“In my village, I see many girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy or child marriage. We also hear of cases of violence against women and girls every day. I became a community activist to help raise awareness among my fellow men, as well as the entire community, that violence is never a way of life” – says Hansel Siamwiinde, a male community activist in Gwembe district of Southern Province.

Hansel is among 30 male community activists in Gwembe district, who use the SASA! (Start, Awareness, Support and Action) model to sensitize and mobilize communities to take action against gender based violence and other harmful social norms and practices. Using the SASA! approach, Hansel aims to inspire, enable and structure effective community mobilization to prevent violence against women and girls, as well as child marriage and adolescent pregnancy.

The approach is being implemented by the Young Women Christian Association of Zambia (YWCA), as part of the UNFPA Zambia supported Gender, Adolescent Pregnancy and Social Norms (GAPS) Programme that is funded by the Government of Sweden.

Influencing  change at household level

Ruth Kalaba, a programme coordinator at YWCA, further highlights how the programme is making a difference in the 4 target communities in the district:

“In our engagements with community members, we strive to question the negative cultural norms and challenge the attitudes, behaviors and cultural practices that negatively impact women and girls around five villages of Hauma, Lukonde, Kalama, Malobe and Siampande. It is important that issues surrounding gender and social norms are addressed at the grassroots level where power is the root cause of negative attitudes and cultural practices that perpetuate gender-based violence, adolescent pregnancy and child marriage” says Ruth.

With support from UNFPA, the male champions have been trained and equipped with tools that enable them to engage communities in conversations that seek to change not only their knowledge but also their attitudes, skills and behaviours.To influence change, Hansel has been engaging community opinion shapers such as chiefs, religious leaders, and traditional initiators in community discussions to challenge power imbalances at the household and community levels.

“As activist’s we have reached close to 4,500 community members in the last 5 months. The forums are structured in such a way that we reach the participants either in their formal or informal settings. Our discussions are normally held in the market place, sports grounds or churches and schools, and other spaces where people meet. I also encourage my fellow men to become champions for the empowerment of our women and girls” explains Hansel.