Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hoff, Karla, Jalan, Jyotsna, Santra, Sattwik
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
SOCIAL NORMS
GENDER
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
PATRIARCHY
SOCIAL CHANGE
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/278011622551682622/Participatory-Theater-Empowers-Women-Evidence-from-India
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35642
id okr-10986-35642
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-356422021-06-03T05:10:47Z Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India Hoff, Karla Jalan, Jyotsna Santra, Sattwik WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT SOCIAL NORMS GENDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PATRIARCHY SOCIAL CHANGE 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. 2021-06-02T14:54:46Z 2021-06-02T14:54:46Z 2021-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/278011622551682622/Participatory-Theater-Empowers-Women-Evidence-from-India http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35642 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9680 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia India
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
SOCIAL NORMS
GENDER
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
PATRIARCHY
SOCIAL CHANGE
spellingShingle WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
SOCIAL NORMS
GENDER
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
PATRIARCHY
SOCIAL CHANGE
Hoff, Karla
Jalan, Jyotsna
Santra, Sattwik
Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
geographic_facet South Asia
India
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9680
description 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.
format Working Paper
author Hoff, Karla
Jalan, Jyotsna
Santra, Sattwik
author_facet Hoff, Karla
Jalan, Jyotsna
Santra, Sattwik
author_sort Hoff, Karla
title Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
title_short Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
title_full Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
title_fullStr Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
title_full_unstemmed Participatory Theater Empowers Women : Evidence from India
title_sort participatory theater empowers women : evidence from india
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/278011622551682622/Participatory-Theater-Empowers-Women-Evidence-from-India
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35642
_version_ 1764483480366874624

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