Raising Women’s Voices Through Radio Drama: Reflections from South Africa

This 12-page case study shares the experiences and lessons learned of Zaphamban' izindlela!, a serial radio drama designed to get people thinking, and talking, about women’s rights and the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (AU Protocol). According to the case study, the drama proved to be an entertaining means to stimulate dialogue and analysis of women’s rights in communities, raise awareness of the AU Protocol and legal protections for women, and encourage local action, as well as provide an opportunity for people to discuss sensitive issues such as gender violence and harmful cultural practices.

Zaphamban' izindlela! is the South African, isiZulu adaptation of "Crossroads", previously produced in English, Swahili, French and Portuguese by CMFD Productions for Fahamu Networks for Social Justice and FEMNET, as part of the Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR) campaign. Zaphamban' izindlela! was produced by CMFD as part of the People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) Raising Her Voice Campaign in South Africa, supported by Oxfam GB, and distributed to community radio stations, organisations, and places of safety.

The case study explains that the Zaphamban' Izindlela! radio drama used entertainment-education, and that entertaining forms of media can both create awareness and dialogue. Drama in particular is an accessible form of communication as it is easily understood and accepted by various education levels, does not rely on literacy, and serves as both entertainment and education. The characters in the drama model behaviours that people can analyse and judge, and people are able to learn through their challenges and triumphs. Other activities based on the drama, such as listening groups, can then reinforce messages, and localise debates and discussions.

The case study notes that Communication for Social Change is a process of public and private dialogue through which people themselves define who they are, what they need, and how to get what they need in order to improve their own lives. It utilises dialogue that leads to collective problem identification, decision making and community-based implementation of solutions. The case study provides qualitative analysis of six CFSC key indicators, outlined below, based on facilitators’ notes, and surveys of listeners and radio presenters.

• CFSC Indicator 1: Expanded public and private dialogue and debate - following each episode, facilitators hosted discussions with listening groups, and anecdotal evidence suggested that discussions also took place in people’s homes and in the community. Several listening groups pointed out that there are few opportunities to put harmful cultural practices or gender violence under public scrutiny and dialogue is the first step in bringing these issues out into the open.
• CFSC Indicator 2: Increased accuracy of the information that people share in the dialogue/debate - The case study states that listening group notes showed that the drama was useful in raising awareness and informing listeners about a whole range of issues, for example, about women’s rights in general, about the impact of culture on women’s rights, and the AU Protocol and other laws. Several focus group participants said they learned that marital rape is in fact against the law, and can be reported.
• CFSC Indicator 3: Those centrally affected by an issue[s] voicing their perspective in the debate and dialogue - The large majority of the listening group participants were women, who the reports states rarely have spaces to discuss and talk about their challenges, but the drama series and groups provided an opportunity to do so. Through the link with community radio stations, some listening groups were also able to add their voice to even wider dialogue.
• CFSC Indicator 4: Increased leadership role by people disadvantaged by the issues of concern - While the cases study notes it is difficult to measure actual adopted behaviours and leadership initiative gained through the drama, listeners do report intentions to take on more leadership roles in the community. One listening group voiced that police often do not take cases of any kind of domestic violence seriously, especially if reported by a woman, and that it was important for people not to give up easily.
• CFSC Indicator 5: Resonates with the major issues of interest to people's everyday interests - Most of the listening group participants mentioned that what was happening in the drama very much reflected their own lives. Others expressed changes in their own attitudes, such as a new attitude around culture mentioning that cultures can change over time, and that the positive aspects of culture should be retained while the harmful ones should be abandoned.
• CFSC Indicator 6: Linked people and groups with similar interests who might otherwise not be in contact - The drama provided the opportunity to bring together members of the community, first to discuss, but many were also empowered through the groups, and are keen on taking community action regarding challenges identified in their communities through the radio drama.

According to the report, there was a strong sense of belief and understanding among the groups that collective action is more powerful than individual effort. After the development of individual group plans, the groups felt there were more than just "listening groups," but rather "community action groups."
The cases study identifies the following as lessons learned:

• There is a great need for more opportunities for women's voices to be heard. A lot more also needs to be done to raise awareness of women’s rights, specific services and help available (i.e. organisations working in their communities.), and specific actions that can be taken to help rights.
• Listening groups are extremely important as a way of encouraging dialogue and debate. Recognising that any organisation can not host as many listening groups as there are listeners, it would be ideal to find a way to encourage others to from their own listening groups among their friends and families.
• While serial radio dramas are primarily produced for airplay, they are also a valuable tool in non-broadcast settings, for example copies of Zaphamban' izindlela! were used in listening groups at POWA shelters.
• Radio stations are key partners in making sure radio dramas get to their audiences. While considerable effort was made to involve stations from the outset, it may be necessary to engage with stations at the end of such a programme as well, i.e. to debrief about the station’s feedback and insights.