Addressing Gender Stereotypes in children

1. Addressing Gender Stereotypes in children By Sr. Meisie Ndebele Cotlands

2. Background • The AIDS epidemic has to a large extent changed the structure of our society. Many children have been left orphaned or cared for by sick parents.

3. Background cont. • “Girl children more often take up the role of care, for both sick adults and dependent siblings. • In addition the gender of dying or surviving parent affects child outcomes.

4. Background cont. • Mothers are more likely than fathers to care for their children when their spouse dies. • For this reason fathers should be encouraged and helped to care for their children when their wife or partner dies.

5. Background cont. • Attention to gender in the early years and combating stereotypes of girl’s submission and boy’s dominance, is especially important because of its potential long term role in preventing HIV in the next generation of young adults.

6. Background cont. • Increased attention to gender has drawn attention to the special needs of girls, but issues affecting boys are less often addressed.”

7. Source • Richter, L. Foster, G. And Lorraine Sherr (2006) Where the heart is: Meeting the psychosocial needs of young children in the context of HIV/AIDS.

8. Statisticsas at the end of 2007 Total S.A. population: 48,315.000 • Infected with HIV: 5,700,000 • Infected children: 280,000

9. Stats cont. • Infected women above 15yrs: 3,200,000 • Children orphaned by AIDS: 1,400,000 Statsfrom: AIDS Foundation South Africa

10. Objectives • Empower boys and girls with skills that will make them independent in future. • Remove gender stereotypes from an early age. • Comply with CIDA requirements.

11. What we do in the homes of the children • Both boys and girls do household chores like tidying up, cleaning and laundry. In homes where there are no girls the boys do these tasks.

12. What we do in the homes of the children • When doing art work e.g. painting, the blue and pink colours are given to all, there is no blue to boys and pink to girls only.

13. What we do in the homes of the children • When doing art work e.g. painting, the blue and pink colours are given to all, there is no blue to boys and pink to girls only.

14. Boy sweeping at home

15. Boy and girl washing dishes

16. Boy washing dishes

17. A boy learning to iron

18. At the centre • Every Friday the children are taught to cook and bake. They start by peeling the vegetables followed by the actual cooking • They lay tables before meals

19. At the centre • Clean up the tables and wash dishes after meals. • Pack all the dishes. • Pack all the dishes.

20. At the centre • During playtime we let them perform role plays that involve caring with boys as carers. Role plays that involve men’s activities are performed by girls and vice versa. • After playtime everybody does the packing away of toys and tidying up.

21. Packing away toys

22. Boy cleaning the table

23. Girl riding a horse

24. Learning to care

25. Learning to care

26. Peeling vegetables

27. Cutting grass

28. Lessons learned • When children are trained not to discriminate according to gender at an early age they learn easily without fussing. • Children must be practically involved in doing things and not be told only. • Children need supervision and coaching at all times.

29. Challenges • What children have been trained on is soon undone by their caregivers at home because they still subscribe to the gender stereotypes. • Teaching a skill needs some constant repetition but our time with the children is limited

30. Conclusion • We would like to thank the CIDA and HPCA for coming up with the idea of gender equity. It has helped us to sensitize many people including health workers, parents/caregivers.

31. Conclusion cont. • The greatest beneficiaries of this programme are the children who will grow up looking at the different genders with open minds.