The objective of this session was to explore the roles of the health and education sectors in preventing gender-based violence. There have been many initiatives in developing countries to strengthen the health sector's response to GBV, ranging from developing screening and referral protocols to the development of health-centered networks of service providers and community-focused prevention initiatives. The Stepping Stones program presented in this session is an example of a community-focused, public health approach that simultaneously tackles gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS.
The education sector can aid both in the detection and in the prevention of GBV. Unfortunately, there are few experiences in developing countries of the formal education sector addressing issues of GBV. Thus, the good practice education program presented in this session was one of informal education, or "edutainment" (combining education and entertainment). The Sixth Sense TV program attempts to change social norms and attitudes surrounding gender-based violence, with the ultimate goal being changes in behaviors.
§  Changing Community Norms Around Violence: A Public Health Approach
Presenter: Matthew Shaw, General Practitioner and Research Student, Public and Environmental Health Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Gender-based violence and AIDS are intimately linked in the African context. Stepping Stones, the program presented here, addresses the common risk factors for both issues and the links between violence and AIDS. The Stepping Stones experience also demonstrates the importance of undertaking in-depth community diagnostics before implementing a program. §  Edutainment and the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence: the Sixth Sense Experience in Nicaragua Presenter: Amy Bank, Executive Director, Fundación Puntos de Encuentro Beyond the confines of the narrowly-defined education sector, edutainment (combining education and entertainment) initiatives undertaken by governments or non-governmental actors have great potential to change norms in order to reduce societal acceptance of GBV and produce behavioral change. The Sixth Sense program is a recent winner of a SHINE Award, given in recognition of those in the entertainment industry who do an exemplary job of incorporating accurate and honest portrayals of sexual health into their programming. Sixt Sense is the centerpiece of an integrated communication for social change strategy that promotes young people's rights in daily life—highlighting the right to live free of violence. Resource Person: Tshiya Subayi, Operations Officer, World Bank Country Office, Benin. Tshiya Subayi commented on the presentations and also discuss Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Somalia. Moderator: Ernesto May, Sector Director, LCSPR §   Background Materials: 1. Paine, Katie; Hart, Graham; Jawo, Michelle; Ceesay, Seihou; Jallow, Mariama; Morison,  Linda; Walraven, Gijs; McAdam, Keith and Shaw, Matthew. 2002.  "Before we were sleeping, now we are awake: Preliminary evaluation of the Stepping Stones sexual health programme in The Gambia." African Journal of AIDS Research 1: 41-52. 2. Shaw, Matthew. 2002.  "Before we were sleeping but now we are awake: the Stepping Stones workshop programme in the Gambia." Realising rights: transforming approaches to sexual and Reproductive well-being, A. Cornwall and A. Welbourn (eds). London: Zed Books: 128-40.
3. Bradshaw, Sarah. 2001. Gendered Communication Strategies Puntos de Encuentro - Nicaragua: A Case Study.
4. World Bank & UNFPA. 2004. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Somalia. Â
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