Our transformative household methodology
We have developed a highly effective process which exposes imbalances in workloads and decision-making, giving women greater voice and influence.
What is our Transformative Household Methodology (THM)?
Ripple Effect Ethiopia staff developed this tool to successfully engage families in gender discussions and break down gender inequities. It is now standard across all of our programmes.
During a THM session, everyone identifies their roles and responsibilities, such as the work they do (fetching water, weeding the fields…) or the control they have over resources (such as the family’s money, or deciding which crops are planted).
Using simple props to represent all these roles in a grid on the ground gives a visual representation of key roles. There is seldom much disagreement about who-does-what, but the overall burden of work, contrasted with decision-making, becomes apparent to everyone.
Our trained facilitators don’t tell families what to do to improve gender relations in their household. Families propose their own solutions and develop action plans to achieve the change they want to see, which gives them a sense of accountability and ownership over the process.
Sofanit Mesfin, Ripple Effect Gender and Social Inclusion Coordinator
What makes THM so effective?
The process is well-founded in theory and practice, but the work with families involves going to individual households and doing practical exercises which are easy to understand, and produce quick and visible results as families implement the changes they agree on.
Men who may find it challenging to see how their wives are unfairly burdened nonetheless may have observed as children how their own mothers were overworked and disempowered. When these insights are supported they can be powerful drivers of change.
We see the profound impact of women becoming more involved with decisions on how money will be used, and also see men taking on tasks such as cooking, often seen as a woman’s work.
THM’s impact is inter-generational
Everyone participates, including older relatives and children who are old enough to understand how things work in the home.
The result of this is long-lasting inter-generational change, with children and young adults learning new behaviours to replace the harmful attitudes they may have seen adults perpetuating.
Dina & Jean-Baptiste, Nyanza district, Rwanda
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