My Voice, Your Voice: Using the Concept of Men-to-Men to Reach Out Women in the Community to Build Resilience in Education

Abstract

PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // Mauritius is one of the signatories of CEDAW and gender equality is among its top national priorities. However, due to gender inequalities in education and employment, women still face invisible barriers in many institutions of the society and are over-represented in most vulnerable sections of the population. The National Women’s Council’s Adult Literacy Programme (ALP) forms part of ongoing efforts to socially and economically empower women in Mauritius. Still, many women do not participate in such literacy programmes. The Social Work degree course at the Open University of Mauritius allows students to acquire both the academic and practice-based components and the modules Social Work Practice (SWP) I and II are specifically designed to meet this field-work component. This research adopted an innovative concept of involving men as champions to help bridge gender gaps in education. Being tutors for module SWP II, we selected and trained some male students to reach out to men and women at grassroot level and this paper reveals the barriers preventing women from participating in ALP as well as the intervention mechanism used to pull them towards ALP. The results are discussed through meaningful data findings and analysis. The recommendations will be disseminated to concerned stakeholders. // Paper ID 1672