STRIVE Tackling the structural drivers of HIV

Worldwide, harmful gender norms are structural barriers to the health and development of adolescent girls. In India, restrictions on girls’ liberty to move freely in public spaces contribute to school dropout and early marriage, and negatively affect girls’ health and wellbeing from adolescence into adulthood.

This evidence brief presents the results and lessons learned from an evaluation of Parivartan - a sports-based programme for adolescent girls that aimed to increase their self-esteem, self-confidence and educational aspirations while addressing entrenched norms against women’s use of public space.

The key messages from the evaluation are:

1. Recognise sport as a feasible, but not sufficient, platform for addressing gender norms
2. Build the programme with a trusted, local, community-embedded partner
3. Invest in those in the community who are most ready to change
4. Foster collective agency as a basis to cultivate individual agency
5. Ensure that programme strategies are culturally appropriate
6. Make change visible in day-to-day interactions.

An impact case-study from the Parivartan programme is also available here.