Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Using Gender-Transformative Approaches at a Community Level in Rural Tanzania: The UZIKWASA Program
Outcomes: Gender‑Based Violence
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways This study demonstrates that addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) through gender-transformative, community-level approaches can shift harmful norms surrounding masculinity, femininity, and violence. While the article does not frame its analysis using formal social norms theory (e.g., injunctive or descriptive norms), it provides extensive qualitative evidence of prevailing expectations—such as men’s authority over women, retributive violence, and victim-blaming—that function as injunctive norms. It also documents normative shifts over time, including increased community condemnation of gang rape, improved support for survivors, and changing gender expectations. Through participatory media (e.g., radio dramas, theatre, diaries), leadership training, and public dialogues, the UZIKWASA program helped communities reflect on and contest norms related to gender and violence, generating personal and structural change. The use of hearsay ethnography was especially effective in capturing evolving conversations that reflect deep normative shifts at the community level.
Objectives To explore how UZIKWASA’s community-based, gender-transformative programming affects attitudes, behaviors, and norms related to intimate partner violence and gender-based violence in rural Tanzania.
Methods The study employed two qualitative methods: (1) longitudinal hearsay ethnographies (2010–2015) collecting over 1,000 conversational diary entries from community diarists in five villages; and (2) cross-sectional in-depth interviews and focus group discussions conducted in 2016 with 20 individual participants and 16 gender- and age-segmented focus groups. Thematic coding and analysis were used to trace normative change and community response.
Intervention Details UZIKWASA’s multi-sectoral intervention strategy included leadership training, the Minna Dada campaign, media messaging via Pangani FM, theatre and film-based community dialogues, and participatory events like 3-day camps. Programs aimed to challenge gender hierarchies, promote women’s rights, and improve the response to GBV through community and institutional change.
Results Findings show a clear shift from widespread victim-blaming and condoning of IPV and gang rape to increasing condemnation and community support for survivors. Participants reported reduced tolerance of GBV, greater recognition of women’s rights, and changes in how masculinity is performed. Community members also described improved responses from leaders, police, and courts, influenced by UZIKWASA’s training. Narratives revealed personal transformation among men who recognized and rejected past abusive behaviors.
Conclusions Gender norms and behaviors around IPV are socially constructed and can be reshaped through sustained, community-driven interventions. UZIKWASA’s approach demonstrates that norm change is possible when programming engages with local culture, uses participatory media, and builds leadership accountability. The program offers a replicable model for challenging harmful gender norms and reducing IPV.
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