Gender - Christian Aid · ‘‘‘Gender” refers to how men and women are biologically different from each other.’ ‘‘‘Gender” refers to how society expects men and women

Lesson plan Secondary

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Objectives:

• To increase the knowledge, understanding and confidence of students to identify and discuss issues related to gender equality between women and men.

• To provide students with practical and reflective skills around gender issues and women’s equality.

• To provide inspiration for students to take action on issues that they want to take action on.

Lesson Plan 1: GenderAim: To look at what gender is, how it affects us, and the impact it can have on our opportunities through activity-based learning and interactive group work.

Materials: Selection of age-appropriate magazines, printed Power Walk game instructions including role cards.

Gender (20 minutes) Start by asking your students if there is anything they can or can’t do at school because they are a girl/boy? Then ask them if there is anything they are less likely to do, for example, particular sports or subject choices.

Or

Start by having a short informal debate on the motion ‘women should be allowed to do anything that men can do’. Encourage students to share their opinions.

During either activity, write down any ‘stereotypes’ or ‘roles’ that are mentioned by your group on the board.

Explain that today we are going to think about how gender affects us.

Write the following two statements on the board or read them out, and ask the class which one they believe is the correct definition.

‘‘‘Gender” refers to how men and women are biologically different from each other.’

‘‘‘Gender” refers to how society expects men and women to behave, on their own and together.’

Explain to the class that the second statement is the true definition of the word ‘gender’. In the first statement, replace the word ‘gender’ with ‘sex’ if you have written this on the board. Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings and behaviours that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex.

Gender is socially constructed and can change over time (and in different locations).

Go back to the list of ‘stereotypes’ and ‘roles’ you have from the opening activity and cross off the ones that don’t have any basis on biological differences. Those that you crossed off are part of our socially constructed gender.

Bring in some magazines/comics. Make sure these are appropriate for the age of your students. Split the class into smaller groups and give them a couple of minutes to highlight the differences between the different magazines/comics. Ask them: Which ones are more aimed at boys? Which ones are more aimed at girls? Why? What colours are used? What messages are they giving to boys and girls? Do you agree with these messages?

Gender


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Tell the students the story of Malala below.

Malala was born in North West Pakistan on 12 July 1997. In 2009, she got the opportunity to write an anonymous blog for the BBC expressing her views on the importance of promoting education for girls and her experience of life under the threat of the Taliban.

During this period, the Taliban’s military hold on her area intensified. As the Taliban took control of the area they issued edicts banning television, music, women from shopping, and limiting women’s education.

Malala’s family began to receive death threats for their family’s outspoken views. Her profile increased as she was involved with a documentary which stood up for girls’ right to education, entitled Class Dismissed: Malala’s Story (made by New York Times in 2009) and her involvement with the BBC blog was revealed. In 2011, she won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize.

On 9 October 2012, a masked gunman walked into Malala’s school and called out her name. Malala was shot with a single bullet. She survived but was in a critical condition. A chief spokesman of the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Malala was a symbol of the infidels and obscenity. It wasn’t until 3 January 2013 that Malala walked out of hospital. She now lives in Birmingham, England, with her family for their safety.

Her assassination attempt received worldwide condemnation and protests across Pakistan. Over 2 million people signed a ‘Right to Education’ petition which helped lead to the ratification of Pakistan’s first right to education bill. Malala’s shooting, and her refusal to stand down from what she believed was right, brought to light the plight of millions of children around the world who are denied an education today. In December 2014, she became the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

This story shows how extreme gender roles can be and how difficult it can be to rebalance them.

Ask your class some, or all, of the following questions.

Questions for class:

Why do you think men in the Taliban do not want girls to be educated?

Girls, how would you feel if girls here in this country were banned from going to school?

Boys, how would you feel if girls here in this country were banned from going to school?

You may personally wish to watch the following TED talk given by Malala’s father: www.ted.com/talks/ziauddin_yousafzai_my_daughter_malala?language=en

You may show it to your class if you want, however the video is not included in our timings for this lesson.

Power Walk (15 minutes)The following activity may be best done in a large room or outdoors. If those options are not available to you, you can run the activity with only a small selection of students. For example, you could choose to only have six students involved in the actual activity. Just use the first six role cards, and encourage the others in the group to observe what is happening.

Tell the class that you are going to explore more about gender and how it affects us by role playing. You may want to do this activity in a clear room, or perhaps you could do it with just a small selection of students and role cards if your classroom is not suitable.

Hand out the individual role cards to each student and ask them to not reveal their role to their classmates. You do not have to use all the role cards. If you feel like any would be hard to understand or inappropriate for your students, set them to one side. You may pair up the students if you want; this may be needed if there are more students than role cards.

Get the students to stand in a line across the middle of the room.


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Explain that you will read out a story that has several questions in it. The answers to the questions are either yes or no. If they believe the answer is yes for them, after reading the role card, they should take a step forward. If they believe the answer is no, they take a step backwards. If they are unsure, they stay where they are. Each student will have to judge themselves the answer to each question.

Conclusion

After the Power Walk game has been completed, get the class to review what happened. Who answered yes to all the questions? Any women? Who didn’t say yes at all? Why?

The Power Walk illustrates the need for gender equality. In the next lesson we will look more at the links between gender and poverty, and think about how we can make a positive difference.

Power Walk Story

Read aloud the following:

We are in Makeni, Sierra Leone – a country in West Africa. It is the fourth largest city in the country and is a major commercial, educational, transportation and economic center. The city has a population of just over 110,000. Christian Aid partner AAA (Accountability for all) is holding a meeting in the town hall to discuss how much the local government spends on public services like schools and hospitals and what it means to citizens. They placed notices around the town, at churches, the marketplace and town square to let people know the time and place of the meeting. They are encouraging everyone to attend.

Power Walk Questions

1) Can you read the notice? Yes/No

2) They announced the meeting details on the radio. Do you own a radio or did you hear the announcement? Yes/No

3) Elders and respected people in the community were personally invited. Did you receive an invitation? Yes/No

4) The meeting is held at 7.30pm – after people have finished work or their daily chores. It gets dark at 7pm. Can you leave your house to attend the meeting? Yes/No

5) There are steps up to the front door of the building. Do you enter? Yes/No

6) There are a limited number of chairs near the front. Do you sit on one? Yes/No

7) An attendance sheet is sent around for people to sign. Do you sign it? Yes/No

8) After the first speaker had finished speaking, people are asked for comments or questions. Do you speak? Yes/No

10) A vote is taken on whether or not to form a budget monitoring committee. Do you vote? Yes/No

11) The vote is passed in favour of establishing a committee. They are seeking volunteers to go on the committee. Do you volunteer? Yes/No

12) An election then takes place as more people volunteered than were necessary. Do you get elected? Yes/No


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Role cards

Cut out the role cards and give each participant one card so that everyone has a different role. Make sure the participants do not show their cards to others at this point.

You are male. You are the village chief. You live in the best house in the village and are among the wealthiest. You are a member of the main political party and you influence your community on how to vote. No one from outside can come into the community without your prior consent.

You are a female, taking care of your family alone. Your husband died last year of suspected AIDS but you don’t know because he was never tested or received treatment. You are now raising five children alone. You never went to school and you cannot read or write. Your children don’t go to school anymore either as they must work to help you support the family.

You are a poor male farmer living on the outskirts of the village. You have spent your whole life working on your family’s small plot of land. You are a member of a minority ethnic group and you do not fully integrate with the rest of the village. You don’t have any means of transport. You never went to school.

You are a married woman, pregnant with your 6th child. You are 28 years of age. You are moderately well off and live with your husband, children and mother-in-law in the centre of the village. Age is respected in your family and your mother-in-law’s views take precedence over yours so you are not encouraged to have/offer opinions.

You are an elderly widow. You live alone in a home next to your son and daughter-in-law. You are frail and don’t get to go into the village very often due to health problems. You are also illiterate.

You are a young single man in your early 20s. You have some primary level education but now you work with your parents on their farm or doing casual labour for neighbours. You live at home and are still considered a youth in Sierra Leone until the age of 35 or until you have married.

You are a single woman in your late teens. You work with your aunt on a market stall and have some education so you are literate. You live with your parents whose main ambition is to find you a husband. Your parents worry about your safety and will not allow you to travel alone but you can travel with a relative.

You are a 15-year-old girl, recently married and pregnant with your first child. You dropped out of school at age 10 and never learned to read and write as the quality of teaching was very poor. You live with your husband who is almost 40 and believes that a woman’s place is in the home.


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You are a male teacher, 30 years of age and married with three children. You finished primary school and two years of secondary school. Your opinion is respected.

You are a Pastor at the Church of the Everliving Christ. You are male, 48 years of age and live in a nice house. People seek out your opinion, as a respected man.

You are one of top five richest businessmen in the country, aged 37.

You are a 24-year-old man who lives with his parents. You had polio as a child and need a wheelchair but can’t afford one. You can’t walk properly. You went to primary school but didn’t complete your studies as the teacher assumed you were mentally disabled and didn’t make an effort with you. You can write your name and have limited reading skills.

You are 16, pregnant and single. You had to leave school when you got pregnant so now stay at home helping your mother around the house. You were good at school and are literate. You listen to the radio when you can.

You are male, aged 60, and a traditional healer. You can’t read or write but catch up with the news on the radio. You are very respected in the community.

You are a teenage girl, 15, attending secondary school. Your family are proud of you as you are the most educated among them. You often let them know what’s happening in the district.

You are a grandmother, looking after nine children. You can’t read or write. You are in relatively good health but have little money.


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Lesson Plan 2: Gender and povertyAim: To explore the links between gender and poverty, and think about what can be done to reduce gender inequality and how we can be involved.

Materials: Projector, laptop, sound, printouts of case studies.

Imagine (10-15 minutes)Ask your students to imagine a typical African farmer in their heads. Then get them to think about the questions below:

• How much land do they own?

• What crops do they grow?

• How much livestock do they have?

• How long do they work a day?

• How much do they earn?

• Where did they learn to farm?

• What are their hopes and fears?

Now get your students to imagine the farmer is a women, if they haven’t already.

Ask the same questions again. Do their answers change from those they gave earlier?

A typical African farmer is a woman. 75% of farmers in Africa are women.1

• How much land do they own?

Probably none.

An international comparison of agricultural census data shows that less than 20% of landholders are women. The situation is particularly bad in western and central Africa as well as the north east and north Africa, where generally less than 10% of landholders are women.2

What crops do they grow and what livestock do they have? Probably what they are told to grow by the men and probably no livestock.

• How long do they work a day?

Longer than the men.

Everywhere, women devote between one to three hours more a day to housework than men; two to 10 times the amount of time a day to care (for children, the elderly, and the sick), and one to four hours less a day to market activities.3

• How much do they earn?

Much less than the men.

In today’s world, women constitute half the world’s population, perform nearly two-thirds of its work hours, and receive one-tenth of the world’s income.4

• Where did they learn to farm?

On the job; they probably didn’t go to school.

66 million girls are out of school, globally. Two-thirds of the 774 million illiterate people in the world are female.5

There are many reasons girls don’t go to school. Families may not have the money to send all their children to school and will choose to send the boys first. In some countries, girls will be married when they are of school age; sometimes to get a dowry for the family. Others get married young ‘for their protection’ or because it’s culturally accepted. Therefore some parents don’t want to ‘waste’ money on sending their daughters to school. Yet early marriage is one of the ways the cycle of poverty remains.

In some cases, girls stop going to school for a week at a time each month when they have periods and don’t have underwear or sanitary materials. Some girls drop out of school due to high rates of sexual and gender-based violence by their peers and teachers.

• What are their hopes and fears?


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Globally, adolescent girls and young women (between 15 and 24 years of age) are twice as likely to be at risk of HIV infection compared to boys and young men in the same age group.6 75% of AIDS cases in sub-Saharan Africa – the region hardest hit by the disease – are women and girls.7

In many nations, violence against women is perceived as acceptable or justifiable. In a single year, an estimated 150 million girls are victims of sexual violence.8

The number one cause of death for girls aged 15-19 is childbirth.9

A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five.10

Tell the class that following on from the previous lesson, today we are going to think about gender and poverty.

For Christian Aid, unequal distribution of power and unfair abuses of power are at the heart of poverty. Women are more vulnerable to chronic poverty because of gender inequalities in the distribution of power, income, property ownership, credit, and control over earned income.

Gender is one of the most persistent causes, consequences and manifestations of unequal power relations. We cannot stamp out poverty without addressing the fundamental inequality between the sexes because poverty has a woman’s face.

It’s a fact that you’re more likely to be poor if you’re a woman. Of course, men are affected by gender discrimination too, as they are sometimes pressured to conform to roles they might not be comfortable with, for example fighting as soldiers during war. But it tends to be women who pay the greater price, particularly in poor countries.

Case studies (10-15 minutes)Split the class into small groups and give each group a case study to read. Give them five minutes to answer the questions and then take some feedback as a whole group.

You can photocopy the case studies or exclude any that you feel is inappropriate for your group.

Video and conclusion (10-15 minutes)Watch ‘The progress of women in Nicaragua: actress Hayley Atwell reports’, available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/h5Nbusm16u8 In this video, actress Hayley Atwell meets women whose lives have been changed after working for Soppexcca, a coffee co-operative based in Nicaragua. She meets the manager of the organisation, Fatima Ismael Espinoza, and employee Damaris Zamora who has been able to buy a house for her children with her improved salary. The coffee mill where Damaris works was bought by Soppexcca with assistance from Christian Aid.

Whether working to support the needs of women or men, Christian Aid works with the whole community to bring about change.

There’s no point telling a woman she can earn the same as a man unless you work with employers to educate them about the law.

There’s no point telling a woman that she doesn’t have to suffer domestic violence, unless you also work with men – fathers, husbands, and religious and community leaders – to change attitudes and practices that make it acceptable for a woman to do everything her husband/father/brother asks. The police, courts and media all have a role to play.

So we work with both women and men, and at all levels all over the world in our mission to end inequality.

Will you work with us to spread the word and help reduce gender inequality?

Think of some ways your school can support gender equality in your school, in Ireland and around the world. Perhaps you could spend one more class making posters to highlight the need for gender equality, or you could plan and run a fundraising event for Christian Aid so that we can continue to work for an end to gender inequality and poverty around the world.


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Case study: Mali

Tomey Banou Christian Aid partner: APH Bandiagara (Action pour la Promotion Humaine)

A few years ago the only way Tomey Banou, 50, could make money was to chop down trees and sell wood – exacerbating Mali’s desertification problem. Her husband made the decisions about what to grow in their field and when to work.

Now, she is part of a women’s association in her village. Christian Aid partner APH Bandiagara negotiated for them to be given good land for a market garden. Last year she saved 50,000 CFA (approximately £60) in her life, thanks to being able to grow and sell her crops for the first time, and to a small loan from the women’s association which allowed her

to set up a small business. When two of her grandchildren got malaria she used her savings to buy lifesaving medicine for them. Women have greater status in the community because they are now helping to feed the village through their market garden.

Questions:

1. What gender inequalities are present in this case study?

2. How did Christian Aid partner APH Bandiagara help?

3. Are there any lessons we can learn about gender equality from this case study?


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Case study: GhanaAsana Abugre Christian Aid partner: Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE)

As a successful businesswoman from the north of Ghana, Asana Abugre is an exception to the rule. 80% of women in Ghana are petty traders in the informal sector and, with little or no formal education or training, are vulnerable to manipulation and only just scraping by. By helping partner Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE) branch into three of the poorest regions in the north of Ghana, Asana is helping rural women producers to better market their products and get a fairer price. In addition, with Christian Aid and GAWE, she is educating her fellow traders on why it’s important to pay tax, because it is tax that provides the revenue that the government needs to pay for public services like schools and hospitals. She also teaches traders how to avoid abuse by corrupt tax officials.

Questions:


2. How did Christian Aid partner GAWE help?



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Case study: Malawi

Stella Kamdele Christian Aid partner: Wildlife Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM)

Stella is a single mum with seven children. She couldn’t send her oldest two children to secondary school because she didn’t have the money. But this changed when Christian Aid partner Wildlife Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM) helped her harvest honey, which brings in an income stream of 30,000 kw (just over €60) every three months. The first time she got this money, she paid for her daughter’s school fees. With the third payment she bought the ingredients to start making and selling scones. She cooks them every day and makes more than 500kw (€1) a day. Now she has a regular income in addition to her maize

farming, and she can afford to send two of her children to secondary school.

Stella is grateful that honey has brought schooling, a new business, and more security for her and her family.

Questions:


2. How did Christian Aid partner WESM help?



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Case study: Kenya

Alice Karoki Christian Aid partner: Anglican Development Services Mount Kenya East (ADSMKE)

Nurse Alice Karoki stands in her office in the health clinic in Kambi ya Juu, Isiolo. As well as supporting the mother-to-mother support groups, Alice, a retired maternal health nurse, is the driving force behind the father-to-father group in Isiolo. She started the father-to-father group with the support of our partner Anglican Development Services Mount Kenya East (ADSMKE) as she realised that in order to bring about changes in behaviour and ways of thinking, you had to bring the fathers on board too. She has taught men how to communicate with their wives and children (traditionally men had nothing to do with the upbringing of their children and would be away from the home for long periods), and has taught them

about nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and the importance of delivering in hospital. She also supports the community health workers and traditional birth attendants.

Questions:


2. Why do you think father-to-father groups are important?



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Case study: Brazil

Rev Elineide Ferreira Christian Aid partner: SADD

Brazil has the seventh highest rate of violence against women in the world. Recent statistics show that in Brazil every 15 seconds a woman is assaulted, every two hours a woman is murdered, and 65% of attacks on women happen behind closed doors. That is why on 8 January 2011, Rev Elineide Ferreira de Oliveira helped to open a safe house for women called Casa Noeli. More than 150 women had come through the house in 2014, with an average of two children per woman.

In the safe house they run workshops and training, which can lead to income generation eg, baking classes. Training is done in the house as many women are too scared to go out and

study. Many women are financially dependent on their aggressor, so if they report them they risk losing their income. Aggressors often don’t allow women to work outside the home. Elineide says her family and friends think she’s mad for doing this work, but she realises its importance.

Questions:


2. How did Christian Aid partner SADD help?



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ROI charity no. CHY 6998 Company no. 426928 NI charity no. XR94639 Company no. NI059154. The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid. Christian Aid is a key member of ACT Alliance. © Christian Aid September 2015 15-J4075 Photos: page 8: Christian Aid/Lilly Peel, page 9: Christian Aid/Sarah Filbey, page 10: Christian Aid/Hannah Richards, page 11: Christian Aid/Elizabeth Dalziel, page 12: Christian Aid/Clare Paine.

Endnotes:

1 International Women’s Day podcast. Available at: https://audioboom.com/boos/703280-international-women-s-day

2 Christian Aid, Gender Justice for All: achieving just power relations between men and women, July 2014. Available at: www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/Reports-Gender-Strategy-July2014-J2623_tcm15-78960.pdf

3 Ibid.

4 UN, Gender dimensions of the global crisis and their impact on poverty. Available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/meetings/egm10/documents/Nandal%20paper.pdf

5 UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report, Youth and skills: Putting education to work, 2012. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002180/218003e.pdf

6 See note 2.

7 UNAIDS, Report on the Global Aids Epidemic, 2010. Available at: www.unaids.org/globalreport/Global_report.htm

8 UNIFEM, The Facts: Violence against Women & the Millennium Development Goals. Available at: www.unwomen.org/~/media/Headquarters/Media/Publications/UNIFEM/EVAWkit_02_VAWandMDGs_en.pdf

9 World Health Organization, Adolescent pregnancy. Available at: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs364/en/

10 UNESCO, Education Counts Towards the Millennium Development Goals, 2011. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001902/190214e.pdf

Gender - Christian Aid · ‘‘‘Gender” refers to how men and women are biologically different from each other.’ ‘‘‘Gender” refers to how society expects men and women

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