Interactive Workshops to Promote Gender Equity and Family Planning in Rural Guatemalan Communities: Results of a Field Test

Sidney Ruth Schuler, FHI 360
Geeta Nanda, FHI 360
Luis Fernando Ramirez Rodriguez, APAES
Mario Chen, FHI 360

This project tested a communication strategy consisting of interactive workshops with themes of gender equity, sexuality and family planning. The study hypothesis is that promotion of gender equity in the context of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) would contribute to gender-equitable attitudes and contraceptive use. Thirty communities were randomized to two groups. Interventions were delayed in one group so they could serve as control sites. Simultaneous recruitment of participants in control sites helped minimize selection bias. Surveys were undertaken to measure changes in gender attitudes and contraceptive knowledge and use. Mixed effect logistic models were used to test intervention effects accounting for community-level randomization and repeated measures per participant. The significant effects of this intervention on gender attitudes and contraceptive knowledge, and suggestive findings on contraceptive use, imply that it is possible to influence both gender norms and SRH behaviors in a short time using appropriately designed communication interventions.