abstract

The policy-making process can be complex and hierarchical and can often disenfranchise many people. Policy dialogues seldom enlist marginalised populations such as girls and young women who are the intended policy beneficiaries of key areas related to their sexuality and well-being. To address this, researchers working with girls and young women are increasingly adopting arts-based participatory visual methods such as photovoice, cellphilms, drawings and collage, among others, to conduct girl-led research. The goals of using the products of these research approaches are to inform policy and decision making and incorporate the voices of this marginalised group in such conversations on issues that concern them. However, this is not without its challenges.

This focus reflects on policymakers’ responses to a photovoice exhibition and the policy dialogue that followed. The exhibition came out a study which used photovoice to explore the challenges of 15 pregnant girls and young mothers in Nairobi, Kenya to staying in or re-entering the school system. Analysis of a personal experience using the photovoice exhibition to generate a dialogue with policymakers reveals that despite recent efforts to democratise, policymaking is still exclusive and hierarchical. While the photovoice exhibition demonstrated how girls can, in theory, lead from the ground up in policymaking through arts-based participatory research approaches, getting the policymakers to engage with the exhibition in which the girls identified contextual factors that keep them out of school proved to be more complex. Policymakers might still show resistance to the views of other policy stakeholders, particularly the policy beneficiaries who are often at the outer margin; this can be due to the power dynamic and elitism that exist among the different groups and individuals involved in policymaking. The views of policy beneficiaries are crucial in formulating effective policies – but are currently not considered by policymakers.

摘要

决策过程可能是复杂的和等级分明的，常常会剥夺许多人的权利。政策对话很少涉及边缘化人群，例如女孩和年轻女性，她们是与性和福祉相关的关键领域的预期政策受益者。为了解决这个问题，与女孩和年轻女性一起工作的研究人员越来越多地采用基于艺术的参与式视觉方法，例如 photovoice、cellphilms、绘画和拼贴画等，以进行女孩主导的研究。使用这些研究方法的产品的目的是为政策和决策提供信息，并将这个边缘化群体的声音纳入与他们有关的问题的此类对话中。然而，这并非没有挑战。

这种关注反映了政策制定者对摄影展和随后的政策对话的反应。展览推出了一项研究，该研究利用影像声音探讨了肯尼亚内罗毕的 15 名怀孕女孩和年轻母亲留在或重新进入学校系统的挑战。对使用 photovoice 展览与政策制定者进行对话的个人经历的分析表明，尽管最近努力实现民主化，但政策制定仍然是排他性和等级性的。虽然 photovoice 展览展示了女孩如何在理论上通过基于艺术的参与性研究方法从头开始领导决策，但让政策制定者参与展览，女孩们在展览中确定了使她们无法上学的背景因素，事实证明更复杂。政策制定者可能仍会抵制其他政策利益相关者的观点，尤其是通常处于边缘的政策受益者；这可能是由于参与决策的不同群体和个人之间存在权力动态和精英主义。政策受益者的观点对于制定有效的政策至关重要——但目前政策制定者并未考虑这些观点。