Welcome to this short e-learning course on ‘Women, Work and Violence’
This short e-learning course has been prepared based on initial evidence generated from groundbreaking research carried out in 2016-17 in Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. This research explored gender dynamics within domestic, public, and workspaces, focusing on violence against women (VAW) as an unintended outcome of women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan, Nepal, and Myanmar.
The study examined women’s experience working in a range of different working contexts, and focussed on three main research components:
- A community study, looking at the experience of women from selected communities working in the informal sector
- A study of the experience of ‘professional’ women and men, typically working in established organisations
- A study of selected programmes which had been designed by governmental or non-governmental organisations with the aim of supporting women who encounter violence related to their work
Let’s hear a bit more about the study from Professor Tamsin Bradley, and how this e-learning course has been designed to share learning from the study and introduce you to a new theory of change:
Course aim
The aim of the e-learning course is to familiarise students with the evidence and findings from the study, and through this process to share learning with the following overall objectives:
- To develop the knowledge and understanding of practitioners and policymakers of the latest research evidence and methods relating to the relationship between women’s economic engagement and violence, in the South/Southeast Asian Context (focussing on Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan)
- To provide practitioners and policymakers with frameworks and a theory of change that can support positive action in addressing violence against women
The study, and hence this e-learning course is not intended to provide conclusive answers to all the issues and questions that arise. The evidence generated from the study is quite new and raises as many questions as it answers, but it will help you understand the issues, and also familiarise you with relevant tools, methods, and frameworks.
When you have completed this study, we hope that you will be able to adapt and apply this learning to your context and contribute to an overall mission to reduce the significant levels of violence that women continue to suffer.
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Intended Audience
This e-learning course is intended for a wide audience. It is pitched at a level suitable for University students, and practitioners, and policymakers working in development agencies including funding organisations, government departments, and international and national non-governmental organisations. No prior knowledge of gender studies is assumed, and consequently, the material should also be accessible to any individual with an interest in this topic.
Course Structure
The e-learning course is broken down into four thematic units which focus (i) context, (ii) methods, (iii) findings (related to the women, work and violence study) and (iv) moving from research to policy and practice through the introduction of a new theory of change.
Each unit is introduced with some reference to the study and some initial discussion, and as you move through the course you will be introduced to relevant terms and concepts.
You can select from one of the three focus countries – Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – to explore the work done and findings from the study in more depth. These short case studies are intended to deepen your understanding and provide a basis for developing your own ideas on how violence against women engaged in work, can best be addressed in your context. As the course concludes findings from the three-country studies are synthesised so that you can learn from an analysis of the experiences of women working at various levels in the three different countries.
Time Commitment
In order to complete this e-learning course, students should allow approximately 2 hours per week to go through the readings and other learning resources. It is suggested that the course is studied over four weeks, and focusing on a new unit each week. The course has been designed to be completed within an overall timeframe of ten hours.
How materials can be used
The study materials provided are made available under an open ‘creative commons license’. This means that they are freely available to use and distribute, and amendments can be made under the terms of this license. The intellectual property is owned by the University of Portsmouth unless indicated otherwise. Intellectual property licensing relates to resources including articles, readings, videos, and photos.
The materials are provided as an online e-learning course, and we also plan to have a ‘pdf’ file version of the main narrative which will be made available for download. This will enable some or all of the course material to be useful in face-to-face courses or workshops. We are keen to know how the material is being used, and how it can be improved and made more useful. We would welcome your comments and suggestions via the feedback form.
Certification
The e-learning course does not carry any certificate or endorsement from the University of Portsmouth.
However, we plan to launch a Members area on this gendersouthasia.org website, and from that time we hope to be able to offer a completion certificate to students who complete and submit the assignments set out in the course and who submit a request for the certificate. Further details will follow soon.
A Learning Community
We are also keen to develop an ‘opt-in’ learning community where those interested in this topic can become part of a group that shares ideas and learning. Participants in the e-learning course are also encouraged to contribute to the gendersouthasia.org blog and Facebook group.
Course Authors
The authors of this e-learning course are:
Professor Tamsin Bradley
Tamsin’s areas of specialism are gender-based violence, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and multi-site and country research programming
Dr Zara Ramsay
Zara is an applied anthropologist with in-depth experience of research in multiple South Asian field sites. She specialises in the relationship between culture, gender, and violence at various levels, spanning household, community, and political spheres.
Jon Gregson
Jon is an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) who has many years of experience working in international development, focussing especially on the areas of distance education and knowledge management.
Credits
University of Portsmouth took the academic lead role for the ‘Women, Work and Violence study’. We also wish to acknowledge the role of DFID who funded the VAW study and IMC Worldwide who managed the project. Our thanks go to the following organisations and individuals who participated in the study and contributed materials to the study and to this e-learning course:
- International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), University of Islamabad, HomeNet Pakistan, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMs), University of Delhi, Myanmar Survey Research (MSR), Health Research and Social Development forum (HERD) and Social Science Baha (SSB)
- Smita Premchander, Ume Laila Azhar, Fatimah Ishan, Neetu John, Daliya Sebastian, Laila, Nepal team members, Suti Sahariah, Emma Sauvanet, Rajni Palriwala, Pallu Modi, Nida Kirmani
- Dr Louis Netter provided the artwork, and photos are provided by Jon Gregson and Professor Tamsin Bradley
October 2018