violence among women in León. The basic


o CHAPTER FOURTEEN

FIGURE 14.3 PRESENTING RESEARCH RESULTS IN DIFFERENT WAYS FOR
DIVERSE AUDIENCES IN NICARAGUA

(From Ellsberg et al, 19972 and Ellsberg et al, 1999.3)

finding of the study—that 52 percent of To influence health policy and the behavior
ever-married women ages 15-49 have been of health workers, researchers and the
hit, slapped, or beaten by a partner—was Network cosponsored a symposium at the
presented in a variety of ways to make dif- medical school in León, where the results
ferent points to different audiences. were presented to local providers, health-
The results were presented in a publica- related NGOs, and ministry staff. The same
tion using graphs and charts to appeal to presentations were later repeated for a
the professional and scientific communities. national audience at the public health


o
Several activities were also undertaken
to reach legislators and to use the results
of the study to push for new domestic vio-
lence legislation. The results were included
in the Preamble of the Draft Penal Code
Reforms for the Prevention and Sanction of
Family Violence, which was drafted and
presented to the National Assembly by the
National Network of Women Against
Violence. But more significantly, the find-
ings were translated into simple language
and incorporated into a national petition
campaign asking legislators to approve the
domestic violence bill pending before the
National Assembly. Network members held
“petition-signing parties” and reproduced
school in Managua. Here, the emphasis was the petition as a full-page, tear-out ad in
on the health consequences of abuse and the national newspaper. In a few months,
the potential role of health workers in more than 16,000 signatures were obtained
responding to the problem. and presented in great packages to parlia-
These meetings helped launch several mentarians. They were so overwhelmed by
initiatives, including the production of a the public pressure, especially since it was
specialized manual for health workers on an election year, that they voted unani-
responding to abuse and the development mously to pass the law (Figure 14.4).
of educational material on violence for
incorporation into medical school and SHARING FINDINGS WITH
nursing curricula. THE COMMUNITY
To reach community members, espe-
cially women, the Network published the One step often overlooked in research is
findings in the form of a popular booklet the process of communicating findings
entitled Ya No Quiero Confites en el back to the community. Traditionally
Infierno (I No Longer Want Candies in research has been an “extrac-
Hell). The booklet told the story of Ana tive” process whereby results “I would like to ask if you
Cristina, one of the informants in the study, and insights derived from the find something to help us or
and the booklet’s margins included easy- research seldom make their to help us know more, can
to-understand statistics drawn from the way back to the original you please come again? Do
survey. The booklet included basic infor- respondents. In recent years, not take our stories without
mation about where women could get there has been a move toward coming back and telling us
help as well as questions to guide group “giving something back” to the what you have learned.”
discussions (see Figure 14.3). community in addition to shar- Woman from Papua New
The prevalence data were also men- ing the results of research with Guinea
tioned in a pocket-sized card urging bat- policy makers, opinion leaders,
tered women to get help, under the title and front-line providers. As the quote from
“You are not alone: recent studies have the respondent in Papua New Guinea
shown that one out of every two women makes clear, community members appreci-
has been beaten by her husband, and one ate the opportunity to see what comes of
out of every four is beaten each year.” the time they invest with researchers.


o CHAPTER FOURTEEN

FIGURE 14.4 PETITION TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, CITING THE
LEÓN RESEARCH AND ASKING FOR A NEW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW TO BE PASSED

PHOTO BY HAFM JANSEN
These letters were distributed in community meetings, parties, and through the newspapers. The National
Network of Women Against Violence collected more than 16,000 signatures in the space of a few weeks.
(From Ellsberg et al, 1997.2)

Sometimes this process of sharing can researchers studying sexual coercion during
take the form of directly communicating war translated their findings into drama
the findings back to the community via vignettes to communicate their results back
workshops or focus groups. Sharing pre- to rural women. Based on survey findings,
liminary results with community members the researchers derived a profile that repre-
can be an excellent way to test the validity sented the average experiences of the
of findings—do they ring true to those women surveyed. Local health promoters
who participated in the research? then worked with researchers to develop a
Respondents may also be able to offer storyline that reflected the experiences of
insights that are helpful in interpreting sur- the majority of women in the survey. The
prising or unexpected findings. health promoters acted out the experiences
that women discussed in the survey and
Community Theater: then the community discussed the “results.”4
Disseminating research findings Similar techniques were used in Uganda by
in Liberia, Uganda, and Kenya the organizations CEDOVIP and Raising
Investigators have also used a variety of Voices (See Figure 14.5).
innovative techniques to communicate the In Kenya, theater was used to communi-
essence of research findings back to low-lit- cate findings of a study carried out by the
eracy populations. In Liberia, for example, Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health


o
FIGURE 14.5 UGANDAN COMMUNITY THEATER GROUP PERFORMS A PLAY ON THE LINK
BETWEEN HIV AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN A KAMPALA MARKET
PHOTO BY M. ELLSBERG

Project (KARHP). The project was launched and presented them to stakeholders—
to bring reproductive health education and many of whom did not speak English—
support to communities in Vihiga and in simple format and language.
Busia districts. Dozens of parents, teachers,
Dancers and drummers
religious and political leaders, health clinic 2. The team then selected two local youth
opening a street theater
staff, and hundreds of young people, cho- theatre groups—Visions 3000 based in performance in
sen for their capacity to speak candidly to Kakamega and Mwangaza in Mambale Kampala, Uganda.
their peers, were recruited by KARHP to
reach out with information on sexual vio-
lence, sexually transmitted diseases, and
other reproductive health issues.
Like most development programs,
KARHP used baseline and diagnostic stud-
ies to evaluate its effect on the communi-
ties it serves. But the question was how to
communicate those findings to the relative
stakeholders—people and organizations in
a position to interpret, even improve on
how such information relates to our work.
Using a new dissemination methodology,

KARHP found two innovative ways:

1. The project implementation team drafted
a summary report containing key findings


o CHAPTER FOURTEEN

with everyone sharing a joint understand-
ing of the situation, the community was
actively engaged in designing interventions
to respond to the challenges that young
people face today.5

Reaching communities through
traditional art: The Jijenge!
mural campaign against violence
in Tanzania6, 7
In a similar effort, staff members at Jijenge!,
a women’s health center in Mwanza,
Tanzania, took great pains to convey back
to the community the results of its needs
assessment on domestic violence. (See Box
5.2 for a description of the participatory
study.) This was done through a workshop
with the community volunteers and a
CEDOVIP activists
carry out informal series of community street meetings. As
discussions with men part of its multifaceted media campaign
under a mural painting against violence, Jijenge! also appropriated
on domestic violence in
the folk-art tradition of mural painting as a
Kampala, Uganda.
means to communicate important messages
District—and trained them to present about family violence and gender issues. A
key learnings in an entertaining and series of bright and colorful murals was
visually exciting manner. To prepare, the designed and painted on small walls out-
actors were provided with a presentation side kiosks, shops, and buildings all over
of the major findings, general informa- Mwanza municipality. The images and sim-
tion on adolescent reproductive health, ple yet controversial messages were
and tips on communication skills. A the- intended to stimulate dialogue. Two pri-
ater consultant worked with both groups mary characters—a woman and man in
to develop “storylines” for skits that their early to mid-30s—were created and
required audience participation. used in most of the murals. These charac-
ters are shown in conversation with each
Both the skits and the summary report other and the audience (Figure 14.6). One
were then presented in three locations in mural, for example, shows the woman
western Kenya to an audience that with her arm around her husband and the
included government staff, religious lead- husband confidently stating, “I don’t beat
ers, village elders, local groups, and com- my wife, we talk about our problems
munity members. Not only was the instead.” A rights statement such as
information shared with the community, “Women have a right not to be beaten!”
but the researchers had an opportunity to appears in each mural to relate practical
vet their findings and ask the community if life choices to the broader framework of
the skits represented their communities. women’s rights. The murals address many
These research dissemination sessions issues concerning violence against women,
helped the community to articulate their including emotional well-being, solidarity
situation and own the problems. Then, among women, and causal factors of


o
FIGURE 14.6. MURALS PAINTED ON COMMUNITY WALLS IN TANZANIA AND UGANDA
TO ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY DISCUSSION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

violence such as inequality and economic can be in social change efforts is provided
dependence. Similar techniques are now by Soul City in South Africa. The Soul City
used successfully by the Ugandan organi- Institute for Health and Development
zations CEDOVIP and Raising Voices, Communication produces a prime time tel-
which grew out of the Jijenge! experience evision drama, a radio drama in nine lan-
in Tanzania. guages, and full-color information booklets
to promote social change around a variety
A disaster that men can prevent: of health and social issues. Soul City’s
A multimedia campaign targeting fourth series focused on gender-based vio-
Nicaraguan men lence, including domestic violence and
In other cases, research is used explicitly sexual harassment. In order to develop the
as part of a communication for social storyline about a woman named Matlakala,
change strategy. For example, findings formative research was carried out with
from the study on men’s violence in audience members and experts in the field
Nicaragua (see Box 5.6) were incorporated of gender-based violence. The story also
into a mass media campaign using televi- incorporated findings from a survey on
sion and radio commercials, bumper stick- violence recently carried out in three
ers, T-shirts, community workshops, and provinces by the South African Medical
billboards. The messages targeted men, Research Council.8 Partnerships were estab-
and referring to Hurricane Mitch that had lished between Soul City and organizations
recently devastated the region, suggested active in the field, such as the National
that “Violence against women is one disas- Network on Violence Against Women, a
ter that we men can prevent” (Figure 14.7). coalition of 1,500 activists and communica-
tion organizations from rural and urban
Matlakala’s Story: Communication areas. These partnerships aimed to ensure
for social change in South Africa that the messages developed conveyed
Another example of how effective research appropriate and accurate information on


o CHAPTER FOURTEEN

FIGURE 14.7 MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR MEN CARRIED OUT BY
PUNTOS DE ENCUENTRO FOUNDATION IN NICARAGUA BASED ON FINDINGS
OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ON MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

women’s rights, raising awareness of the a cohort sample of 500 respondents at
topic and promoting changes in attitudes, baseline, twice during the time that Soul
social norms, and practices around gender- City’s fourth series was on the air, and
based violence to help connect audiences post intervention.
to needed services, including through a
toll-free helpline; to promote individual ■ A national qualitative impact assessment
and community action; to create an envi- composed of 31 focus group interviews
ronment conducive to legislative change; and 30 semistructured interviews with
and to develop training materials on gen- community leaders.
der-based violence for various audiences.
The Soul City series on violence then The evaluation found an association
enlisted independent researchers to evalu- between exposure to Soul City media and
ate the program through three studies: increases in knowledge and awareness of
the population regarding domestic vio-
■ A national survey carried out before the lence and domestic violence legislation.
show started, and nine months later, The results of the evaluation were pre-
that included face-to-face interviews sented in numerous documents and peer-
with 2,000 respondents. reviewed journals, as well as on an
easy-to-read fact sheet (Figure 14.8).9-11
■ A sentinel site study conducted several Even more importantly, the show and the
times in a rural and an urban site, with research findings helped create a positive


o
FIGURE 14.8 COMMUNICATION MATERIALS IN ENGLISH AND ZULU AND AN EVALUATION FACT SHEET
PRODUCED BY SOUL CITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

social environment for reforming domestic study posted the results of their survey
violence legislation. on a local Thai-language web page that
Elsewhere, researchers have turned included a “bulletin board” where viewers
to the Internet to publicize findings of could post their own comments and ques-
domestic violence research and seek input tions. The web page received thousands of
and feedback from a broader constituency. hits and comments during its first month
The Thai team of the WHO multi-country of operation.


o CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TV and radio programs. Materials forwarded
to the Center will be entered into the
Center’s online service, known as POPLINE,
and will be featured on the Center’s End
Violence Against Women web site
(http://www.endvaw.org). Individuals can
search for materials using key words, and
copies will be sent to developing country
practitioners free of charge.

The findings of the
WHO study in Namibia
were published in the
popular women’s maga-
zine Sister Namibia.

REACHING BEYOND
YOUR BORDERS

In addition to local outreach, it is also
important to consider reaching audiences
beyond local borders. Given the general
lack of data available on violence against
women, every research study is a poten-
tially important addition to the global
knowledge base.
Consider publishing your results in the
academic literature, especially in a peer-
reviewed journal indexed in one of the
computerized services such as Index
Medicus, Psych-Lit, or POPLINE. Then,
individuals who search for articles on vio-
lence will be able to access your findings.
Additionally, the Center for Communication
Programs at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, Maryland, and the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
have joined forces to produce a central
depository for information on violence
against women, including documents, jour-
nal articles, training materials, posters, and


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