Key Social Norms Take-aways The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore program demonstrated that interventions embedded within government platforms can begin to shift social norms around gender and violence, particularly when tailored to participants’ interests and accompanied by trusted community figures. Notably, efforts to build women’s agency, change male attitudes about masculinity, and equip community leaders to intervene in cases of violence showed promise. However, deep-rooted patriarchal norms, limited leadership capacity, and weak institutional support posed major barriers to normative and behavioral change. The findings underscore the need for sustained mentorship, targeted capacity-building, and integration of gender-based violence into institutional mandates to shift social norms meaningfully.
Objectives The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore program aimed to identify effective approaches for preventing violence against women and girls in Bihar, India, by implementing and evaluating scalable interventions designed to shift harmful gender norms and enhance women’s agency.
Methods The study employed mixed-methods process evaluations and impact evaluations across four distinct intervention arms. Methods included cluster randomized trials, quasi-experimental designs, and pre-post panel surveys, supplemented with in-depth interviews and participatory observations to assess implementation fidelity, mechanisms of impact, and contextual barriers.
Intervention Details The program consisted of four interventions: (1) gender-transformative life skills and sports sessions for adolescent boys, (2) empowerment and financial literacy training for women’s self-help groups and their husbands, (3) capacity-building of locally elected representatives to act against violence and alcohol abuse, and (4) training frontline health workers to screen for violence and provide support services. All interventions included community-wide activities such as street plays and public meetings. Each was embedded within existing public sector platforms to promote sustainability and scalability.
Results Interventions engaging women and boys directly led to improvements in gender attitudes, self-confidence, knowledge of rights, and willingness to intervene in cases of violence. Women reported increased agency and access to support services. However, changes in actual experiences and perpetration of violence were limited or only mildly significant. Community-level interventions had weaker effects. Barriers included poor engagement of men, challenges reaching young and newly married women, and limited institutional prioritization of gender issues.
Conclusions While Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore achieved meaningful changes in attitudes and support networks, its limited impact on violence outcomes points to the complexity of shifting entrenched social norms. Embedding interventions in government systems has potential, but must be accompanied by stronger mentorship, leadership training, and institutional accountability to achieve long-term norm and behavior change.