EAK SASA Faith! Training Report

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the EAK Secretary General and the program staff Lead by Bishop Eliud Nthiga for the opportunity of training the SASA Faith! change agents/activists for the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya spread across 10 counties in Kenya. Bishop Eliud Nthiga welcomed the participants to the training and encouraged them to serve and be faithful servants. He also highlighted on the FCI community development strategy.

In her opening remarks the Secretary General EAK Rev. Connie Kibuti welcomed the Christian leaders to the SASA Faith! training and encouraged them to continue being good models in the society. She emphasized on implementation of the skills after the training to ensure the community stops violence against women and HIV.

Thank you Pastor Jairus and Rose for you pre- training planning which ensured all the training logistics were taken care of. We appreciate Bramwel Siku from CHAK for finding time to highlight on key issues on messages of hope and self –testing.

The success of the training would not have been possible without the funding hence we are grateful to PEPFAR for their continued support in supporting HIV prevention community based interventions.

Finally, our thanks go to the participants for availing themselves throughout the training period, for actively participating in class and their open sharing and their commitment to be change agents/activists particularly to the different faith communities they all work. To the Ufungamano conference center staff and management receive our gratitude for the good catering services.

Since it is not possible to singly appreciate everyone who was directly or indirectly involved in the process and made the training successful as it was, we extend our gratitude to all and say, thank you.

EAK SASA Faith! Training Report

Materials used to deliver Training:

  1. SASA Faith! START phase training manuals
  2. Christian Power posters
  3. HIV and AIDs info sheet
  4. Violence against women info sheet
  5. SASA Faith! START phase hand-outs
  6. SASA Faith! Videos
  7. SASA Faith M&E tools

Background

SASA! is a Swahili word that means now. Now is the time to prevent women from violence and HIV /AIDS and it describes the four phases of SASA Faith! – Start, Awareness, Support and Action. The SASA Faith! Approach mobilizes faith communities to inspire social change.

Violence against women (VAW) and girls is both a human rights issue as well as public health issue and in Uganda, over 70% women report that they have experienced physical or sexual violence at some time in their lives. This figure could be higher bearing in mind that many cases go unreported. Even though, most cases of rape are by strangers, the majority of violence against women is perpetrated by a male intimate partner.

Also women who live in communities that have norms that accept violence and value men over women are at an increased risk of experiencing violence. Violence against women has been linked with HIV, with women who are experiencing violence and an imbalance of power can get infected with HIV. Women can also experience violence when they disclose their HIV positive status to their partners.

Many communities based approaches were developed to respond to and prevent violence against women by addressing social norms that violence and power of men over women. However, these approaches were not sufficient enough to bring about social norm change as they focused on awareness creation and it was with this in mind that the SASA Faith! Approach was designed.

The SASA Faith! Approach was designed with a focus in supporting the community and community members through the stages of change. SASA Faith! also endeavored to bridge the knowledge gap for an integrated approach of HIV and VAW prevention efforts. The prevention approach adopted also sought to address the root cause of power imbalance between men and women.

Training objectives

  1. Understanding of SASA Faith! Approach
  2. Increase participants understanding of types power,power imbalance between men and women,violence against women, HIV and AIDs at personal level and for the community.
  3. Disccuss the process of change in a faith community.
  4. Increase awareness of the different circles of influence in the faith community.
  5. Identify sectors and partners for SASA Faith! Work and begin building relationships with key leaders, change agents and community.
  6. Discuss the Christian power poster and questions that guide SASA discussions in the community.
  7. Discuss the SASA Faith! M & E tools.

Introduction

SASA! is a 2 years' community mobilization approach that works towards changing social norms in the community that have portrayed men as more valuable and powerful than women. It explores power from a perspective of understanding what it is, who has it, how it is used, how it is abused and the power dynamics between women and men and how it can help in the prevention of violence against women and HIV infection.

Gender-based violence (GBV) reflects on inequities between men and women and affects the health, dignity, peace, justice, security and autonomy of the survivors. It comprises of human rights violations that include sexual violence, domestic violence, trafficking of women and girls and other several harmful traditional practices.

Any of these can affect the women and girls psychologically, affect their health including their sexual and reproductive health and sometimes even result in death. GBV serves to perpetuate male power and control in the society; men have power over women. This gender difference is rooted in ways boys and men are socialized and the social norms within the community.

Community social norms portray men as more valuable and powerful than women and these may lead to violence against women. GBV is also said to be rooted to other factors such as poverty, economic power of women, education levels of women among others.

Violence against women is a global public health problem that has serious adverse effects on women's physical, mental, and reproductive health. It is increasingly recognized as a public health issue because of the expanding evidence base and growth of research documenting the magnitude and health effects of violence against women.

For the first time, global prevalence estimates have been calculated based on all existing data from population-based studies showing that worldwide, 35% of women have experienced either intimate partner violence (physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner) or non-partner sexual violence or both in their lifetime. Multi-sectoral efforts are needed to combat this deep-rooted problem.

In Kenya, 39% of women have experienced physical violence, with more women experiencing violence from their former or current partners and almost half of women aged 15-49 years have experienced either physical or sexual violence (KDHS, 2009)

Research shows the link between GBV and HIV, since women and girls have the inability to make and implement prevention decisions. This can be through the sexual violation of women and girls by perpetrators who are HIV positive (Jenny, 1990), or increased high risk behavior by women and girls who have experienced sexual abuse in childhood. (Koenig, 2004)

Various behavioral and structural interventions have been developed to reduce or prevent GBV such as trainings to increase awareness on GBV and HIV infection (Kim, 2007); attendance of psycho-educational programs;

It has been seen that involvement of men can play a significant role towards bringing an end to violence against women. Men and boys grow up knowing that they have power over women as socialized and this negative power can be used negatively even through GBV. Men can have an influence on the culture that allows other men to be perpetrators and for this they have a stake in ending violence against women, by personally not engaging in violence, by intervening against the violence of other men and by addressing the root cause of violence.

Male involvement in prevention programs can include training sessions, leadership trainings, media campaigns and community mobilization. It is however, important to ensure the delivery of these programs is done in a manner that does not put the men in a defensive position, minimizing the positive impact of the programs and not reinforce the assumption that GBV is a 'women's thing

Methodology

Training methodology employed was experiential and participatory based on adult learning principles. In order to stimulate creative thinking and sharing of ideas and experiences a combination of methods and techniques were used including the following:

  1. Evocative exercises and group rounds were used to facilitate participants' self – exploration of personal concerns, values and beliefs pertinent to effective service delivery in changing community norms.
  2. Group work exercises, followed by group presentations and discussion were used to elicit participants' experiences on the violence against women in the communities.
  3. Case studies and scenarios were used to facilitate discussion on motivators and barriers of change and causes of violence against women.
  4. Role plays were used to help participants internalize the learning lessons.
  5. SASA Faith Videos.

Areas of focus

1.Power

The participants were introduced to the types of power namely power within, power with, power over and power to. The types of powers are distributed in SASA Faith! Approach as follows

  • Start – Focuses on power within
  • Awareness – Power over (discuss about the major cause of VAW is due to power over)
  • Support-Power with (how can we support women experiencing violence, how can we support the community to change)
  • Action – Power to (at this point when people have understood they can make by-laws)

Various exercises including skits and printed pictures were used to increase the participants understanding of the different types of power and how they relate to violence against women in the communities. The exercises were also used to bring to their awareness the power within and how they have misused power by having power over others.

Evaluation

The participants appreciated that;

  1. Everyone has power within even if sometimes we don't realize it and we are ready to start using their power within to stop violence against women.
  2. Men have more power in the faith community.
  3. Power can be used negatively or positively.
  4. That using power over someone else is an abuse of that person rights.
  5. We can join our power with others to give support.
  6. We all have power to do something, to act.

2.The space between us

This topic was meant to discuss the power and Human rights to help participants recognize that a person sex deeply influences their experiences and choices in life. It explores the impact of this on our enjoyment of human rights as women and men. The exercises carried out on human rights clearly indicated that the women human rights are abused.

Evaluation

The participants appreciated that in our community; women typically have less power than men. This is a social norm – something that is considered normal in our community. The power imbalances between women and men mean that women are at a disadvantage. Violence against women is one way this power imbalance is allowed to continue and it is unjust that men do not move through life equally. They also understood that after fully implementing the 4 phases of SASA in their community the women will also enjoy human rights to the fullest.

3.Stages of Change

This was discussed utilizing the theory of change. The theory of change has 5 stages: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance for norms to change, both at the individual and the community level. Exercises of self-reflection were used and the participants shared their own experiences of stages of change.

The following diagram shows the stages of change and how they relate to the SASA four phases;

  • Precontemplation: a person does not identify an issue as a problem – ask people questions so they can reflect (awaken critical thinking) e.g. what is power? who has power? (START PHASE)
  • Contemplation: A person begins to identify an issue as a problem- someone now sees there is a problem (AWARENESS PHASE)
  • Preparation for action: A person seeks out information, support and alternatives for making a change. How do we support women going through violence? Give alternatives (SUPPORT PHASE)
  • Action: A person begins making changes in his/her life-implement your alternatives and keep at that (ACTION PHASE)
  • Maintenance: A person sustains the change (ACTION PHASE)

The participants learnt that change is a process and it is not an event that starts and finishes immediately. Most people go through a similar process when they change. The steps in this process are fairly predictable. Understanding how individuals change can help us become better at facilitating change across the community. SASA Faith is designed to help us facilitate change within individuals and within the community.

4.Motivators and barriers of change

This topic explored how people's feeling during a process of change deeply influences their motivation and success in making the changes they desire. The participants acted out the scenarios; it was fun as they learnt the negative behaviors that hinder change and their consequences. The following were the consequences of negative behaviors in the community.

  1. Blaming – (consequences: defensiveness)
  2. Labelling – (consequences: shame)
  3. Discouraging (consequence's: hopelessness)
  4. Enabling (consequence: consent)
  5. Judging consequences: (Stigma)

Evaluation

The participants appreciated that behaviour change can be a difficult process –but it possible. How people feel in the process of change affects their success in ultimately making and sustaining the desired change. Emphasizing the benefits of change is more effective than emphasizing the negative. They realized that as friends, family, neighbor's and community members they can be effective facilitators of community norms change.

5.Circles of influence

The participants appreciated the ecological model which indicates the importance of community wide and society engagement because the use or experience of violence is influenced by many people. The SASA! Faith approach is about involving everyone, creating a critical mass by involving everyone from each level so as to succeed in changing the norms within the community that encourage violence against women and promote HIV and AIDS.

  • Individual - Individual backgrounds and experiences influence whether we use or experience violence. This means the need to create space for individuals and others to reflect on their experiences and backgrounds
  • Relationships - Close relationships with partners, family and friends influence whether we use or experience violence, meaning the need to engage members within their roles as parents, partners, neighbors and relatives.
  • Community - Experiences in the community influence whether we use or experience violence. This is done through the engagement of community members within their roles as service providers, small business, professionals and community leaders.
  • Society - The rules and structures of society influence whether we use or experience violence. This is through the engagement of media, policy makers, institutional and government leaders

Evaluation

The participants learnt that everyone is influenced by many factors and people without realizing. Even community members who are not as close to us as friends and family do influence us in everyday life. Broader societal influences, like the media, national laws and international conventions, also affect individuals, even if it isn't as direct or immediate. It is up to everyone in the community to create a supportive environment for new behaviors and norms.

6. Ideas into action

This topic raised awareness regarding the meaning of activism. The participants understood the definition; activism is when we take action to create a just society. The participants realized that everyone in the community can and must be an activist to raise awareness in prevention of violence against women.

Evaluation

The participants understood that everyone has the same human rights and injustice has consequences for everyone, including women, who are at an increased risk for violence and HIV.SASA Faith aims to question the imbalance between women and men and promote the positive use of power so that all people can enjoy their fundamental human rights.

7.Understanding violence against women

This topic was highlighting the relationship between violence against women and power and control. Violence against women is any threat or act (physical, emotional, sexual, and economic) directed at a girl or woman that causes harm and is meant to keep a girl or woman under the control of others.

Evaluation

The participants through the discussion learnt that as a society we expect men to demonstrate that they are in control over and superior to their partners or daughters. As a community, it is seen by many as normal for men to control women. It is thought that without external control, women are unable to manage themselves.

Men as a group do not live in fear of violence from women as a group. The majority of women live in fear of violence from other men (partners or strangers). Women have this fear because society accepts men's power over them and violence against them. In most cases, men are physically stronger than women. Therefore, the harm or threat of harm from violence for men is not as great.

Evaluation

The participants were divided into 5 groups to have discussions on the consequences of violence against women. The following were among the consequences they had experienced in their community.

  • Consequences for women could be hopelessness, stress, injury, HIV infection, isolation, faster onset of AIDS, etc.
  • Consequences for men could be sadness, poor relationships with children, unhappiness, imprisonment, lack of intimacy, ill health, etc.
  • Consequences for children could be depression, poor performance in school, fear, distrust of adults, etc.
  • Consequences for the family could include: resources spent on health care for injuries, lack of harmony and happiness, tension, family break ups, etc.
  • Consequences for the community could be lack of development, lack of peace, increased number of street children, overburden on social services (police, health care providers, local leaders), etc

8. Violence as a cause and consequence of HIV

This topic exposes the interconnection between violence against women and HIV/AIDS.

Evaluation

The participants understood that;

  • Violence against women is about power and control."
  • There are many negative effects of violence against women, for all people in a community.
  • Violence against women and HIV/AIDS are connected. They are cause and consequence of each other.".

9 .HIV and AIDS

This topic was meant to remind the change agents on the HIV and AIDs basics information. This was done through group discussions and presentations to the plenary.

Evaluation

The group works displayed that all the groups had basic information on HIV. The trainers were able to make clarification in areas that were not clear to the participants.

10. SASA faith! strategies and activities

The following are the four SASA! strategies;

  • Local Activism: Create "everyday" activists by engaging women, men and young people in accessible, grassroots initiatives.
  • Media & Advocacy: Spread provocative facts and stories across the airways, in the newspapers and in the offices of leaders and policymakers—giving a loud and bold voice to the SASA Faith! ideas.
  • Communication Materials: Use the creativity and fun of materials like posters and comics to engage people spontaneously during their day-to-day activities, or to stimulate discussion with organized groups.
  • Training: Strengthen people's understanding of the issues using interactive and thought provoking exercises—including specialized training for health care providers.

Evaluation

The participants learnt that:

  • Reaching many individuals/groups within all four circles of influence allows us to influence community norms in many ways."
  • Becoming clear about which individuals/groups we can reach will help us be more systematic and strategic."
  • Each individual/group will be interested in different things so we need to use diverse activities."
  • Organizing the activities into four strategies can also help us remain organized."
  • We can use multiple SASA Faith! strategies to reach any one group."

11. Power posters discussion groups

The participants were divided into two groups to discuss the power poster pictures and how to present them in the community. They did the presentation in the plenary and it was a very interesting topic to the participants'.

Evaluation

The trainers had the opportunity to guide them and discuss the power poster pictures and the questions that guide the community discussions.

12. Facilitation skills

The participants were trained on good facilitation skills to enable them train the faith community in SASA Faith!

LESSONS LEARNT

  • SASA Faith is important in prevention of violence against women in the community.
  • Anyone can be an activist in the community.
  • HIVAIDS is still a burden and negative community norms contribute towards the spread of HIV and violence against women.
  • There is need to involve everybody in the community who is in the circle of influence in order to achieve a wider community norm change.
  • Violence take many forms and each form has negative effects on the broader society

The training concluded with a great ceremony lead by the leadership of the EAK where they commissioned the participants and issued them with certificates.

Recommended follow-up:

  • Need to sensitise the community stakeholders on SASA Faith! so that the community embraces the SASA Faith team.
  • Regular supervision mentorship and supervision of the change activist in the course of their duties for support in case of challenges.
  • The supervisor to support the activist in the implementation of the action plans prepared at the end of the training per county.
  • Training the pastors on pre- marital counselling and issues of sexuality could be considered as a way of preparing families from engaging into violence.

Appendix 1

Expectations

  • How to balancing teaching on HIV and discouraging sexual immorality?
  • Relationship between HIV and covid 19.
  • Learn on how to prevent teenage pregnancies.
  • Learn what is SASA Faith!
  • Learn from sharing experiences in the community.
  • Learn about causes of violence in the community.
  • To learn more about SASA Faith! program
  • Learn about HIV and AIDS
  • Learn more about GBV
  • Engagement as a GBV activists with SASA Faith! Program
  • What is expected of me after the training.
  • How are men affected by violence?
  • Build a network of prevention of violence against women.