ERC

"Harmful Traditions, Women Empowerment and Development" (HarmfulTraditions) - 2020-2025

Harmful traditions (e.g. child marriage, female genital cutting (FGC), breast ironing) affect millions of girls in developing countries. These customs have a strong detrimental effect on women’s human capital accumulation, empowerment and wellbeing, thus perpetuating gender imbalance and the vicious circle of poverty. Yet we know remarkably little on why these norms persist and what policies are able to eradicate them. My project will address the following research questions: How have harmful traditions originated in the first place and why do they persist over time? Given that simply legislating against harmful traditions is often ineffective, can we design policy interventions able to change them in a way that is conducive to development?

My collaborators:

• Andrea Minelli, research assistant and field coordinator, Burkina Faso, 2022-2023

• Abdoul Kader, field coordinator, Cameroon, 2022

• Alessandro Palucci, field coordinator, Burkina Faso, 2022

• Giuliana Ghia, research assistant, 2021

• Jack Melbourne, PhD Student and LEAP Affiliate, 2021-

• Cecile Pierre, field coordinator, Cameroon, 2021-2022

• Mathilde Col, field coordinator, Cameroon, 2021

• Sawaneh Osman, field coordinator, Sierra Leone, 2019-

My partners:

• Children Believe, Burkina Faso

• IHfRA, Innovative Hub for Research in Africa, Burkina Faso

• IRESCO, Institut pour la Recherche, le developpement Socio-Economique e la Communication, Cameroon

• HPA, Health Poverty Action, Sierra Leone

• AIM, Amazonian Initiative Movement, Sierra Leone