Promoting Adolescent Girls’ Well-Being in Pakistan: a Mixed-Methods Study of Change Over Time, Feasibility, and Acceptability, of the COMPASS Program
Outcomes: Child, Early, and Forced Marriage, Gender‑Based Violence
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways Restrictive gender norms around girls’ mobility, safety, sexuality, and family honor limited adolescent girls’ access to resources and opportunities. While the COMPASS program improved psychosocial well-being, social support, and some gender-equitable attitudes, harmful norms surrounding violence, victim-blaming, and girls’ movement remained largely unchanged. The findings suggest that life skills programs should be paired with broader community efforts to transform gender norms.
Objectives To assess changes over time, feasibility, and acceptability of the COMPASS program among internally displaced and host-community adolescent girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Methods This mixed-methods evaluation used a single-group pretest-posttest design with 78 girls aged 12–19 and in-depth interviews with 15 participants. Social norms were assessed through attitudes toward girls’ education, employment, marriage, gender equality, family blame for violence, and qualitative exploration of gender norms, mobility restrictions, family honor, and community responses to violence.
Intervention Details COMPASS provided 26 life skills sessions in girls-only safe spaces, monthly caregiver discussion groups, and training for service providers. Sessions covered communication, safety planning, gender-based violence, leadership, financial literacy, and vocational skills to increase family acceptance and girls’ participation.
Results Participants reported significant improvements in freedom of movement, self-esteem, hope, social support, knowledge of services for physical violence, and support for girls working outside the home and having equal opportunities with boys. Vocational training increased caregiver acceptance of participation, and girls valued mentors and peer relationships. However, there were no significant improvements in perceived safety, comfort discussing sensitive topics with caregivers, knowledge of services for sexual violence, or victim-blaming attitudes. Qualitative findings showed that fear of harassment, restrictions on girls’ movement, and norms linking girls’ sexuality to family honor continued to constrain autonomy and help-seeking.
Conclusions COMPASS strengthened girls’ psychosocial assets and social networks but had limited impact on entrenched gender norms. Sustainable improvements require gender-transformative approaches that engage families, communities, and institutions to create safer environments and shift harmful social norms.
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