A radio drama shifted social norms on female genital mutilation in Sudan

Evidence

Some societies present unique problems that require story lines specifically tailored to their cultural practices. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2014) estimates that over 125 million girls and women in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have been subjected to genital mutilation. In a Sudanese radio drama devoted to this problem, Muslim clerics explained that Islam does not sanction these practices. The story line portrayed the devastating physical harm and psychological consequences suffered by a young woman whom viewers had come to adore (Greiner, Singhal, & Hurlburt, 2007). After the broadcast, the social norm shifted from support for female genital mutilation to a commitment to abolish it. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2809

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to discussions of norm change and moral disengagement mechanisms — a dramatic portrayal of harm essentially disengages viewers’ moral opposition to FGM by appealing through beloved characters and religious authority.
• SEED: An essay angle: can scripted media outperform direct moral argument in shifting deeply entrenched social practices? The mechanism — embodying harm in a beloved character — is itself a form of moral engagement by identification.
• SHARE: Worth sharing with anyone working in development communications, narrative medicine, or behavioral norm change — the FGM-through-radio finding is a striking demonstration of media-driven norm shift.