Creating An Enabling Environment

CREATING AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT TO ADDRESS SRHR AND GBV: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

Research from India finds that issues related to gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are deeply interlinked. Attempting to address one without the other will deny millions of women, girls, and gender diverse people the right to full control over their bodies and lives.

Key Findings SRHR and GBV issues intersect in diverse, often harmful ways, to impact the lives of Indian women, girls, and LGBTQ youth. oung women are not allowed to make basic Y choices about their bodies and lives. uring their periods, young women are D stigmatized and subjected to a range of restrictive norms so as not to contaminate others, especially men and boys. omen’s consent for sexual intercourse is not W viewed as necessary, let alone their right, and refusal is often justified as grounds for IPV. Pregnancy resulting from pre-marital sex is met with severe consequences for women and girls, including CEFM, violence, honour killing,or excommunication.

Women who are unable to birth children, or who fail to conceive sons, can be forced into having a sex-selective abortion. omosexuality is not socially accepted, H and those who identify as LGBTQ could be targets for GBV. I nstitutional and policy barriers restrict youths’ access to essential SRHR and GBV information and services.

Sex education provided in schools is insufficient and highly segregated by gender. arriers to accessing abortion are reinforced B by the legal system.

What’s At Stake?

Research Approach

Each day, women, girls, and gender diverse people around the world are subjected to gender-based discrimination, marginalization, and violence, which limits the realization of their SRHR. Conversely, lack of access to SRHR can itself be a source of GBV. Deeply rooted patriarchal norms and structures prevent young women in particular from exercising voice, choice, and control over their own bodies and lives.

The research project team used feminist methodologies to study the complex intersections of GBV and SRHR in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Ten Indian youth (aged 17-25) from each state were invited to participate as researchers in the project (20 total). A variety of feminist participatory research methods were used including cellphilm, photovoice, and a social norms diagnostic tool.3

In India, social norms place high value on chastity, and perpetuate the belief that marriage and motherhood are the sole destiny for young women. Child and early forced marriage (CEFM) is an accepted way of life, with one quarter of Indian women aged 20-24 married before the age of 18.1 As new brides, young women often lack confidence and negotiation skills and are not given the choice to make decisions about sex and contraception.

As such, rates of adolescent pregnancy are high in many parts of the country: nearly one in ten Indian women aged 20-24 has given birth before the age of 18.2 Once married, young women are also more prone to experience domestic violence because of entrenched attitudes and beliefs that women should submit to their husbands and in-laws in their marital home. Many young women throughout India do not know they have the right to live free from GBV and to control their own sexual and reproductive health.

Despite growing global recognition that GBV and SRHR are interlinked, there remains a gap in understanding how these issues intersect in specific contexts, as well as how to bring about long-term change to harmful social norms, attitudes, and behaviours. To address this gap, Oxfam Canada, in collaboration with Oxfam India, McGill University, and implementing partners Astitwa Samajik Sansthan (Astitwa), and the National Alliance of Women Odisha Chapter (NAWO), conducted research with local youth in two India states: Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

This policy brief outlines the adverse ways that SRHR and GBV intersect in the lives of Indian youth, and provides recommended actions for stakeholders in government, healthcare, and civil society to advance gender equality and create an enabling environment for change.

Key Findings The research project findings show that SRHR and GBV issues intersect in diverse, often harmful, ways to impact the lives of Indian women, girls, and LGBTQ youth.

Bodily Autonomy Young women are not allowed to make basic choices about their bodies and lives, including those related to clothing, mobility, romantic partners, marriage, abortion, and contraception. Instead, these choices are governed by their families and communities, with severe consequences for those who misbehave. For example, young women who wear western clothing against the approval of their family and community are considered promiscuous, and can be targeted for sexual violence.

Menstruation During their periods, young women are stigmatized and subjected to a range of restrictive norms so as not to contaminate others, especially men and boys. This can include, for example, being confined in separate rooms of their household or in menstruation huts, restricted from touching male family members, prevented from cooking food, and barred from participating in religious practices and celebrations.

They are made to feel ashamed about their bodies because of internalized beliefs that menstruation is ‘unclean’ and ‘impure’.

Consent Women’s consent for sexual intercourse is not viewed as necessary, let alone their right, and refusal is often justified as grounds for intimate partner violence (IPV).

1 Bajracharya, A., Psaki, S.R., and M. Sadiq. (2019). Child marriage, adolescent pregnancy and school dropout in South Asia. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/rosa/media/3096/file/UNICEF_ROSA_Child_marriage_adolescent_pregnancy_3May2019.pdf 2 Ibid.

3 For more information on the research process and methods see the Synthesis Report for this project: [add link to synthesis report]

2 CREATING AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT TO ADDRESS SRHR AND GBV: Evidence from India

Deeply-entrenched religious and social values in India hold that a wife is presumed to give perpetual consent to have sex with her husband after entering into marriage.

Pregnancy Pregnancy resulting from pre-marital sex is met with severe consequences for women and girls, including CEFM, violence, honour killing, or excommunication. If an unmarried young woman is found to be pregnant, her family is disgraced by the community and considered weak for their inability to control their child.

Women who are unable to birth children, or who fail to conceive sons, can be forced into having a sexselective abortion. As a result of gender stereotypes that position girls as subordinate to boys, women face extreme pressure to birth sons. If they fail to do so, they can be subjected to ridicule and violence, and it is socially accepted for their husbands to leave them and marry someone else.

Sexuality Homosexuality is not socially accepted, and those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) could be targets for GBV. Given the strong beliefs and attitudes towards traditional gender roles, homosexuality is not socially accepted, and coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community is rare because it can lead to excommunication and discrimination by family members, healthcare providers, and community leaders.

Access to SRHR Information and Services Institutional and policy barriers restrict youths’ access to essential SRHR and GBV information and services. Information from healthcare providers is mostly limited to maternal care for married women.

The sexual and reproductive health needs of youth are not openly discussed, including information on sexually transmitted diseases. It is extremely difficult for unmarried youth, particularly young women, to access contraceptives and abortion because of social norms, attitudes, and judgements against pre-marital sex that are reinforced by healthcare providers.

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Sexual Education Sexual education provided in schools is insufficient and highly segregated by gender. In most schools, female teachers and students cover the topic of menstruation while male teachers and students talk about puberty in a separate classroom. Few other subjects are covered, and youth are not educated about the sexual and reproductive health of the opposite sex. Instead, they learn about sex and sexual health mostly from the media or their friends.

Laws and Policies Barriers to accessing abortion are reinforced by the legal system. Various laws in India require doctors to obtain parental consent and lodge a complaint of abuse with the police before providing abortion services to women under the age of 18.4 While these laws offer potential protection to victims of sexual violence, there is a complete disregard for young women’s sexual rights and autonomy because they require that young women identify as victims in order to access abortion. For those who do not want their identity reported, some resort to more dangerous methods in order to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

Recommended Actions There is little available evidence documenting the adverse ways that SRHR and GBV intersect in the lives of Indian youth. The findings from this research project point to several recommended actions that stakeholders in government, healthcare, and civil society should take in order to advance gender equality and create an enabling environment for change.

Government • Adequately invest in programs and services that address GBV and SRHR in a holistic and integrated way (rather than addressing them in silos), with a particular focus on ensuring the rights and wellbeing of youth.

• Review policies and legislation around GBV and access to abortion from a gendered lens, and enact modifications as needed to better promote and protect the SRHR of youth, particularly young women.

For example, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971) and the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (2016).

3 CREATING AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT TO ADDRESS SRHR AND GBV: Evidence from India

• Develop and deliver comprehensive sex education for youth enrolled in middle school and high school, and for all population groups based on gender, age, caste, class, etc.

Healthcare service providers • Deliver accessible and comprehensive services for SRHR and GBV, regardless of a patient’s gender, sexuality, age, or marital status.

• Provide regular capacity building to healthcare staff on issues related to GBV and SRHR, including awareness-raising to reduce barriers to accessing services caused by harmful social norms, attitudes, and judgements.

• Develop accessible and affordable services to help individuals, couples, and families deal with issues related to SRHR and GBV, including pre- and postmarriage counselling, and crisis centers for victims of IPV.

Civil society • Integrate participatory feminist methodologies into SRHR and GBV program design and implementation as a method of engaging the community, especially youth, in topics that are taboo in nature.

• Promote intergenerational dialogue on SRHR to challenge discriminatory attitudes and expectations around sexuality and reproduction which drive social stigma and GBV.

• Build partnerships with different levels of government and the private sector to ensure that menstrual hygiene management materials are easily available and affordable for all women and girls.

Endnotes This brief was authored collaboratively by Kate Grantham and Leva Rouhani (FemDev Consulting), Rukmini Panda (Oxfam India), and Megan Lowthers (Oxfam Canada). It draws on key findings from the “Exploring the Transformative Power of Feminist Research to Address Knowledge Gaps in SRHR and GBV” project, implemented in India from 2019-2022.

Suggestion citation: Grantham, K., Rouhani, L., Panda, R. and M. Lowthers. 2022. Creating an Enabling Environment to Address SRHR and GBV: Evidence from India. Oxfam Canada and Oxfam India.

Acknowledgements We wish to acknowledge the youth researchers in India who conducted this research with guidance from Oxfam India and implementing partners Astitwa Samajik Sansthan (Astitwa) and the National Alliance of Women Odisha Chapter (NAWO), funded by the International Development Research Center and Global Affairs Canada. We also want to thank Claudia Mitchell and Katie MacEntee from the Participatory Cultures Lab at McGill University for their technical expertise and collaboration on this research project.

May 2022 For more information, questions, and concerns about this research project please contact: Oxfam Canada Megan Lowthers, PhD Women’s Rights Knowledge Specialist: megan.lowthers@oxfam.org

Oxfam India Varna Sri Raman Lead, Research and Knowledge Building: varna@oxfamindia.org

Oxfam Policy Briefs are written to share research results, to contribute to public debate and to invite feedback on development and humanitarian policy and practice.

They do not necessarily reflect Oxfam policy positions. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Oxfam.

4 CREATING AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT TO ADDRESS SRHR AND GBV: Evidence from India

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors.