Hear Our Voices - Technical Report

"[Girls do not continue school after childbearing because they are] doing household chores, looking after husbands and grandparents, and nourishing children. If they go to school after marriage, men in the community scold them." Girl, PU Barguna School, Bangladesh

This technical report contains findings from the research done with the Plan toolkit (see Related Summaries below) in their 11-country survey of adolescents aged 12-16 years old. Part of the "Because I am a Girl" project and supporting Plan's child-centred community development (CCCD) agenda, "Hear our Voices" from Plan International comprises study results presented as a video, a technical report, a summary report, and a toolkit intended to provide "consistent, disturbing illustrations of the most pressing concerns for adolescent girls, giving powerful insights into the issues facing them, in their own words."

"Grounded in theory and practice on girls' empowerment, gender equality and child rights, the study aimed to build a discerning picture of adolescent girls' and boys' opinions and experiences through achieving three objectives: 1) to empower adolescent girls and boys; 2) to help Plan staff learn directly from girls and boys about their experiences and thereby improve development programming; and 3) report credible findings to influence programmes and advocacy to effect change."

The technical report explains the process for the ethical and methodological application of the tools in the following regions and countries (an overview of each region is also available):
Central and South America
• Ecuador
• Nicaragua
• Paraguay
West Africa
• Benin
• Cameroon
• Liberia
East and Southern Africa
• Egypt
• Uganda
• Zimbabwe
Asia
• Bangladesh
• Pakistan

The methodology section (Section 2) includes: developing the methodology; piloting the methodology; and limitations and mitigating steps. Tables 3 and 4 on page 18 show numbers of participating individuals, communities, and schools. Research ethics and data verification are then described, suggesting that "raw quantitative data cannot be directly compared between communities and countries. However, the ratings assigned to each dimension within each focus group can usefully be compared to each other....Dimensions of each tool that participants rated the highest or lowest most frequently emerged as key findings of the study, with the most often lowest rated dimensions representing issues of pressing concern for participants." The tools were piloted, including through staff training, and refined. The researchers recommend that quantitative findings need to be underpinned by qualitative findings - e.g., on the question "Do girls decide if they marry?",  quantative findings rate marriage as empowering, but some girls decide to marry to escape poverty or abusive homes. Challenges included: responding to individual needs (e.g., abuse revealed through focus group conversation) and responding to community needs (e.g., responses asking for changes that are not part of the current Plan programme in the particular community - but can be factored into ongoing programme planning).

The third section includes the results for the Girls Empowerment Star research (this tool is described in the toolkit in Related Summaries below). Findings include, from 1,802 adolescent girls' responses, pressing concern across all dimensions of the Girls Empowerment Star: household work, school, speaking up, money, marriage, pregnancy, safety, and feeling valued. Page 31 graphs the highest rated dimensions of girls' empowerment overall and by region, with school and marriage showing at the top of the chart. Page 32 graphs the lowest dimensions of girl's empowerment, with pregnancy, housework, and speaking up showing up as the most problematic overall.
 

Section 4 includes the results for the School Equality Scorecard research (this tool is described in the toolkit in Related Summaries below). Findings include, from 95 schools' and 2,580 adolescent girls' and 2,797 adolescent boys' responses, pressing concerns and priorities across all dimensions of the School Equality Scorecard: sports participation, class participation, chore burden, latrines, seeking help, leadership, encouragement, safety going to school, safety at school, and early pregnancy. Page 54 graphs the highest rated dimensions of gender equity at school, overall and by region, with encouragement and class participation showing at the top of the chart. Page 55 graphs the lowest dimensions of gender equity at school with early pregnancy and latrines showing up as the most problematic overall.

Section 5 includes the following conclusions:

• Speaking directly with boys and girls allows for a better understanding of their issues and for "informing strong development programming and advocacy to support adolescent girls in accessing their rights...."
• The research process aimed to create safe environments in which girls’ and boys’ could share candid views in their daily spoken language.
• "The tools’ mixed-methods, active listening process helped enable field managers and staff to respond to adolescent girls’ priority issues locally. The quantitative data, using a ‘participatory numbers’ approach, allowed participants’ perceptions to be summarised and compared within the study limitations."
• The study showed local and regional barriers faced by adolescent girls the stand in the way of girls’ empowerment and gender equality.
• It offers a scorecard on the agenda of Girls Count movement for adolescent girls’ rights in equitable development processes. The 2008 global agenda called for three actions: 1) count girls; 2) invest in girls; and 3) give girls a fair share.
• Because "[i]nequitable social norms influence girls’ perceptions of their own capacities as much as others’ social expectations for their behaviour,...Plan's Because I am a Girl campaign will continue working towards change at three levels for adolescent girls’ rights, including with: 1) girls as rights holders; 2) family and community leaders to strengthen their support for girls’ rights; and 3) government and other principal duty bearers to achieve changes in institutional support for girls' rights."