Health Development Initiative (HDI) is currently hosting radio talk shows to open the floor for discussions on harmful social norms that perpetuate gender based violence and unpaid care work. The talk shows that are being held under the campaign #DuhindureImyumvire and #HinduraImyumvire bring together experts and youth to discuss trending norms and major causes for these concerns. The campaign is also being promoted on the organisation’s social media platforms. It is part of HDI’s advocacy role to transform harmful social norms into those that promote gender equality, through amplifying dialogue between men and women, boys and girls, duty bearers and gender experts on different media platforms. Juliette Karitanyi, a feminist and Director of Communications at HDI, explained that social and gender norms are a complex system of roles, expressions, identities, performances, and qualities that are assigned to men and women by society. She added that social and gender norms more often contribute to gender inequalities. She pointed out that although significant strides have been made towards the realisation of gender equality in Rwanda, there is still so much work that remains to be done. “Gender norms are as important as laws and policies since they all shape society. When negative, they can lead to gender inequalities and negatively impact women and men,” she said. For instance, Karitanyi reminded that expectations for men to always be the main providers of households not only pressures them, but also pushes women into a constant circle of unpaid care work. “Even when offered opportunities, women still come back to unpaid care work, since their jobs are considered second. They are also expected to submit to the authority of their partners since they are the providers,” she said. Karitanyi explained that besides being interlinked with fundamental values, gender equality and social dialogue are both essential towards advancing opportunities and the enjoyment of full rights for women and men in society. “We have amplified the conversations on social and gender norms on both social media and radio stations, because that’s where we can engage the public without holding physical meetings and get feedback through our hotline,” she said. For the past six months, the #HinduraImyumvire and #DuhindureImyumvire campaign has reached 2.4 million on social media and has contributed to 10,000 calls on hotline. While sharing feedback from listeners, Donatha Uwajeneza, the host of the radio dialogues at Isango Star, said that there is a generational conflict when it comes to the understanding of gender and its place in society. “Not all of my listeners have the same understanding when it comes to dowry, for example. I learned recently from my radio listeners that there is an area in the Northern Province where women who are ready to get married, help their men with the bride price or help them build a house so that they can marry in dignity.” she said.
