Social norms and behaviour change approaches to challenge FGM and child marriage in Mali

[ En français]

Many organisations are working actively in Mali to reduce Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), yet the country still has some of the highest prevalence rates in the world. With 89% of women aged 15 to 49 years having undergone FGM in 2018, rates have barely declined in two decades.

This is the executive summary of a literature review produced to inform the social norms intervention related to FGM/C and child marriage in the five intervention zones in Mali (Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Ségou and District of Bamako) of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. It covers an overview of current trends in FGM/C in Mali, the country’s legal and policy environment, and drivers which explain the persistence of the practice. Special emphasis was placed on investigating the role of family and community decision-makers and other key stakeholders shaping FGM/C. Linkages between FGM/C and child marriage are presented, as are lessons learned from past and current approaches to challenging and/or eliminating FGM/C and child marriage in Mali and other comparable contexts.

The literature review was used to inform the design of a mixed methods study in six intervention locations, and behavioural change tools to be used at the community, municipal, local and/or regional levels to shift social norms towards the abandonment of FGM/C and child marriage.

Key messages

Social norms: FGM/C and child marriage in Mali are shaped by powerful social norms, namely people’s expectations of what others in their community expect of them. Most organisations assume that individual-level changes in knowledge ands attitudes will translate into changes in behaviour. Yet, DHS data from 2018 suggests that communal norms and the attitudes of ‘key decision-makers’ trump individual attitudes. Therefore, social norms are best shifted collectively, by encouraging authorities in inter-marrying communities to simultaneously and collectively reach a consensus in favour of change.
Family and community decision-makers: Systems theorists argue that shifting social norms collectively requires engaging directly with those who wield decision-making power. Overwhelming empirical evidence shows that, in Mali, it is grandmothers/female elders who exert significant influence over FGM/C as executors of the practice, household decision-makers, and influencers of norms. Yet, interventions side-line them in favour of adolescent girls, men and boys, and male religious leaders.
Drivers: Shifting social norms which underpin FGM/C requires understanding what people have to gain from supporting the norm. In Mali, drivers include notions of hygiene, health, and aesthetics; gender roles and sexuality; religious, cultural and symbolic systems; benefits of pride, honour, and belonging conferred from adhering to the social norm; and costs of stigma for not adhering to the social norm.
Implications for policy and programming: Social norms change interventions aimed at eliminating FGM/C are more likely to succeed if they use a ‘grandmother-inclusive’ strategy and engage additional key authorities and stakeholders (fathers, community and religious leaders, midwives), rather than if they use isolated girls/youth empowerment activities. Community members are also more likely to engage with new information, or challenges to deeply-held beliefs, if it is presented in a non-directive way.

Normes sociales et changement de comportement autour des MGF et du mariage des enfants au Mali [français]
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This literature review was developed by ODI in partnership with Plan International Mali and with financial support from the Spotlight Initiative through UNICEF Mali.

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Normes sociales et changement de comportement autour des MGF et du mariage des enfants au Mali [français]

Auteurs

Carmen Leon-Himmelstine

Jenny Rivett

Fiona Samuels

Anneke Newman

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