Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
Domestic violence is common, socially and economically very costly, yet widely accepted in many countries. Can participatory theater—a novel cultural intervention—reduce its occurrence? Through a survey that the authors conducted in 92 villages in...
Main Authors: | , , |
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Format: | Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/278011622551682622/Participatory-Theater-Empowers-Women-Evidence-from-India http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35642 |
Summary: | Domestic violence is common, socially
and economically very costly, yet widely accepted in many
countries. Can participatory theater—a novel cultural
intervention—reduce its occurrence? Through a survey that
the authors conducted in 92 villages in West Bengal, India,
this paper provides a first large-scale evaluation of
participatory theater. By utilizing markers of women’s
empowerment, the survey shows that longterm exposure to
plays on patriarchy enhances women’s empowerment and reduces
spousal abuse by as much as 25 percent. The evidence
suggests that such interactive plays, by encouraging its
audience to rethink and rescript collective representations
of domestic violence and masculinity, trigger durable social
change in village communities. |
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