Exploring the role of evolving gender norms in shaping adolescents鈥� experiences of violence in pastoralist Afar, Ethiopia
This article focuses on adolescents鈥� vulnerabilities to violence in Afar, one of the Ethiopia鈥檚 most disadvantaged regions
Abstract
There is a growing recognition that social norms play a key role in perpetuating gender- and age-based violence, and that tackling social norms must be an integral component of prevention and response interventions to ensure meaningful progress towards the ambitious targets of eliminating gender-based violence (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] Target 5.2) and violence against children (SDG 16.2) by 2030. However, existing research often fails to adequately capture life-course and context-specific complexities.
To explore these challenges, this chapter focuses on adolescents鈥� vulnerabilities to violence in Afar, one of the Ethiopia鈥檚 most disadvantaged regions. Drawing on findings from the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) mixed-methods 2018 baseline research, and using a socio-ecological framework, the chapter highlights that while the patterning of violence experienced by adolescent girls and boys is shifting across generations at the micro-level, gender- and age-related social norms remain deeply entrenched in both migrating and settled pastoralist communities. At the meso-level, institutional barriers to addressing adolescents鈥� experiences of violence include a lack of basic infrastructure, a dearth of confidential reporting spaces, limited adolescent- and gender-friendly personnel within the police and justice sectors, and poor coordination. At the macro-level, the chapter underscores the significant disconnect between Ethiopia鈥檚 progressive national policies and adolescents鈥� experiences of violence, reflected in the availability and quality of prevention and response services. The chapter concludes that to adequately tailor services to local realities and tackle adolescents鈥� specific vulnerabilities, a fine-grained analysis of the gendered and generational experiences of violence in its diverse forms is critical.
This article is an output of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) programme.
Citation
Jones, N., Gebeyehu, Y. and Hamory-Hicks, J. (2019) 鈥楨xploring the role of evolving gender norms in shaping adolescents鈥� experiences of violence in Pastoralist Afar, Ethiopia鈥�, Victim, Perpetrator, or What Else? (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth), 25, pp. 125鈥�147.