Ma'an Network designed a three-year project, with the overall goal of lowering the amount of women and girls in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) who experience violence. The project aimed to change social norms so that VAWG is less tolerated and, consequently, less prevalent in Palestinian society. The Theory of Change for the project asserts that continuing rates of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the OPT are driven by harmful social norms that privatize and normalise VAWG and lead into high rates of intimate partner and intra-family violence. If prevention efforts can reach a large demographic of people (men, women, families, rural and urban populations, and people from different economic backgrounds) on a national scale, expose the negative effects of VAWG in a relatable manner, increase understanding of the social norms driving VAWG, and can generate reflection amongst audiences while showing alternative, gender-equal behaviours, then social norms perpetuating VAWG will be changed. The main output, edutainment programming, was strategically designed to achieve the above outcomes through utilizing gender-sensitive visual media, designing programming content and formats based on successful models adapted to the Palestinian context, and generating discussion and debate amongst target groups.
Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), an independent and experienced research centre based in Ramallah, West Bank, conducted a baseline cross-sectional survey measuring a series of critical indicators related to VAWG in Palestine as part of the evaluation the project. The survey targeted 1,067 adult Palestinians (18+) in both the West Bank (63 percent) and Gaza Strip (37 percent).
