Breakthrough

The Problem: Violence against women and girls in India.

Girls in India are born into a socio-cultural context steeped in discrimination and inequity that pushes them to the fringes of society with little control over their lives and an inability to reach their full potential. One in four women aged 20-24 years old are married before the legal age of 18 years (NFHS-5) and only one in four Indian women are able to join the workforce (World Bank). Gender discrimination is also believed to have a direct effect on birthrates, with only 919 girls being born per 1000 boys (Census 2011).

Unfortunately, despite the evident and dire health, economic and social consequences of violence against women and girls, the issue has received relatively little global attention and funding.

The solution: Empowerment programs for adolescents.

High-quality studies have identified several specific interventions that are effective at preventing violence. In particular, community-based social empowerment programs that shift regressive social norms and attitudes have been demonstrated to be very effective from many randomised controlled trials — including Abramsky et al (2014), Dunkle et al (2020), Leight et al (2020), Wagman et al (2015), Ogum Alangea et al (2020), Le Roux et al (2020), and Chatterji et al (2020). These programs can lead to 30-50% reductions in violence in communities, with effects that can persist for many years.

These community mobilization programs involve training community volunteers to become activists who can work with individuals, couples, communities and local governments to drive change in regressive social norms and attitudes. The programs are supported by evidence-based toolkits, frameworks, and technical assistance. They are also community driven and adapted to each local context.

Breakthrough is implementing the community-based approach into school curriculum and community-based programs targeting adolescents.

How Breakthrough works

Breakthrough implements community-based programs that target adolescents inside and outside the school system. Through their work, Breakthrough has reached reached around 2.3 million adolescents in 6 states (Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi/NCR, Jharkhand, Punjab and Odisha) in India.

Breakthrough uses the socio-ecological model in which adolescents are at the core. They also work with different stakeholders, including local administration at the village and district level, frontline health workers and other community stakeholders like families and other community members who impact an adolescent’s life. Their engagement with young adults aged 19-25 years old in the community leads to the rise of youth leaders or Team Change Leaders (TCLs). These volunteers act as a bridge between the organisation and the community and are extensively trained by Breakthrough to act as a support system for adolescents in the community.

In conjunction, Breakthrough is a technical partner to state governments  and state education departments to embed an inclusive lens into the middle school subject curricula. It is currently working with the governments of Punjab and Odisha to scale its programs at government schools by training teachers and school leaders to ensure that classes are safe and discrimination-free for students, working with middle management for effective implementation of the program and enhancing parental engagement to increase value for girls’ education and aspirations.