Tackling Patriarchal Gender Norms

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 9 investigates how democracy aid providers grapple with patriarchal norms, resistance, and backlash. It focuses on two newer areas of research, advocacy, and programming that have emerged to address these challenges: efforts to engage men in dismantling patriarchal norms and practices and a growing range of initiatives aimed at countering violence and harassment against women in politics. These approaches seek to tackle discriminatory gender norms by altering the attitudes and behaviors of male powerholders and by strengthening accountability for harassment and abuse. However, they also push democracy aid providers into unfamiliar and difficult territory, marked by uncertainty about which approaches work in varying contexts and how to measure success.