Gender Equality

We strive to design programs that address gender inequality and prevent gender-based violence. We address gender inequality by working with men, women, girls and boys as equal partners in transforming discriminatory beliefs and practices. We believe in the importance of working with faith leaders as catalysts in changing harmful attitudes and behaviors in their communities. By engaging church leaders in respectful dialogue regarding their culture and the Bible, we affirm those aspects of culture that positively impact communities and challenge those that entrench power imbalances between men and women. By educating faith leaders on gender issues and emphasizing the unique giftedness and important role of women in the families and communities, women are empowered to influence their own futures, girls have improved opportunities to attend school, and churches become centers of justice against gender inequities in their communities.

Prenatal sex selection — choosing to continue or terminate a pregnancy based on the baby’s sex — is one of the most blatant forms of gender-based violence. In Armenia, more than 1,400 girls are unborn every year because of this practice. To combat it, World Vision’s work in Armenia focuses on examining and challenging harmful gender attitudes and practices that support son preference. In partnership with Promundo, World Vision has developed the Caring for Equality curriculum to work with men, women, and youth to examine, question, and transform social norms.

In India, World Vision works with men as fathers to address the issue of early marriage, child abuse, and gender-based violence in families. A More Equal Future is a curriculum that is used by community facilitators to engage with fathers, daughters, and entire families to critically examine and change norms that support child marriage.

In Sri Lanka, we work with fathers to prevent violence against women and children, and to promote the involvement of men as partners and caregivers. Community facilitators create safe and constructive spaces for men to reflect on and redefine what it means to be men and fathers in their communities. A qualitative assessment of this project showed strong indicators of success, including a decline in domestic violence, increased school enrollment, reduced alcohol consumption, and an increase in shared caregiving.