- 82% of all surveyed* children believe that real men are strong and do not cry in front of anyone.
- 53% of the surveyed children aged between 12 and 18 years say that they are mostly helped to do their homework by their mother/grandmother or other female relative, while only 9% of the same age group state that mostly they are helped with homework by their father/grandfather or other male relative.
- 70% of the surveyed children aged between 12 and 18 years believe that men are the head of the family and their main role is just to bring money into the house, and among children aged 7 to 11 years, 33% of them share the same opinion.
These and other data illustrated in the Infographic (see below) were obtained in the "Children's Vision on Gender Stereotypes" study carried out by Terre des hommes Moldova (Tdh) in February and March 2016. The study aimed to identify children's stereotypes regarding the distribution of family roles, the manifestation of emotions in boys, boys' appearance, violence against children, leisure activities and education of children.
*960 children participated in the study. Of these, 469 children were aged 7 to 11 years, and 491 children - between 12 and 18 years. The study had an equal gender representation, 480 girls and 480 boys. The surveyed children are pupils of 30 schools from the Ungheni, Soroca and Falesti districts. This study is not nationally representative.
The study was conducted within the project "For a violence free life for children in Moldova" implemented by Terre des hommes Moldova with the financial support of the OAK Foundation. By means of this project, Tdh aims to prevent child abuse by emphasizing the involvement of men and boys in this process and to change the gender aspects/stereotypes that can lead to abuse.
As a result of the study, there are created several games that will help change the perception of children with regard to certain gender roles, by promoting positive patterns of communication and behaviour. The game was chosen as a tool to change children's attitudes, because it includes elements of social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of children. This method will be applied and tested in the 30 educational institutions where Tdh has created a child friendly service - ludoteca (Toy Library).