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Description
Communities living in small settlements in Bulgaria still uphold the old stereotypes about the role of men and women in both public and private life. These stereotypes predetermine to a great extent gender inequality between men and women. Certain attitudes exist that some jobs, family roles or fields of business are more appropriate for either men or women. We called the project Rock-and-roll for Girls looking for an association with the powerful effect of the musical style which used to be a symbol of modern and revolutionary thinking in the 1950s rejecting the stigma of stereotypical approach to life. An advocacy campaign will be organized based on non-traditional approaches such as online radio and forum theatre which have the potential to provoke a debate and change public attitudes. Our organization uses both approaches in our daily work with the target groups, we have further developed and adapted them to the specificity of local communities. The unique about the project is the thematic context in which we will work; it is not fully novel for our organization but it is for the first time that we will strategically unite our efforts in a thematic communication campaign. We will carry out the activities in partnership with Ethnoworld Foundation and we will rely on the Foundation to attract young people from ethnic minorities, Roma and Turks, to take part in the project activities. Our partner organization also has the appropriate premises for the public events under the project that has been granted for use by the local authorities in Stara Zagora Municipality which is an important contribution in our joint work. We expect that 700 direct beneficiaries will take part in the project activities but we will also look for support from the institutions, i.e. mayor’s offices, schools and community centres because change of public attitudes should be reflected in the local policies on gender equality.
Summary of project results
The project aimed at overcoming stereotypical thinking that puts one gender in a dominant position over the other. The focus of the project were 4 small communities in villages or suburban areas, where people from ethnic minorities live, as well as other people with incomes lower than the average for the region.
An advocacy campaign was organized based on non-traditional approaches such as online radio and forum theatre, which aimed to provoke debate and contribute to a change in public attitudes. Discussions based on the methodology of the forum theater allowed the setting and public discussion of everyday situations of gender inequality and stereotypes related to the social role of men and women - at work, at home, in raising and educating children, early marriages in ethnic communities, etc. 20 interviews with successful women from various fields - teachers, civil servants, icon painter, olympic athlete, psychologists, cosplayer, herbalist, ecologist, master of jewelаry, journalist, craftsman, tattoo artist, youth worker, writer - were prepared and broadcast on the online air of the youth radio "Evolution" - https://e-volution.media/. The interviews were also published in video format on YouTube and aim to have a motivating effect, showing the personal stories and extraordinary achievements of ordinary women –
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMi7m761M0dOcBiZvYW8j52ujaCnNwXbB.
A total of 366 participants were directly involved in the project''s public events in local communities. More than 2,600 were online users of the project''s audio and visual products - online radio broadcasts, videos with the life stories of 20 successful women, a book and a DVD, as well as a documentary on the project''s goals and theme.