Enhancing the Social Norms Approach to Address Violence against Children in the Pacific Islands through Community led Deliberations with the Facilitation

Package Implemented in Fiji

Laisani Petersen

UNICEF Pacific Country Office

Child Protection Programme Countries

Overview

Introduction

Origins of the Facilitation Package

Nature of the Facilitation Package

Transition to UNICEF The Child Protection Framework

Comparisons/Parallels - “Citizen Culture as Public Policy “ experiences of Social Change (Bogota/Colombia)

Evaluation of Work so Far

Way Forward

Introduction

Fiji

Ratified the CRC in 1993

-Island nation in Pacific Region

-Population of 890,057

40% Children

-Ethnicity

57.3% Indigenous Fijians; 37.6% Indians; 5.1% others (Europeans, Chinese, Rotumans)

Origins of the Facilitation Package

-Late 1990s AusAID ‘s response to high incidence of violence in the Pacific

-Pacific Children’s Program (Fiji, Samoa & Vanuatu) 2001-2005

-2001 KABP Survey (unpublished)

KABP Survey

Assessing norms existence

Checking for mutually consistent normative expectations

Knowledge, attitudes and behavioral practices

Empirical /Normative Expectations

What do I believe others do?

What do I believe others think I should do?

Key Findings

-Children are to be “seen not heard”

-Parents know little about anything else rather than hitting for discipline

-”Spare the rod and spoil the child”

-Substance abuse contributes to child abuse

-Traditional knowledge of child rearing is challenged by the rapid changes of development.

The Community Facilitation Package

Developed based on the KABP key findings recommendations:

-5 Day process

-Starts from were the community is at (CRC)

-Positive Parenting Skills (Related IEC Materials)

-ABCD: Assets based community development

-Addresses the cognitive underpinnings of existing social norms which include socially shared schemas & scripts (children seen and not heard, norm of silence for family honor etc.)

-Child Protection Plans developed at the end of the 5 days

Transition to UNICEF 2006

Child Protection Baseline Survey“Protect me with love and care”

Key Result 2: Children are better served by well informed and coordinated child protection social

services which ensure greater protection

against and responds to violence, abuse and

exploitation.

Key Result 3: Families and communities establish

home and community environments for children that are increasingly free from violence, abuse and

exploitation.

Key Result 1Children are increasingly protected by legislation and are better served by

justice systems that protect them as victims, offenders and witnesses.

Baseline Findings

72% of parents/caregivers admitted using physical punishment. Children responses indicate that this percentage is even higher.

75% of education key informants admitted teachers use physical punishment. Children themselves reported experiencing physical harm, verbal insults from both teachers and children

68% knew that CP was not a good practice but they found it hard not to do it.

Public DeclarationsThe Representative of UNICEF Pacific, Dr. Isiye Ndombi leading the March through Fiji’s capital city during the International Day of the

Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Nov 19 2011

Annual Pacific Regional Child Protection Meeting 2011

Most Significant Change Stories

Evaluation at end of programme cycle 2008-2012 involved collection of stories demonstrating change :

“My name is Pauline Fong from Vunimono Community in Nausori. I was a very loud and violent parent because that was the only way I knew about how to bring up my children. I actually learnt it from my mom and dad as that is how we were disciplined: sticks, sasa brooms, belts among other objects.

In 2009, I attended this workshop conducted by the Department of Social Welfare on child protection looking at positive parenting skills. This was when I realized what I was doing. I came home and called together all of my kids and apologized for my behavior. My eldest son, Daniel has also shared is story on how things have changed in my house. I have changed, yes I have changed. I am so happy and proud to be an advocate of this package and have taken it to other women’s groups in our community. It has been great and it feels like a great movement “

These changes at an individual level have generated the increase and consolidation of the approval of moral and social collective positive behavior leading to the declaration of zero tolerance of violence against women and children by six mentioned communities. This obeys the rule of commitment in the social norm theory, making it much less likely that the group will go back on their promise (Bicchieri).

Parallels with Mockus’s social change experience

Legal norms

Legitimacy of authority/respect of the law

Authority’s penalties

[fear]

Moral norms

Good conscience

Bad conscience

[guilt]

Positive reasons

Negative reasons

Typical emotion inviolation

Comparisons continued..

The Citizenship Culture

Established public Policy at National Level –sought compliance with the law

Creative interventions (through art)

Transformed target objects of collective deliberation and reflection VISIBLE

Challenge: Harmonization through strengthening bottom up nature of the process

Child Protection Framework

Strengthened community led deliberations

Creative interventions through the Facilitation Package

Visibility through campaigns and declarations & commitment

Challenge: Harmonization of the three behavioral regulating system through strengthened policy and the law.

Way Forward Legislative reform in its final phase:

Ensuring the child and family welfare law addresses what roles and responsibilities parents, community members and the government have for promoting children’s well-being and for responding when there are concerns about a child’s safety.

Family & Welfare Bills in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati to consider the same

Roll out the Facilitation Package within the mentioned countries context

Adopt tools from this training example: Stop and Act, Play back drama & theatre to complement the existing tool.

-

QUESTIONS?