We found insights into how involvement in the SwimSafe program as a CSI, parent, child or wider community member affected gender roles, norms and attitudes and opened new opportunities for women. The quantitative and qualitative results are presented using the Gender Integration Framework domains. No data was reported against the framework domain of Legal rights and status as this referred to the impacts of men and women’s legal status in the wider context of Bangladesh.
Quantitative data from enrolment forms was available for 11,563 children, and data from graduation forms was available for 11,577 children from February to December 2018. Data from the recruitment of 229 CSIs was also included from January 2017 to December 2018. Missing data from all sources was less than 3%.
Twenty IDIs and three FGDs were conducted with program beneficiaries covering mothers, fathers and enrolled children. Thirty seven IDIs were held with program providers including CSIs, Supervisors, and program headquarter staff. Four of these were repeat interviews of area and project coordinators. One FGD was held with women CSIs to understand organisational and community-level perspectives. Two SwimSafe classes were observed to understand program engagement and participation. Less than 10% of potential participants approached refused to participate.
Access to resources
We found that employment in SwimSafe granted women CSIs with greater access to resources such as education and material goods including mobile phones and clothing, as well as greater mobility. Many women CSIs and CSI trainers were previously unable to move beyond their community and were now travelling within their upazila for training and child enrolment. This increased community acceptance of women CSI movement for non-SwimSafe related activities, such as visiting markets in farther areas.
“Earlier her movement was confined within a few houses. How she has travelled to faraway places to teach swimming. Now people respect her.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
CSIs of both genders gained financial independence from their salary. The impact of this was higher for women as they had few other employment opportunities in rural communities, while males often worked other jobs. Male CSIs often spent money on their personal entertainment such as eating in local markets with friends, while women often spent their income on their families or own education.
“It feels good that I can spend the money as I want. I can give something to my parents when I get money...and spend on my studies.” [CSI, Female]
Both male and women CSIs were able to develop new communication skills that made them more employable. However, this was valued by women CSIs due to lack of other capacity-building opportunities. Their involvement also broke down family perceptions around women’s working ability, making employment more acceptable.
“If I speak truly, earlier I was not even be able to talk with people properly. I could not communicate properly even with my family members, I felt very uneasy. And I was very introverted.” [CSI Trainer, Female]
Knowledge, beliefs and perceptions
We found that beliefs and perceptions around culturally appropriate gender roles and capabilities impacted the hiring of staff within the implementing organisation because of which no women Supervisors were hired.
Field supervision staff believed that women Supervisors would have difficulty with mobility. Male Supervisors rode their own motorbikes; it was perceived as culturally inappropriate for women to do the same. The implementing organisation was also concerned for women’s safety at night due to the lack of secure public transportation options.
“She will not get any transportation in the evening to get back to your place. It becomes risky for a lady to travel alone at night.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
The pond structures required regular maintenance, considered as a “man’s job”. It was believed that women Supervisors could not manage the transportation of building materials, lifting and helping with material movement. It was considered inappropriate to engage women in labour work.
“Supervisors need to help the labourers when transporting bamboo - we also lift the bamboo and push the van. The work we are doing is not possible for women.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
A similar comment about the perceived inability of women to manage the bamboo structure was made about women CSIs by both supervisory staff and CSIs of both genders. There were varying levels of confidence among women CSIs on platform repair – some women CSIs conducted minor repairs, but others were not working with the structure at all. Many women CSIs used their male family members for maintenance work, and the implementing organisation was required to hire more labour to repair platforms of women CSIs. This had implications for cost and time.
“I told a woman CSI to tie a bamboo but she didn't do it. In that case, the work must be done by hiring people. As she is a woman she can't do this work. We [Supervisors] have to wait there while the repair work is done.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
We also found that some women CSIs and CSI trainers faced negativity from community members for travelling and interacting with male supervisory staff and VIPC members, as such interactions were considered unsuitable. This negativity had less of an effect when CSIs received family support for the work.
“At first I had faced some problems…with comments from the community. My mother supports me a lot. I have a sister, she also supports me a lot. So, I have no problem in doing this work.” [CSI, Female]
Women CSIs used the program’s social purpose to respond to community negativity. Work involving children and community betterment was considered appropriate for women, given their inherent gender-based role as child carers. Participants reported that over time, negative attitudes towards women’s work and mobility were changing as the community was exposed to the program.
“They [the community] say the girl has reached the age of marriage, so why don’t you marry her off rather than let her travel to cities [with the program]. So, to manage them I say that this is social work. Then they understand that their children are saved from drowning because of us, and they support us wholeheartedly.” [CSI Trainer, Female]
Perhaps due to the small sample size of men CSIs, there were no statistical differences found between the rate of drop out for men and women CSIs. However, all Supervisors reported that men CSIs were more difficult to recruit and retain. Men CSIs found the part-time, lower pay nature of work to be less prestigious, especially for the educational qualifications required. They were also more likely to seek full time work, given their roles as primary bread-winners of the family. Entering the water was also seen by some as more appropriate to lower socio-economic groups, and hence offensive.
“They [male CSIs] don’t take it positively to teach children swimming by getting down into the water. They think that it is lower class work.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
Working as a CSI was more acceptable to women, who had lower expectations from both themselves and the wider community to work in lucrative and respected occupations. They were also more accepting of the part-time nature of the work, as most were also responsible for household work and were expected to be at home more frequently than men. Women CSIs reported dissatisfaction with the pay less often, even if they had the same educational qualifications as male CSIs.
“Because if males work part time anywhere they expect more than the girls, even if his skill and educational qualification are not high. In some cases, women are more qualified than the men candidates. Male candidates are less interested in this job because of the mismatch between the payment and their expectations.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
Supervisory staff also reported that women CSIs were better able to engage with mothers to send their children to SwimSafe classes as it was more appropriate for women to speak with them. Women CSIs were also considered more sincere and hardworking.
“The benefit is that women CSIs can move from house to house and talk with children’s mothers.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
Practices and Participation
Enrolment data showed that fewer girls (43.5%; 95% CI: 42.6% to 44.4%) enrolled in the SwimSafe program compared to boys. Qualitative analysis of men and women’s practices and participation found that this was due to cultural barriers where it was considered less appropriate for girls to enter water in public spaces. Parents were also concerned for their girls’ reputation and safety, and were even less likely to enrol older girls when the CSI was male. While 45.2% (95% CI: 44.2% to 46.2%) of enrolments were girls for women CSIs, this proportion dropped down 32.6% (95% CI: 30.3% to 34.9%) for men CSIs (Figure 1). To cater for this issue of girls’ participation, the implementing organisation hired a larger number of women CSIs in its second year of operation.
“Parents feel comfortable when their girls learn swimming from a women trainer, because they do not want to hand over a growing girl to a male trainer. There are some social barriers, some familial barriers...” [Supervisory staff, Male]
The results showed that the proportion of girls enrolled in SwimSafe classes significantly decreased as age increased (p=0.021), again due to perceptions around inappropriate exposure of older girls in front of men (Figure 2). Older girls also reported feeling shy to attend classes, especially in front of male CSIs or if the pond was near a road or other public area such as community courtyards or health centres.
“Now I think they [girls] don’t attend because of the presence of males or because everyone comes [to the pond] to see them. Maybe they would’ve gone down to learn if everybody there was a woman.” [CSI, Male]
Gender-based roles and responsibilities also reduced the likelihood of girls finishing the program. Girls were 55.5% (95% CI: 52.6% to 58.5%) of children who dropped out of the program part way. Analysis of gender-based practices revealed that girls often assisted with care of younger siblings or household work. The same roles were not prescribed to boys. It was also less acceptable for girls to move around the community alone and regularly access the pond.
“She has a little sibling. She has to keep her sibling with her. Besides this, she has to do the household work.” [Dropout child’s parent, Female]
“In villages they do not care much about boys and about where they are going. But for girls the rules are strict.” [CSI, Female]
Norms around appropriate practices for girls also affected the approach to clothing. Older girls took into consideration cultural concerns around modesty by wearing long tunics, although this extra material was cumbersome while learning. Older girls adapted by tying a cloth around their waist to better hold down their tunics. Some women CSIs provided private areas where girls could change from their wet clothes before travelling home to ensure comfort.
“It is not possible [to wear leggings] for older girls. They have to wear extra clothes. They tie the extra loose cloth to their waist with a belt.” [Graduated child’s parent, Female]
At the village level, VIPCs had more men than women members. Women often faced barriers to attend VIPC meetings due to the parda (veil) system in some communities where women were not allowed to communicate directly with men. Some men from VIPCs reported that women were less preferred since they weren’t able to travel around communities to manage implementation.
“No, I think It’s better to engage two men in those empty positions [of the VIPC committee]. Two women are enough for us… Men can go everywhere.” [VIPC Member, Male]
Conversely, women VIPC members appeared to have more time and motivation to engage the community and make monitoring visits to ponds. Many VIPC participants agreed that an equal number of men and women were required in the VIPC, but this was not actively implemented during VIPC formation.
“The VIPC members are mostly men, but they have a lot of work and they are busy…But when we want help, the women members always try.” [Supervisory staff, Male]
Power
Women CSIs appeared to have less power than male CSIs to make decisions on their career, such as participating in the program as CSIs. In particular, married CSIs were often at the bottom of the hierarchy in their homes and were more difficult to recruit, as they needed permission from both in-laws and husbands. Women CSIs gathered support from their families by bringing them to the field offices at the time of recruitment to meet the implementing team and assuage their concerns.
“I took them [my family] to show my new office. I introduced them to my Supervisor … So, I convinced my family members through him.” [CSI, Female]
Other findings
While women CSIs gained in mobility and financial independence, their access to gender-specific information that affected job performance was limited, including menstruation management. Training did not provide guidance on how women CSIs should manage classes during this time. Some CSIs were teaching children from the shore when they were menstruating, which may have presented a safety hazard. Some CSIs were also confused about possible health impacts of running classes in water while menstruating. As all Supervisors are men, women CSIs are unable to be transparent about menstruation and would feign illness.
“I tell him [Supervisor] “I am feeling cold, I won’t get down in water today. I will stay above the structure…” We do not explain exactly what is wrong, we manage it by ourselves.” [CSI, Female]
Categorisation of SwimSafe on the Gender Integration Continuum
The SwimSafe program is a gender accommodating program. The program identified gender-based constraints and catered to them so that the program was implementable in communities. For example, SwimSafe preferentially hired more women CSIs in 2018 after identifying they were easier to retain and that girl children were more comfortable.
However, opportunities to systematically address gender-based constraints were missed. Some CSIs identified lower participation of girls in classes and introduced adaptations to increase girl attendance. They taught children in gender-segregated groups both to appease parents and due to the belief that girls required more attention to teach swimming than boys. However, these strategies were not systemised across all classes.
“It’s good to teach them separately. Girls need time and boys learn faster. Boys can learn faster what I teach them. But girls need extra care.” [CSI, Male]