Gender Ideology and Gender Equality Policy Adoption

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Gender-based violence threatens the social and economic security of the

Anglophone Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago. Approximately 100,000 women

between the ages of 15-64 years in Trinidad and Tobago have reported current or lifetime

intimate partner violence, the most prevalent form of gender-based violence (Pemberton

& Jospeh, 2018). In Trinidad and Tobago, the total cost of sexual abuse and domestic

violence in 2005 amounted to TTD 487 million (Theodore et al., 2008). Nevertheless,

successive governments since 2009 have failed to adopt the National Gender Policy of

Trinidad and Tobago, the only gender mainstreaming mechanism targeting the high rate

of violence against women brought about by the underlying ideological and material

gender relations (Barriteau, 2001; Hosein, 2019; McFee, 2014, 2017; Office of the Prime

Minister, 2018). Therefore, understanding the current policy intractability or nonadoption

of the policy can help ensure Trinidad and Tobago’s social and economic security.

Discursive opposition to gender equality and sexual citizenship by faith-based

organizations is not atypical of such organizations. However, at the beginning of 2010 in

Europe and as early as 2008 in Latin America, a new type of discursive rhetoric was seen

demonizing the concept of gender (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017; Moreira & de Assis César,

2019). The latest rhetoric, labeled as gender ideology and employed by the Catholic

Church and other conservative actors, has had uneven success in derailing gender-based

reforms globally, including policy reforms on violence against women (Kuhar &

Paternotte, 2017).

The derailment of gender-based reforms across Europe and Latin America has

engaged scholars’ attention in these regions. In Latin America, scholars focused on the

Catholic Church’s role and its use of gender ideology (Corredor, 2019; Vaggione, 2020).

Across Europe, a growing body of research on gender ideology documented its

emergence, its connection to populism, and its impact on gender-based reforms (Kuhar &

Paternotte, 2017, 2018). However, a review of the existing literature review revealed a

lack of material examining this discursive resistance to gender equality policies within the

Anglophone Caribbean region. Analysis of this transnational phenomenon was thus

needed.

Within the English-speaking Caribbean, the National Gender Policy experience is

a complex interplay of belief systems, resistances, and actors related to women and

gender (McFee, 2014). Faith-based actors are the nexus between the complex interplay of

belief systems and resistance (McFee, 2014). Additionally, local faith-based

organizations are transnational actors operating in regional settings in the Caribbean who

mirror the ideas of their global partners (Corrales, 2015; Kinny, 2015). Therefore, this

study focused on the possible influence of gender ideology in faith-based actors’ policy

narratives during the public debate on Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gender Policy

between 2010-2018. To address the methodological and conceptual gap in understanding

the emerging phenomenon of gender ideology (Verloo & Paternotte, 2018), mixedmethod

content analysis and the narrative policy framework were employed to aid in

understanding the emerging phenomenon of gender ideology. Chapter 1 provides the

study’s background, problem statement, purpose, research questions, theoretical

framework, nature of the study, definitions, assumptions, scope and delimitations, and

significance.

Background

The Anglo-Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago is an ethnically diverse,

high-income, developing country with a population of 1.2 million and a GDP per capita

of US$31,300 (CIA World Factbook 2020). The ethnic population of Trinidad and

Tobago comprises East Indians (35.4%), African descent (34.2%), and mixed – others

(30.5 %; CIA World Factbook 2020). Additionally, the female population comprises

681,415, while the male population comprises 686,143 (see Table 1 for the breakdown

via age groupings). Table 2 outlines the religious persuasions of the population, where

Catholicism and Protestantism are the most dominant religions in Trinidad and Tobago.

Table 1

Male and Female Population by Age Group

Age Group Male Female

80+ 9663.39 14,382

75-79 9562.47 11,804

70-74 14632.04 16,558

65-69 22225.59 23,741

60-64 30527.62 29,865

55-59 37812.23 37,583

50-54 45290.44 44,489

45-49 50134.49 48,841

40-44 44785.85 43,942

35-39 48257.22 47,037

30-34 55501.67 53,222

25-29 64121.90 63,074

20-24 59116.17 58,525

15-19 51188.98 50,119

10-14 46291.38 44,291

5-9 47759.84 46,290

0-4 49271.54 47,652

Total 686,143 681,415

Note. Data are from Central Statistical Office (n.d.)

Table 2

Religious Population in Trinidad and Tobago

Religion Percentage Population

Protestant 32.1% 391774

Catholic 21.6 % 263623

Hindu 18.2 % 222127

Muslim 5% 61024

Other 23.1% 281931

Note. Data are from Central Statistical Office (n.d.)

Caribbean scholarship highlighted that the contemporary culture of violence in

Trinidad and Tobago is an extension of African slavery and Indian indentureship. For

instance, Brereton (2010) noted that the conditions of enslavement in Trinidad and

Tobago promoted Black-on-Black violence, such as fighting and assaults between

enslaved people, wife-beating, and excessive physical and emotional punishment meted

out to children and the vulnerable. Moreover, coerced sex and rape formed part of the

violence endemic to slavery in the Caribbean (Brereton, 2010). Even under conditions of

enslavement, gender inequalities existed (Reddock, 1994). Despite both genders

performing the same type of field jobs and working an equal number of hours, women’s

wages were significantly lower than men’s. Additionally, she women performed most of

their jobs in partial nudity, and they were subjected to the same punishment or abuse as

men.

Ethnicity was also a factor, as during the Indian indentureship period between

1845 and 1917, there was a high prevalence of violence within the East Indian

community (Brereton, 2010). Historical statistics reflected that 87 East Indian women

were murdered by East Indian males between 1872 and 1900, with 65 murdered by their

husbands (Brereton, 2010). Further, of the 62 Indians murdered by Indian men between

1901 and 1910, 20 were women (Brereton, 2010). Most murders among East Indian

women might have occurred due to East Indian males’ perception that East Indian

women’s assertiveness constituted an assault on their masculinity (Mohammed, 1996;

Reddock, 1988).

Although there is a lack of comprehensive surveillance systems within the

Caribbean region, recent evidence has indicated that gender-based violence remains a

contemporary threat (Lacey et al., 2019). According to the Inter-American Development

Bank (2017), women in Trinidad are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner or

family member (32.8 %) than men (3.0 %). In 2017, of the 35 Caribbean femicide

victims, 21 of those victims were from Trinidad and Tobago (Economic Commission for

Latin America and the Caribbean, 2019).

Coming out of this historical context and with these statistics at the forefront,

Trinidad and Tobago has demonstrated a commitment to achieving gender justice within

the last four decades. Specifically, Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to several

international agreements protecting women’s rights from discrimination (Office of the

Prime Minister, 2018). These global agreements include the Declaration on the

Elimination of Violence Against Women adopted in1984 and ratified in 1985; the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW) adopted in 1985; the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention,

Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women – “Convention de Belem do

Para adopted in 1985 and ratified 1996 (Office of the Prime Minister, 2018). Moreover,

Trinidad and Tobago adopted in 1995, the Beijing Declaration of Gender Equality, Peace,

and Development (Office of the Prime Minister, 2018). This adoption of the Beijing

Declaration notably identifies national gender policies as critical in developing robust

institutional mechanisms for implementing gender equality programs. However,

understanding Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gender Policy’s historical developmental

process is challenging due to the many policy actors and factors in its development

(McFee, 2014).

The history of the National Gender Policy of Trinidad and Tobago spanned almost

four decades. In 1988, the first policy document was only one page, brought back by Ms.

Magaret Hector after attending a meeting organized by the Organization of American

States, Inter-American Commission for Women (McFee, 2014). Cabinet passed this

policy document in 1989; however, feminists rejected the policy document as it ignored

several critical issues, including violence against women (McFee, 2014). The launch of

the 2002 National Gender Policy for Trinidad and Tobago occurred due to internal

pressure within the People’s National Movement (PNM), the then government of

Trinidad and Tobago, and persons external to the government (McFee 2014).

The 2004 National Gender Policy represented the first comprehensive policy

document developed based on widespread public participation and collaboration between

the State, notably the Ministry of Gender Affairs, and key stakeholders (McFee, 2014).

This policy process included 10 interest group consultations held in Trinidad and six

interest group consultations held in Tobago (Office of the Prime Minister, 2018). This

iteration also included a roundtable for the government to provide their gender focal

points based on studies from seven sector studies, which included health, education,

agriculture, natural resources, social and community development, law and the judiciary,

trade, and economic labor (Office of the Prime Minister, 2018). Notably, across the

Anglophone Caribbean region, the average development of a National Gender Policy

spanned approximately 2 years from inception, adoption, and implementation.

Dominica’s National Gender Policy adoption process began in 2000 and ended in 2006

(McFee, 2014). In the Cayman Islands, the National Gender Policy process began in

2002, with adoption occurring in 2004 (McFee, 2014). Additionally, Belize initiated a

National Gender Policy in 2000, and adoption happened in 2002 (McFee, 2014). The

British Virgin Islands also took 2 years from formulation to adoption (McFee, 2014). In

contrast, since 2009, Trinidad and Tobago’s draft National Gender Policy has been a

parliamentary Green Paper, and the lack of closure or official approval leaves it open to

an indefinite public review process (McFee, 2014).

Trinidad and Tobago’s failure to adopt a National Gender Policy occupies a

unique policy space since most Caribbean countries share the same international

commitments and governmental structure and, in some cases, the same lead consultant on

developing a National Gender Policy. However, in comparison to these countries, where

there was negligible discursive resistance to the State’s gender policies by faith-based

organizations, Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gender Policy has encountered significant

discursive resistance from several outlier groups comprised mainly of faith-based

organizations such as Lawyers for Jesus, the Emmanuel Community, and Divine

Encounter Fellowship, and religious bodies such as Catholics, Seventh-day Adventists,

and Evangelicals (McFee, 2014). Faith-based organizations, Catholics, Seventh-day

Adventists, and Evangelicals perceived the non-binary definition of gender in the

National Gender Policy’s glossary as an essentialist threat to the natural family

breakdown (McFee, 2014). Specifically, faith-based organizations thought that the

concept of gender as socially constructed could promote same-sex marriage and

children’s adoption by gay couples (McFee, 2014).

Resistance to gender equality policies by conservative religious and political

actors is not a recent event. What is recent is the global emergence of the transnational

phenomena of the anti-gender movement and their discursive strategy of gender ideology

that demonizes the notion of gender. Before 2010, there was a conviction among most

policy scholars in Europe that Europe was on its way to achieving full gender equality

(Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017). Most European policy scholars believed that resistance to

gender equality and sexual citizenship was a reminder of the past or limited to

predominantly Eastern or Catholic-minded countries (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017).

However, beginning around 2010 in Europe and 2008 in Latin America, these regions

experienced an emerging discursive opposition labeled as gender ideology promoted

through anti-gender campaigns (Chapelan, 2018; Moreira & de Assis César, 2019;

Özkazanç, 2020). Moreover, these anti-gender campaigns and the discursive rhetoric of

gender ideology have emerged as a global or transnational phenomenon spreading from

Europe to other parts of the globe, such as the United States and Africa (Kuhar &

Paternotte, 2017). Furthermore, these anti-gender campaigns have increasingly derailed

gender-based reforms in several European and Latin American countries (Kuhar &

Paternotte, 2017). Consequently, the derailment of gender equality policies has led

scholars from various disciplines to examine the policy implications of this new

discursive rhetoric mainly within specific national contexts such as Croatia, France,

Germany, and Poland (Anić, 2015; Graff, 2014; Graff & Korolczuk, 2017; Kuhar, 2017;

Robcis, 2015). Therefore, this study focused on the influence of gender ideology and the

failure of successive governments in Trinidad and Tobago to adopt the National Gender

Policy from 2010 to 2018.

Problem Statement

Globally and within the Caribbean, gender-based violence is a significant threat to

nations’ social and economic security. Globally, intimate partner violence’s estimated

total cost is USD 4.4 trillion, corresponding to 5.2% of global GDP (Hoeffler, 2017).

Further, 85% of the total cost estimate of violence results from violence against women

(Hoeffler, 2017). For instance, in Australia, violence against women would cost Australia

USD 13.9 billion by 2022 if left untreated (Nancarrow, 2010). In Trinidad and Tobago,

the total cost of sexual abuse and domestic violence in 2005 amounted to TTD 487

million (Theodore et al., 2007). These statistics indicate the urgency of understanding the

current state of policy intractability of Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gender and

Policy. The study thus focused on the influence of gender ideology in policy actors’

narratives from 2010-2018, on successive national governments’ failure to adopt the

National Gender Policy. This period is significant, as in 2010 global opposition to gender

equality policies by conservative policy actors centered on using the discursive rhetoric of

gender ideology to derail these policies. This study will advance the literature on adopting

gender equality policies by using the narrative policy framework to examine the

transnational phenomenon of gender ideology. This examination may reduce genderbased

violence, both regionally and internationally.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this sequential exploratory mixed-method content analysis study

was to determine to what extent the influence of gender ideology in the policy narratives

of the coalition of faith-based actors and progender policy advocates between 2010 and

2018 contributed to the failure of successive governments in Trinidad and Tobago to

adopt the National Gender Policy. This study may provide helpful information to

policymakers, women’s organizations, and feminist advocates in reducing policy

intractability in contentious gender equality policy debates and increasing the opportunity

for successful gender policy adoption. Consequently, this study’s information may reduce

the high rate of violence against women in Trinidad and Tobago.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

With the purpose outlined, this study sought to shed light on the matter using both

qualitative and quantitative research questions.

Qualitative RQ 1: What narrative elements are used by the competing coalitions to

discuss the draft National Gender Policy during the policy debate between 2010-2018?

Qualitative RQ 2: What narrative strategies are employed by the competing

coalitions during the national gender policy debate between 2010-2018?

Quantitative RQ 1: What is the relationship between the group’s perception of

losing in the policy debate (independent variable) defined as the group under attack even

if partially winning during the 2010-2018 gender policy debate and the narrative strategy

of symbols and policy surrogates (dependent variable) to expand or limit the scope of

conflict?

H0: There is no relationship between a group’s perception of losing in the policy

debate and using the narrative strategy of symbols and policy surrogates to expand or

limit the scope of conflict.

H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between a group’s perception of

losing in the policy debate and using the narrative strategy of symbols and policy

surrogates to expand or limit the scope of conflict.

Quantitative RQ 2: What is the relationship between the group’s perception of

winning in the policy debate (independent variable) defined as supporting the policy

environment and actions discussed in the narrative during the 2010-2018 gender policy

debate and the narrative strategy of symbols and policy surrogates (dependent variable)?

H0: There is no relationship between a group’s perception of winning in the policy

debate and using the narrative strategy of symbols and policy surrogates to expand or

limit the scope of conflict.

H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between a group’s perception of

winning the policy debate and using the narrative strategy of symbols and policy

surrogates to expand or limit the scope of conflict.

Theoretical Framework for the Study

The theoretical framework that guided this study was the narrative policy framework.

The narrative policy framework focuses on the role of policy narratives in the policy

process (Shanahan et al., 2011). Moreover, narrative elements such as villains, heroes,

victims, plots, and strategies facilitate testing and building theory (Shanahan et al.,

2011).

This theoretical framework provided a suitable lens to examine the discursive

rhetoric of gender ideology, as the rhetoric contains narrative elements such as villains,

heroes, and victims, which influence the scope of the conflict. Therefore, the research

questions and hypotheses are grounded in the narrative policy framework. Additionally,

advocacy coalitions’ perception of themselves as winning or losing in a policy debate

would employ narrative strategies of symbols and policy surrogates that expand or limit

the scope of the conflict (Shanahan et al., 2014). Also, winning and losing groups tend to

utilize the devil shift or angel shift as a narrative strategy (Shannon et al., 2011). The

devil shift occurs when policy actors engage in narrative construction and strategy that

exclusively frames their opponents as villains while exaggerating their power, leading to

policy intractability (Shannon et al., 2011). The angel shift is the antonym of the devil

shift.

Nature of the Study

The rationale for the use of the exploratory sequential mixed method design was

developmental. The study aimed to comprehend and explore the policy narratives of

coalitions using qualitative and quantitative data. Additionally, combining qualitative and

quantitative methods offset the limitations of utilizing just one medium and provide more

robust inferences, insight, and understanding of a particular phenomenon (Onwuegbuzie

& Leech, 2007; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). Moreover, the narrative policy framework

that guided this study is congruent with a mixed-methods approach. Ontologically,

narrative policy framework scholars contend that reality is socially constructed (Jones,

2014). However, narrative policy framework scholars often apply objective epistemology

to study the variations in socially constructed realities (Jones, 2014). This combination of

paradigms facilitated the application of the framework for both quantitative and

qualitative approaches (Jones & Radaelli, 2015, 2016).

Qualitative content analysis facilitated the identification of the predominant

symbols and narrative elements used in the 2010-2018 gender policy debate in this

study’s qualitative phase, driven by this study’s qualitative research questions. These

questions require exploring the narrative elements and strategies used in the contentious

gender policy debate rather than numerical data. Information from this phase informed

the second phase: quantitative. In this phase, quantitative content analysis was appropriate

as the quantitative questions require numerical data on the variables. Additionally,

narrative policy framework scholars have used quantitative content analysis to examine

policy narratives at the meso-level, applying the narrative policy framework codebook

(Pierce et al., 2014; Shanahan et al., 2018). Scholars using the codebook by narrative

policy framework have demonstrated its stability over various policy domains (Shanahan

et al., 2018).

Furthermore, in this study, the application of content analysis included public

consumption documents such as press releases from policy actors (O’Donovan, 2018;

Shanahan et al., 2014; Merry, 2019), newspaper articles written by policy actors (Brewer,

2019; Huda 2018, 2019; Shanahan et al., 2013), government reports (Radelli et al., 2013)

and YouTube videos (Brewer, 2020; Shanahan et al., 2014). In this study, the quantitative

data collected facilitated testing of the narrative policy framework hypotheses, provided

descriptive information, and examined potential relationships among the variables.

Definitions

Angel shift: This phenomenon occurs when policy actors utilize a narrative

strategy focusing on its proponents’ heroic deeds and highlighting the goodness of the

coalition it represents. Moreover, coalitions employ the angel shift to maintain the status

quo (Gupta et al., 2014).

Catholicism: Foundational to Catholicism is the notion that God created man

(Corredor, 2019). Moreover, God established clear expectations concerning two sexes,

male and female, in his divine formation of man and woman (Corredor, 2019).

Devil shift: This phenomenon predicts that policy actors exaggerate opponents’

malicious motives, behaviors, and influence (Sabatier et al., 1987). The devil shift’s

specific outcomes are polarized relations between rival coalitions, low communication

levels, and intractable disagreements concerning significant subsystem policies (Leong

2015).

Evangelicals: Evangelicals differentiate themselves from non-evangelicals based

on a theo-essentialist definition of gender ideology (Frederick, 2010). The theoessentialist

definition of gender ideology views males as both the breadwinners and those having

headship in the family (Frederick, 2010). In comparison, females are regarded as

domestic, primarily responsible for child rearing and conducting household tasks

(Frederick, 2010).

Gender-based violence: Violence against an individual or population, considered

by perpetrators to be acting against gender norms (Choup, 2016).

Green paper: A document containing government policy proposals mainly for

discussion purposes (Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, n.d.).

Heroes: In the narrative policy framework, a hero is either a human or non-human

entity that fixes the problem (Shanahan et al., 2018).

Intimate partner violence (IPV): Is often interchangeably used with domestic

violence. Intimate partner violence or domestic violence involves a broad range of

assaultive and coercive behavior, including the use of any physical violence, sexual

violence, stalking, psychological aggression, economic abuse, or deprivation perpetrated

by a current or former intimate partner, regardless of gender or sexuality (Wagner et al.,

2019).

Policy subsystems: Policy subsystems, which encapsulate policy issues, consist of

various policy actors that vie for control of a policy issue (Shanahan et al., 2018).

Scope of conflict: When interest groups portray themselves as losing a policy

issue, they use narrative strategies to expand the conflict’s scope (Sabatier & Weible,

2007). Similarly, when policy actors portray themselves as winning, they limit the

conflict’s scope to contain an issue to the audience’s status quo (Sabatier & Weible,

2007).

Seventh-day Adventists: Recently, Seventh-day Adventists, similar to their

evangelical counterparts, have accepted male headship (Conroy, 2015). Moreover, many

conservative Adventists’ theological acceptance is a response to the perceived threat of

feminism to the Church (Conroy, 2015).

Victims: In the narrative policy framework, a victim is either a human or

nonhuman entity the villain harms (Shanahan et al.,2018).

Villains: In the narrative policy framework, villains are human or non-human

entities that cause harm (Shanahan et al., 2018).

White Paper: A document with legislative or administrative proposals on which

the government intends to act (Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, n.d.).

Assumptions

The narrative policy framework informed this study, with the primary assumption

being that policy narratives can influence policy outcomes. In line with the previous

narrative policy framework, meso-level studies, policy narratives’ influence on policy

outcomes was a reasonable assumption. A second assumption was the availability of

secondary data, specifically policy documents, newspaper articles, YouTube videos, and

editorials. This assumption was reasonable as there was significant media coverage of the

public debates, primarily on mainstream and social media. A third assumption was that

these secondary data sources contain sufficient information to identify villains, heroes,

and the victim’s narrative characters, allowing for meaningful data review and analysis.

Additionally, faith-based organizations tend to be part of transnational networks.

Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that the diffusion of gender ideology to local faith-

based actors was reasonable.

Scope and Delimitations

This study focused on public consumption documents related to the debate on

Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gender Policy for 2010-2018. Additionally, selected

participants would have met the criteria of being involved in the gender policy debate.

The time frame for this study was 2010-2018. In 2010, the emerging discursive rhetoric

of gender ideology emerged across Europe, Africa, and Latin America, derailing gender

equality policies (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017). This time frame facilitated the opportunity

to investigate the influence of gender ideology in the policy narratives used by policy

actors in Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gender Policy discourse.

Limitations

Significant limitations to this study may impact the interpretation of this study’s

findings. The narrative policy framework is a relatively new public policy framework that

researchers are still refining (Jones, 2014). To date, there is no robust definitional

parameter of what constitutes the narrative element of characters. Previous applications of

the narrative policy framework demonstrated that researchers had defined characters as

people, objects, places, or abstract concepts (Weible & Schlager, 2014). In this study, the

narrative policy framework codebook consisted of nine dichotomous (yes/no) questions

that guided the coder in identifying the extent to which each document contained the

narrative strategies and narrative elements outlined in the study’s hypotheses.

Significance

The current study addressed three complementary gaps in the literature. First, this

study contributed to the limited knowledge regarding the unsuccessful adoption of gender

equality policies. The extant scholarship on gender equality policy adoption had focused

on successful gender policies, and researchers paid little attention to failed policies

(Bergqvist et al., 2013). Second, although gender ideology is well documented and

analyzed, substantial conceptual and theoretical gaps exist in understanding this emerging

transnational phenomenon (Verloo & Paternotte, 2018). Advancing an understanding of

gender ideology requires applying concepts from the political and social sciences to fill

the current conceptual, methodological, and theoretical gaps in knowledge (Verloo &

Parternotte, 2018). Therefore, in this study, the narrative policy framework application

filled the current conceptual, methodological, and theoretical gaps in understanding the

emerging phenomenon of gender ideology. Expanding the narrative policy framework

into a new policy domain was also considered. Previous applications of the narrative

policy framework mainly focused on environmental and energy policy domains, calling

for research into new policy domains (Jones & Radaelli, 2015; Pierce et al., 2014).

Consequently, this study’s findings allow policy analysts to overcome policy

intractability in contentious public policy issues, facilitating an opportunity to adopt

gender-based reforms. As a corollary, adopting gender-based reforms targeting violence

against women increases both individuals and the nation’s social and economic security

as a whole.

Summary

Chapter 1 included the background, problem statement, purpose of the study, and

significance related to intimate partner violence and the non-adoption of Trinidad and

Tobago’s National Gender Policy. The narrative policy framework served as the

theoretical foundation of this study. The chapter also outlined this study’s methodological

approach, assumptions, delimitations, limitations, and significance. Chapter 2 consists of

a literature review relating to the prevalence and impact of intimate partner violence,

driver forces of such violence, gender equality policy adoption, and the transnational

phenomenon of gender ideology.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Addressing gender-based violence in Trinidad and Tobago requires incorporating

gender equity concerns across various sectors of society to dismantle the ideological and

material relations of gender that support violence against women (McFee, 2014).

Nevertheless, the concept of gender as socially constructed in the gender policy document

has triggered resistance by policy actors (McFee, 2014). However, research has not

explored the discursive resistance to gender by faith-based actors. Consequently, this has

created a significant lack in understanding gender-based reform in the Caribbean. Faith-

based actors in the Caribbean are part of transnational networks. Therefore, the failure to

locate these policy narratives of local policy actors in the broader discourse on gender

ideology represents a significant gap in understanding in Caribbean literature. The

purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the influence of gender ideology on

policy actors’ policy narratives during the 2010-2018 gender policy debate.

This chapter commences with a description of the literature research strategy. The

subsequent review will highlight the prevalence of intimate partner violence and its

impact on drivers. The review specifically focused on the emerging phenomenon of

gender ideology and the determinants of successful gender equality policy adoption.

Literature Search Strategy

Several databases facilitated the identification of relevant literature within Walden

University’s Library: Academic Search Complete, Political Science Complete, Pro-Quest

Central, Taylor and Francis, SocioINDEX, ScienceDirect, Sage Journals, and an external

site, Google Scholar. The primary keywords used in the search with varying

combinations included Domestic violence, gender violence, violence against women,

Anti-Gender, Gender Policy, Narrative Policy Framework, gender-based violence,

Gender Equality Policy, and intimate partner violence, Caribbean, Trinidad, and Tobago,

Religion, and Devil shift. Delimiters for the search strategy included peerreviewed

articles, full text, and currency within the last 5 years.

Theoretical Framework

Narratives are essential in understanding the creation, adoption, and policy

implementation of public policy (Fadlallah et al., 2019; Jones & McBeth, 2020;

Rodrigues & Barcelos, 2020). During the policy process, policy actors utilize policy

narratives as discursive resources to persuade other actors to create or resist policy,

primarily by communicating policy problems and solutions (Chang & Koebele, 2020;

Moyson et al., 2022; Merry, 2022; Niederle et al., 2019).). Similarly, within Trinidad and

Tobago’s national context, policy actors’ use policy narratives in resisting the policy

adoption and implementation of the National Gender Policy (McFee, 2014).

Interpretative narrative approaches have a long history in public policy and public

administration research (Dodge et al., 2005; Gray & Jones, 2016; Llewellyn, 2001;

Ospina & Dodge, 2005; Pollitt, 2013; Roe, 1994; Stone, 1989). During the 1980s,

researchers highlighted the need to study the role of policy narratives in the policy

process (Jones & McBeth, 2010; Rodrigues & Barcelos, 2020). However, mainstream

policy scholarship has rejected this post-positivist approach to public policy because these

approaches were highly descriptive and rejected the scientific method. (Shanahan et al.,

2014). To overcome these objections by mainstream policy scholars, early narrative

policy framework researchers developed a general policy framework that provided

empirically testable hypotheses to examine policy narratives’ influence on policy

processes, designs, and outcomes (Boscarino, 2022; Jones & McBeth, 2020; McBeth et

al., 2007; Shanahan et al., 2011). Nevertheless, the general policy framework, known as

the narrative policy framework, was not named until 2010 (Sabieter & Weible, 2014).

Almost 70% of empirical applications of the narrative policy framework focused

mainly on policy issues within the United States (Schlaufer et al., 2022). However,

researchers from several countries, such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, India, and

Germany, have applied the narrative policy framework to study policy narratives (Gupta

et al., 2014; Huda, 2019; Lawton & Rudd, 2014; Schlaufer, 2018; Vogeler & Bandelow,

2018; Weiss, 2020). Additionally, 33.9% of the framework applications before 2014

focused on the environmental and energy policy domains (Schlaufer et al., 2022). To

overcome this limitation, there is a need to apply the narrative policy framework to other

policy domains to determine its strengths and limitations through differentiated case

selection (Pierce et al., 2014). Between 2019 and 2021, only 19% of the framework

applications focused on environmental issues (Schlaufer et al., 2022). Applications of the

framework during that period include immigration, public sector reform, education, and

gun policy (Ertas & McKnight, 2019; Merry, 2019; McBeth et al., 2018; Neto &

Barcelos, 2020; Weiss, 2020). However, recent studies have applied the framework to

other policy domains, such as transgender rights, recreational marijuana use,

Islamophobia, and radical right populist movements (Brekken & Fenley, 2021; Clemons

et al., 2020; Flores et al., 2023; Valero, 2022). Applying the framework to diverse and

contentious policy issues and different geographical settings demonstrates the portability

of the framework. This study is unique in that, to the best of my knowledge, it is the first

application of the narrative policy framework in the gender policy domain.

The narrative policy framework has three analysis levels: micro, meso, and

macro-level (Stauffer, 2023). Most narrative policy framework empirical applications

focused on the meso level of analysis (Schlaufer et al., 2022). Meso-level analysis

typically involves an examination of policy narratives employed by coalitions and groups

of policy actors within a specific policy subsystem (Schlaufer et al., 2022). This study

aimed to understand at the meso-level of analysis how policy actors use narrative

strategies in the National Gender Policy debate. In this study, hypotheses for meso-level

analysis included using narrative strategies, such as expanding the scope of conflict by

coalitions to gain support for a policy position during the National Gender Policy debate.

Literature Review Related to Key Variables and Concepts

The Devil/Angel Shift

While the devil-angel shift concept originated within social psychology behavioral

economics literature and the advocacy coalition framework scholarship, narrative policy

framework scholars have adopted the devil-angel shift concept ((Heikkila et al., 2014;

Jenkins-Smith & Sabatier, 1994; Jones & McBeth, 2020; Pattison et al., 2022; Rupinsky

et al., 2023; Shanahan et al., 2014; Sabatier & Weible, 2007; Shanahan et al., 2011). The

concept of the devil-angel shift in the narrative policy framework literature describes

coalitions in highly conflictual or intractable policy subsystems, constructing policy

narratives that demonize competing coalitions while framing themselves as heroes

(Chang & Koble, 2020; Pattison et al., 2022). Consequently, the devil-angel shift

strengthens boundaries between coalitions, resulting in deep polarization of opponents

into competing advocacy coalitions, leading to protracted policy conflicts because of

disagreement about problem definitions (Fischer et al., 2015; Heikkila et al., 2014).

Moreover, losing coalitions tended to use the devil to shift more frequently than

winning coalitions (Shanahan et al., 2013). However, the evidence is mixed regarding the

association between the perception of winning and losing and the use of the devil shift or

angel shift. For example, Schafer (2018) examined the Swiss School policy debate and

found that winning coalitions used the angel shift. However, usage of the devil shift and

angel shift in losing and winning coalitions can change, as losing coalitions that emerge

as winning in the policy debate would employ the angel shift (Schafer, 2018). Brewer

(2020), examining the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Agency, found that the anti-CRC

coalition utilized the devil shift consistently from 2007 to 2013. However, Brewer further

noted that after the anti-CRC coalition emerged as the winning coalition in 2013, there

was a slight inclination toward using the angel shift in 2014. In contrast, Chang and

Koebele (2020), examining school choice, found that using the devil-angel shift narrative

strategy was more dependent on the policy position of coalitions than the perceived status

as policy winners or losers. Similarly, Rupinsky et al. (2023), examining the Bears Ears

and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, found no support for using the devil

and angel shifts and winning and losing narratives. Nevertheless, Stephan (2020) noted

that the mixed evidence regarding the use of the devil–angel shift is a viable area for

repeated testing.

Symbols and Policy Surrogates

Using symbols and policy surrogates in the narrative policy framework draws on

the pioneering work of Schattschneider (1960) and Baumgartner and Jones (2009). They

contended that advocacy coalitions strategically construct narratives to limit or expand

the scope of the conflict. Building on this idea, Shanahan et al. (2007) posited that

advocacy coalitions might use metaphors, colorful language, and condensation symbols

to influence the conflict’s scope surrounding an issue. Shanahan et al. (2011) further

highlighted two types of symbols: policy characterization symbols and policy issue

symbols. For instance, policy actors use characterization symbols to characterize

opponents negatively. At the same time, policy actors use policy issue symbols to define

the issue in memorable ways (Shanahan et al., 2011). The authors further indicated that

advocacy coalitions might also engage in the use of policy surrogates. Using policy

surrogates links a policy issue to a more salient and contentious broader national issue

(Shanahan et al., 2007). In their study on nuclear energy use in India, Gupta et al. (2014)

found tentative support for using symbols and policy surrogates during the nuclear energy

debates.

Understanding Intimate Partner Violence and Women

There is consensus in the extant literature that intimate partner violence is a public

health issue that disproportionately impacts women (Stöckl, & Sorenson, 2024; White et

al., 2024). Researchers have found that in heterosexual relations, women are

disproportionately more likely to experience intimate partner victimization by male

perpetrators (Breiding et al., 2015; Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006; Heise et al., 1999; Hindin

et al., 2008). Although some studies found comparable rates of female-male violence and

male-female violence, these studies noted that feminine violence was less severe than

violence perpetrated by males in intimate partner relationships (Birkley & Eckhardt,

2015; Whitaker, 2013).

Intimate partner violence is a global and regional public health issue. Intimate

partner violence’s global lifetime prevalence was approximately 35% (World Health

Organization [WHO], 2013). Sardinha et al. (2022) found that globally, 27% of

everpartnered women 15–49 years experienced physical or sexual, or both, intimate

partner violence at least once in their lifetime. Regionally, Africa, the Eastern

Mediterranean, and Southeast Asia have the highest prevalence rates of lifetime physical

and sexual intimate partner violence among ever-partnered women at approximately 37%

(Ma et al., 2023). Similarly, in Trinidad and Tobago, Figure 1 reveals that 30.2% of even-

partnered women reported having experienced physical and sexual intimate partner

violence at some point in their lives (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018).

Figure 1

Lifetime and Current Physical, Sexual, Physical and Sexual IPV among Even Partnered

Women in Trinidad and Tobago, 2017

Note. From National Women’s Health Survey for Trinidad and Tobago: Final Report, by

C. Pemberton & L. Joseph, 2018, Central Statistical Office - Ministry of Planning and

Development. Inter-American Development Bank.

https://cso.gov.tt/wp content/uploads/2022/02/National - Womens - Health - Survey - for -

Trinidad - and - Tobago.pdf

Similar to these global estimates, violence against women in Latin America and

the Caribbean is widespread. Population-based surveys indicated that intimate partner

violence in Latin America ranged from 17% in the Dominican Republic to 53% in

Bolivia (Botts et al., 2019). Moreover, the prevalence rates of intimate partner violence in

Caribbean countries range from 20% to 69% (DeShong & Haynes, 2016). Among

Jamaican women, the lifetime prevalence of intimate physical and sexual violence was

27.8 % (Watson & Williams, 2018). Similarly, in Trinidad and Tobago, 30.2% of

evenpartnered women reported having experienced physical and sexual intimate partner

violence at some point in their lives (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018).

Additionally, preliminary studies emanating from the Global North have found

that intimate partner violence increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (BettingerLopez

& Bro, 2020; Brink et al., 2021; Ebert & Steinert, 2021; Ribeiro et al., 2022). In Trinidad

and Tobago, there was an increase in both perpetration and victimization across both

genders during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wallace et al., 2024). The data from both the

Global North and the Global South, both pre-COVID and during the pandemic, indicates

the necessity of public policy intervention in addressing the reduction of intimate partner

violence.

The existing scholarship on violence against women has also indicated that

intimate partner violence prevalence rates might be higher due to underreporting by

victims. One in nine women reported assaults in low and middle-income Countries

(Palermo et al., 2014). But 85% of domestic abuse victims do not report their abuse to the

police (Couto et al., 2024). Of the 19,846 requests for support from victims of domestic

violence to the Portuguese Support Victims Association, only 6,067 of the requests were

reported to the police (Pinto da Costa, 2024). Although Trinidad and Tobago is highly

developed, less than 1% of intimate partner violence victims reported to a formal source

(Pemberton & Joseph, 2018), and Trinidad and Tobago’s figure maybe 6.3 times higher

than those reported in the official statistics (Seepersad, 2016). The evidential trend of

underreporting at the global and national level appears to indicate that in Trinidad and

Tobago, intimate partner violence has reached epidemic proportions.

Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Women

Mental Health Impact

Researchers have documented the mental health impact of intimate partner

violence. Researchers found that women consistently exposed to intimate partner violence

throughout their lifetime are likely to have an increased risk of depression, suicide

attempts, substance abuse, chronic mental illness, and post traumatic stress disorder

(PTSD) than women not exposed to intimate partner violence (Castellví et al., 2017;

Coker et al., 2002; Devries et al., 2013; Herbert et al., 2022; Lacey et al., 2015; Lv & Li,

2023; Oh et al., 2019).

Population-based studies conducted in the Anglophone Caribbean region found

high rates of suicide ideation in women consistently exposed to intimate partner violence

(Watson & Williams, 2018; Pemberton & Joseph, 2018). In Jamaica, 12.2% of women

who had experienced physical or sexual violence reported suicide ideation compared to

five percent of women who had not experienced intimate partner violence (Watson &

Williams, 2018). In Trinidad and Tobago, 27% of women who had experienced physical

or sexual partner violence reported suicidal ideation or attempts, compared to 12% of

women who had not experienced physical or sexual partner abuse (Pemberton & Joseph,

2018; see Figure 2).

Figure 2

Psychological Risk Factors Reported Among Even-Partnered Women

Note. From National Women’s Health Survey for Trinidad and Tobago: Final Report, by

C. Pemberton & L. Joseph, 2018, Central Statistical Office - Ministry of Planning and

Development. Inter-American Development Bank.

https://cso.gov.tt/wp content/uploads/2022/02/National - Womens - Health - Survey - for -

Trinidad - and - Tobago.pdf

IPV and Sexual and Reproductive Health

Researchers have found that intimate partner violence is the most prevalent form

of violence among women during pregnancy. Intimate partner violence’s global

prevalence during pregnancy ranges from between 1% to 28% (Garcia-Moreno et al.,

2006). However, the prevalence of intimate partner violence during pregnancy varies in

both developed and developing country settings. Devries et al. (2010) found that intimate

partner violence during pregnancy ranged from 4% to 13.5% in Africa, 2% to 5% in the

United States, and 2% to 7% in Europe. Estimates of intimate partner violence during

pregnancy in the Anglophone-Caribbean region are similar to estimates in highly

developed countries. In Jamaica, 5% of women reported intimate partner violence during

pregnancy (Watson & Williams, 2018). In Trinidad and Tobago, 7% of women reported

physical intimate partner violence during pregnancy (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018).

However, the comparably low figures found in Trinidad and Tobago do not reflect the

severity of the violence. In Trinidad and Tobago, 54.1% of pregnant women reported

being punched and kicked in the abdomen while pregnant (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018). A

longitudinal study conducted in Sweden found that intimate partner violence prevalence

increased from 2.5% during pregnancy to 3.3% up to 1–1.5 years postpartum

(Finnbogadóttir & Dykes, 2016). Similarly, population-based studies conducted in

Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago reflected increased pregnancy-related violence. Watson

and Williams (2018) found that for 35% of women, the violence worsened during

pregnancy. Similarly, Pemberton and Joseph (2018) found that 41% of pregnant women

in Trinidad and Tobago experienced intimate partner violence and likewise reported that

physical violence worsened during pregnancy. These statistics indicate that pregnancy

offers no protection from acts of intimate partner violence.

Furthermore, researchers found that during pregnancy, perpetrators of violence are

typically past and or current male intimate partners (Breiding et al., 2015). Population-

based studies conducted in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago found that perpetrators

tended to be the child’s father. In Jamaica, 85% of the women who reported having

experienced intimate partner violence during pregnancy reported the perpetrator as the

unborn child’s father (Watson & Williams, 2018). Similarly, in Trinidad and

Tobago, over 90% of the women who reported having experienced intimate partner

violence during pregnancy reported the perpetrator as the unborn child’s father

(Pemberton & Joseph, 2018).

Reproductive Coercion

Intimate partner violence also negatively impacts women’s autonomy over their

reproductive health (Zemlak et al., 2024). Reproductive coercion is one form of intimate

partner violence in which male partners attempt to achieve power and coercion over their

partners (Grace & Anderson, 2018). Reproductive coercion manifests as birth control

sabotage, pregnancy coercion, or controlling pregnancy outcome (Grace & Anderson,

2018). Bergmann and Stockman (2015) estimated that 2.1 million unintended pregnancies

occurred in the United States due to the synergy between intimate partner violence and

women’s inability to negotiate contraceptive use. Barber et al. (2018), utilizing a sample

of 1003 women in the United States, found that recent violence was associated with

higher pregnancy rates. Barber et al. (2018) argued that high pregnancy rates occurred

during higher violent weeks. Moreover, the researchers found that women perceived an

increased pregnancy desire in their partners, engaged in more sexual activity, and had

lower contraception usage than nonviolent weeks. Similarly, in Latin America and the

Caribbean region, Bott et al. (2012) found that women who had reported intimate partner

violence had higher unintended and unwanted pregnancy rates. Pemberton and Joseph

(2018) corroborated this pattern when they found that out of the women who reported

having experienced physical intimate partner violence, 9% of their partners refused the

use of birth control. However, this figure increased when male partners used emotional

violence. Additionally, Pemberton and Joseph (2018) found that of the women reporting

their experience with emotional, intimate partner violence, over 20% of their partners

refused birth control.

Furthermore, the inability to negotiate the use of contraceptives such as condoms

increases the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and also increases the risk

of repeat-induced abortions, unsafe abortions, and miscarriages (Citernesi et al., 2015;

Ely & Murshid, 2017; John & Edmeades, 2018; Narayan et al., 2019; Stephenson et al.,

2016). Finnbogadóttir et al. (2020), in a longitudinal study of 1694 women in Sweden,

found that women with a history of violence were more likely to have an increased risk of

premature birth before 37 weeks gestation. Premature birth carries a higher medical risk

as infants born before 37 weeks are likely to experience respiratory distress, and

immature brains may also require a more extended stay at the hospital while having an

increased risk of death after returning home (Finnbogadóttir et al., 2020). Also, these

birth outcomes can significantly impact a child’s development. Notwithstanding the

medical risk of premature birth, prenatal intimate partner violence could lead to child

developmental obstacles such as mental health, behavioral, emotional, and

neurodevelopmental problems (Arpi & Ferrari, 2013; Cassiano et al., 2016; Class et al.,

2014; Patton et al., 2004).

Drivers of Violence Against Women

Figure 3 is a diagrammatical representation of the macro and micro drivers of

violence against women substantiated through global research. Key factors under review

lie at the individual, relationship, community/organizational, and societal levels,

expounded upon under the bracket of micro and macro drivers of violence against

women.

Figure 3

Understanding Violence Against Women

Note. UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP, OHCHR, UNESCO, & ILO (2015). A

Framework to Underpin Action to Prevent Violence against Women. UN Women.

Retrievedfrom:https://www.unwomen.org/en/digitallibrary/publications/2015/11/preventi

on - framework

Micro Drivers

Quantitative research conducted on intimate partner violence tends to focus

mainly on micro-level drivers of intimate partner violence. These individual-level risk

factors include childhood history of violence, controlling behaviors, alcohol abuse,

socioeconomic status, age, acceptance of violence, and geography (Bott et al., 2012;

Benson & Fox, 2004; Capaldi et al., 2012; Johnson & Das, 2009; Stith et al., 2004). The

review of individual risk factors in this study will focus on the following individual-level

risk factors: the history of childhood victimization, acceptance of violence, and

controlling behaviors.

Childhood History of Violence. Research has found that childhood exposure to

violence in the home is a global phenomenon. Globally, one billion children between the

ages of 2 and 17 years experienced physical, emotional, and sexual violence in the past

year (Hillis et al., 2016). Regional estimates of childhood exposure to violence are 64% in

Asia, 56% in North America, 50% in Africa, and Latin America, 34% (Hillis et al.,

2016). Europe has the lowest prevalence rate at 12% (Hillis et al., 2016). Devries et al.

(2019) found in their study of 34 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that

caregivers’ physical and emotional violence towards girls between 15-19 ranged from

30% - 60%. Devries et al. (2019) also found that intimate partner violence among girls

between 15-19 ranged from 13% to 18%. Moreover, these figures have significant

implications for the intergenerational transmission of violence as a predictor of women’s

experience with intimate partner violence in adulthood.

Researchers have established that childhood exposure to violence in the home as

either victims of abuse or witnessing violence against their mothers is a significant risk

factor for male perpetration of intimate partner violence in adulthood (Capaldi & Clark,

1998; Ehrensaft et al., 2003; Magdol et al., 1998; Swinford et al., 2000; Thulin et al.,

2020). In Jamaica, Watson and Williams (2018) found that men who had reported having

experienced violence in childhood perpetrated intimate partner violence in their

adulthood.

Childhood exposure to violence is also associated with later adult victimization

(Thulin et al., 2020). In Jamaica, approximately 48% of intimate partner sexual violence

survivors reported experiencing physical violence as a child. Similarly, in Trinidad and

Tobago, 40% of female survivors of intimate partner violence reported witnessing

violence against their mothers as children (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018). Moreover,

Pemberton and Joseph (2018) found that the severity of physical partner violence that

women experience was significantly associated with childhood violence.

Gover et al. (2008) noted that culturally sanctioned child discipline methods

indirectly influence boys and men to accept violence as a legitimate method of addressing

others’ unwanted and offensive behavior. Researchers found that boys who witness

interparental violence or experience violence tend to normalize such violence (Schwartz

et al., 2006; Straus & Yodanis, 1996; World et al., 1999).

Lacey et al. (2019) argued that within the Caribbean region, the learning of

violence begins at the earliest stage of the life course, starting with the cultural acceptance

of corporal punishment as a form of discipline. Sutton and Álvarez (2016) noted that 89%

of Caribbean women who supported children’s physical punishment also reported having

experienced corporal punishment as a child. Additionally, Sutton and Álvarez (2016)

found that men across the Caribbean and Latin America subjected to frequent physical

discipline as a child were statistically more likely to demonstrate tolerant attitudes

towards violence against women.

Acceptance of Violence Against Women. Diverse studies have identified

attitudinal acceptance of violence against women as an essential factor contributing to

perpetration and victimization (Abramsky et al., 2011; Amir-ud-Din et al., 2017; Jewkes

et al., 2017; Sardinha & Catalan, 2018; Vyas & Heise, 2016). The acceptance of violence

against women in the Caribbean may have its antecedent in Caribbean history. Caribbean

scholars indicated that the current normalization of violence in Caribbean societies is

reflective of the region’s history of violence, particularly slavery and colonialism.

Jeremiah et al. (2017) argued that violence inclusive of adverse childhood experiences,

including family violence, is embedded within the social and cultural norms in Caribbean

society from the very inception. According to Jeremiah et al. (2017), family violence in

the Caribbean is a legacy of the plantation economies’ oppressive and patriarchal culture

and colonial practices.

However, Pemberton and Joseph (2018) found no statistically significant

relationship between the prevalence of violence and the normalization of violence in

Trinidad and Tobago. Nevertheless, Hosein’s (2019) qualitative, complementary study to

Pemberton and Joseph’s (2018) quantitative study found that acceptance of intimate

partner violence played a significant role in heterosexual relationships in Trinidad and

Tobago. Specifically, Hosein (2019) found that gender ideology regarding love and

marriage and beliefs about femininity and masculinity facilitated intimate partner

violence.

Controlling Behaviors. Bott et al. (2012) found that across Latin America and

the Caribbean countries, women experienced three or more controlling behaviors in

romantic relationships than the control group and were up to three times more likely to

report other forms of intimate partner violence. In Trinidad and Tobago, the two most

common controlling behaviors reported by even-partnered women were males getting

jealous or angry if they talked to another man (30%) and males wanting to know where

they were always (23%) (Pemberton & Joseph 2018). Additionally, 68% of women

whose partners exhibited more than one type of controlling behavior also experienced

emotional partner violence (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018).

Macro Drivers

Kovacs (2018) noted that understanding the individual-level risk factors for

intimate partner violence is critical. However, Kovacs (2018) further indicated that it is

also relevant to study how macro-level risk factors such as policies, laws, and societal

norms impact a woman’s intimate partner violence risk factor.

Institutional and Legislative Norms. Worldwide, over 100 countries have laws

in which abortion is legal under some conditions, such as risk to the physical and mental

health of the mother and fetal anomalies (Remez et al., 2020). In Trinidad and Tobago,

abortion is illegal, with few exceptions (Martin et al., 2007). Martin et al. (2007) noted

that in Trinidad and Tobago, the abortion statute is a word-for-word replica of Section 58

of the 1861 UK Offences Against a Persons Act prohibiting abortion. Moreover, the

Offences Against the Person Act (Amendment) 2005, Sections 56 and 57, are surmised as

persons aiding or providing abortion services are liable to imprisonment for two years.

The statute further states that a pregnant woman who procures such termination is liable

to imprisonment for four years. Smith (2016) noted that laws prohibiting a woman’s

reproductive rights serve as a clear indication of a state’s anti-female policy. Although no

rigorous abortion legislation is enforced, the law primarily impacts women from lower

socioeconomic backgrounds (Martin et al., 2007). Specifically, it hinders accessibility,

and so mainly applies to women who cannot afford the expensive, safe termination

services offered by a private health clinic (Martin et al. (2007). According to the Office of

the Prime Minister (2018), a situational analysis conducted by the Family Planning

Association of Trinidad and Tobago indicated that 96% of pregnancies were unplanned.

Furthermore, in 31.9% of these unplanned pregnancies, women engaged in using tablets,

hormones, and misoprostol herbs as self-selected methods for the fetus’s termination

(Office of the Prime Minister, 2018). These findings are significant as Ganatra et al.

(2017) studied the occurrence of safe and unsafe abortion practices across 182 countries

between 2010-2014 and found a positive association between safe abortions and less

restrictive laws.

Lazarus-Black (2008) postulated that the State is both the guarantor of rights and

the perpetrator of injustice in post-colonial societies. Injustice can often take the form of

faulty implementation of laws. Lazarus-Black (2003) noted that when forced to accept

subjugated entities’ demands, dominant groups in society create legal systems that

substitute formal equality for true equality. Lazarus-Black (2003) referred to formal

equality as laws that, on the surface, appear to provide the same status for both men and

women but do not offer women substantial equality. True equality would require a

fundamental paradigm shift.

Implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of 1991 and its subsequent

amendments continue to reflect the State’s dual role as both guarantors of rights and as a

primary perpetrator of injustice. In 1991, Trinidad and Tobago enacted the Domestic

Violence Act of 1991, making Trinidad and Tobago the first Anglophone Caribbean

country to enact domestic violence legislation (Lazarus-Black, 2003). Lazarus-Black

(2003) referred to the Domestic Violence Act of 1991 as the ‘regendering’ of the State.

The State’s regendering occurred due to the Act making public what once was considered

a private matter by religious institutions, judicial systems, law enforcement, hospitals, and

family members. Robinson (2004) also referred to this paradigm shift from the private to

the public as an ideological project.

Since the passage of the Act and subsequent amendments in 1999 and 2005, many

women continue to apply for protection orders. For instance, 71% of reports made to the

Trinidad and Tobago Police Service in the first quarter of 2015 were made by women,

while 8,796 women applied for protection orders from the Court (Office of the Prime

Minister, 2018). Additionally, in 2016, the National Domestic Violence Hotline between

January 2016 and June 2017 received 4,403 calls (Office of the Prime Minister, 2018).

However, evidence suggests that the Act represents formal equality instead of true

equality. According to Pemberton and Joseph (2018), in Trinidad and Tobago, law

enforcement and the judiciary’s everyday practices continue to be major stumbling blocks

for the protection and advocation of survivors of intimate partner violence. Hosein (2019)

noted that in Trinidad and Tobago, court processes for domestic violence victims are

lengthy and beset by delays due to absent magistrates, police officers, forensic

reports, and prohibitive legal costs. Hosein (2019) further noted that judges, for instance,

were more likely to advise the victim to return home to her husband if he appeared

repentant. Additionally, Hosein (2019) found that the responses of the Trinidad and

Tobago Police Service were inconsistent, ranging from inappropriate or dismissive to

sometimes positive. According to Hosein (2019), improper or dismissive responses

tended to create a sense of neglect and a cycle of victim-blaming. Moreover, Johnson and

Boodram (2019) found that a patriarchal police culture played a significant role in police

officers’ response to intimate partner violence victims in Trinidad and Tobago.

Caribbean scholarship has located intimate partner violence in Trinidad and

Tobago in the cultural perceptions of gender and women’s and men’s relationships

(Barriteau 2001: Johnson & Boodram, 2019; Hosein, 2019). Therefore, the Domestic

Violence Act’s inefficacy lies not in the quality of its legal provisions but in gender

relations supporting the institutions charged with implementing the regulations.

Consequently, isolated amendments to the Act that do not address the gender ideologies

fundamentally supporting institutional practices will not increase the Act’s efficacy.

According to McFee (2017), addressing the sector-specific institutional failings impinges

on the Act’s effectiveness and requires a multi-sectoral plan that mainstreams gender

relations and equity.

Gender Inequality. Since the Beijing Platform of Action, gender equality has

become a primary goal in addressing violence against women. The United Nations

Developmental Programme (2013) defines gender equality as the status gap between men

and women in the social, economic, and political arenas. Historically, researchers on

feminism have contended that gender inequality is a significant macro-level risk factor

for violence against women, particularly sexual violence (Heise, 1998; Heise et al.,

1994).

Recent research conducted in high-income countries in Europe has confirmed an

association between gender equality at the national level and intimate partner violence

prevalence. Leseur (2020), utilizing a sample of 17,404 students at 68 universities in 32

nations, found that higher levels of national-level gender inequality increased the risk of

women experiencing minor and severe intimate partner sexual violence. Similarly,

Zapata-Calvente et al. (2019), utilizing a sample of 30,824 heterosexual women across 28

European countries, found that greater economic gender equality at the country level was

associated with a lower frequency of physical (Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

(IPVAW) victimization. Redding et al. (2017), utilizing secondary data in Spain, found

that intimate partner violence prevalence was higher in communities with greater gender

inequality. Evidence also indicated a positive association between gender inequality and

violence against women in medium-developed and low-developed countries

(Valdimarsdóttir, 2018). However, there is no peer-reviewed literature documenting the

association between national-level gender equality or inequality and intimate partner

violence in Trinidad and Tobago.

Cementing this pattern is a recent study conducted in Latin America and the

Caribbean, which found a statistically significant relationship between societal income

inequality and past-year intimate partner violence (Yapp & Pickett, 2019). Although

Trinidad and Tobago ranks high in the Gender Equality Index, significant gender

inequality still exists at the macro level. According to the United Nations Human

Development Report (2019), in Trinidad and Tobago, female participation in the labor

market stood at 51% compared to 71% for men. Additionally, the average earned income

for women in Trinidad and Tobago was US$21,455 or TT$135,167, while that of a man

was US$37,911 or TT$238,839, despite women having higher university participation

rates than men over the last three decades (Hosein, 2019). Nevertheless, employment

options are higher for men without formal education than women (Office of Prime

Minister Gender and Child Affairs, 2018). There is also significant participation by many

women in low-paid occupational sectors such as Community, Social, and Personal

Services Industries (41%), followed by Restaurants and Hotels (25%), Wholesale and

Retail Trade (16%), Financial Services (10%) and the Construction Industry (8%),

(Office of the Prime Minister, 2018).

Gender-Related Macro Social Norms. Violence against women is an expression

of inequality between men and women, rooted in gender-related macro-social norms

related to beliefs, standards, and values about men’s and women’s status and roles in

society (Fattah & Camellia, 2020; Zapata-Calvente et al., 2019). Pemberton and Joseph

(2018) found gender-related macro-social norms related to women’s inferiority and men’s

superiority in Trinidad and Tobago.) They revealed that 56.5% of women believed that a

woman’s role was to care for the home, and 66.2 % thought that the man naturally should

be head of the household (Pemberton & Joseph, 2018). Notably, Kerrigan (2019) found

that the discourse of urban youth in Trinidad and Tobago reflected the colonial narrative

of violence against women’s bodies, stigmatization of women’s bodies, and women as

devious and untrustworthy.

Adoption of Gender Equality Policies. Within the last three decades, scholars on

gender and politics have attempted to understand the determinants facilitating the

successful adoption of gender equality policies. Notably, the use of frames in the social

movement literature has demonstrated its strategic capacity to influence collective

mobilization and policies (Benford & Snow, 2000; Gamson & Modigliani, 1989).

Bergqvist et al. (2013) noted that actors in the women’s movement had tremendous

success in policy adoption when framing their demands in universalistic terms instead of

challenging men as a group, their dominance, and male power. However, Goetz and

Jenkins (2018) noted that women’s advocacy groups are most successful in weakening

political resistance and achieving their policy agenda when framing threatening reform

initiatives that create divisions among policy actors.

The emerging literature review indicated that gender ideology had facilitated an

increase in alliances among opponents of gender equality policy with different ideological

backgrounds and support from the general population through frames that create moral

panic. In Europe and the Americas, increased discursive opposition to gender equality

policies by conservative, religious, and nationalist actors utilizing the rhetoric of gender

ideology has led to policy reversals and stymying of gender equality proposals (Kovats &

Poim, 2015; Kuhar, 2015; Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017; Verloo, 2018). In effect, the use of

gender ideology by conservative policy actors has reduced women’s advocacy coalitions’

strategic capacity to achieve their agendas. Moreover, a review of gender policy adoption

literature has primarily focused on successful gender policy adoption. According to

Bergqvist et al. (2013), researchers could comprehensively analyze and conclude gender

equality policy enablers by paying attention to successful and unsuccessful outcomes.

However, Bergqvist et al. (2013) argued that failed policies are specific policy issues that

have made it to the political agenda due to public investigations or inquiry but exist in a

state of policy intractability—considering policy proposals as failed means that these

proposals have yet to become laws but have become stalled during the policy process.

The increasing use of gender ideology by a constellation of policy actors has led to

unsuccessful gender policy outcomes, mainly in the form of the non-adoption of gender-

based reforms.

Bergqvist et al. (2013), building on the works of Sabatier (1999) and Anderson

(2011), provided a methodology for selecting a failed policy proposal at the adoption

stage. Specifically, Bergqvist et al. (2013) highlighted the importance of paying attention

to resistance. The authors contended that understanding the strategies used by advocates

of a particular reform or the strengths of specific alliances in support of a policy position

requires analysis of the opponents of that policy position. Moreover, according to

Bergqvist et al. (2013), analysis of policy adoption failure requires equal attention to the

strategies utilized by opponents and proponents of a policy issue. As such, this

methodology is suitable for examining the influence of gender ideology on the

nonadoption of gender-based reform.

Emergence of Gender Ideology

In 2010, Europe and Latin America experienced a growing discursive opposition

to gender equality policies through gender ideology (Dietze et al., 2020; Kuhar &

Paternotte, 2017; Kuhar & Pajnik, 2020; Stambolis-Ruhstorfer & Tricou, 2017). Gender

ideology supported to varying degrees by the Catholic Church and other conservative

actors has spread from Europe to different parts of the globe, such as the United States,

Africa, and Latin America (Beltrán & Creely, 2018; Corredor, 2019; Juroš et al., 2020;

Morán Faúndes, 2019; O’Sullivan & Krulišová, 2020). Furthermore, the literature

indicates that this opposition is a transnational phenomenon, given its simultaneous

emergence across several European Countries ( Kováts, 2017, 2018; Kuhar & Paternotte,

2017, 2018).

The emerging literature identifies this neologism labeled as gender ideology as a

symbolic glue, a rhetorical device, an empty signifier, a syntagma or counterstrategy, or

countermovement (Corredor, 2019; Garbagnoli, 2016; Junqueira, 2018; Kuhar & Zobec,

2017; Kuhar, 2017; Kovats & Poim, 2015; Paternotte, 2023). Furthermore, the emerging

literature on gender ideology as a discursive tool highlighted its ability to unite policy

actors with different ideological frameworks. Most of the scholarship contends that

gender ideology is a symbolic glue that holds a complex constellation of actors that may

not share the same ideological framework (Kovats & Poim, 2015; Kuhar & Paternotte,

2017; Mayer &Sauer, 2017; O’Sullivan & Krulišová, 2020). Additionally, the rhetoric of

gender ideology can mobilize hate and produce moral panic, expressly by framing

progressive policies as an existential threat to national values and identity (Kuhar &

Paternotte, 2017).

Symbols and Policy Surrogates of Gender Ideology

Despite national specificities, anti-gender campaigns share standard frames and

symbols that guide and structure the anti-gender discourse (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017).

Across Europe, anti-gender movements tend to share the same symbols or tropes. Kuhar

and Paternotte (2017) noted that the logo of the “proper” family (mother + father +

children – one boy and one girl) exists in countries such as Germany, Slovakia, Croatia,

and Finland. Commonly identified frames are Nature, Nation, and Normality (Mayer &

Sauer, 2017; Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017).

According to Mayer and Sauer (2017), critics of gender ideology argue that it is

dangerous because gender ideology hides its true intentions. Specifically, opponents of

gender ideology claim that gender equality policies’ hidden agenda is to destroy

traditional gender roles (Mayer & Sauer, 2017). ‘Gender’ is often framed as negating

nature and the natural gender order. Opponents of the Istanbul Convention interpreted

gender in the policy document as undermining the natural gender order in Bulgarian

society (Darakchi, 2019). Darakchi (2019), utilizing content analysis, found 489 social

media comments that identified the Convention as a “Zionistic project” and dangerous for

Bulgaria’s future. In March 2018, GERB, translated in English as Citizens for European

Development of Bulgaria, withdrew the Convention’s ratification under pressure from

public opinion until further notice. In 2012, the Minister of Justice in Poland argued that

the inclusion of the word ‘gender’ in the Convention on Preventing and Combating

Violence against Women and Domestic Violence identified that the Convention promoted

gender ideology (Graff, 2014). In Slovenia, anti-gender campaigners argued that the

Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and

Domestic Violence would allow gender ideology to become the State’s official ideology

(Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017). Conservative actors in Croatia argued that the Council of

Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women would

impose gender as socially constructed to change traditional gender roles (Bosak & Vajda,

2019).

According to Mayer and Sauer (2017), gender as totalitarian is one of the most

predominant frames. The framing of gender as totalitarian in anti-gender campaigns

highlights the non-democratic nature of gender ideology (Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017).

Equating gender ideology with Marxism and the communist political regime is common

in post-socialist Europe (Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017). Moreover, by equating gender with

communism, right-wing- politicians engage in a conscious act of persuasive inference

(Zuk & Zuk, 2019). Zuk and Zuk (2019) thus defined persuasive inference as the

conscious exposure to similarities between two phenomena and the simultaneous

concealment of all differences.

One of the most potent frames of gender is an ideology of sexualization and

pedophilia (Villa, 2019). Anti-gender coalitions use this frame to reach a broader

audience (Villa, 2019). Anti-gender campaigns utilized this frame to widen the audience

and include support from existing parent groups engaged in other policy issues such as

educational reform and father’s rights (Graf & Korolczuk, 2017).

Villains, Victims, and Heroes of Gender Ideology

Antigender campaigns identify a specific set of characters that are common across

nations. Commonly identifiable villains comprise international institutions such as the

European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO),

feminists, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) organizations, sex educators,

and State Administrators (Graf & Korolczuk, 2017; Mayer & Sauer, 2017; Kuhar &

Zorbec, 2017; Zuk & Zuk, 2019). Neo-conservatives contend that there is global

cooperation among feminist and LGBT actors, large corporations, human rights agencies,

and international donors using the global human rights agenda as a tool to spread gender

ideology (Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017).

Commonly identifiable victims of gender ideology are men, children, the natural

family, the nation, and family values (Cupać & Ebetürk, 2020; Graff & Korolczuk, 2017;

Paternotte & Kuhar, 2017; Mayer & Sauer, 2017; Villa, 2017; Zuk & Zuk, 2019).

Specifically, men, children, the natural family, the nation, and family values are targets in

the gender mainstreaming debate. Paternotte and Kuhar (2018) noted that the anti-gender

movement views gender mainstreaming as a covert political strategy to change men’s and

women’s identities. Villa (2017) indicated that Germany’s conservative publications

framed gender mainstreaming as an anti-natural, non-commonsensical understanding of

men and women. Moreover, gender mainstreaming is a non-democratic radical ideology

masked as an EU policy (Villa, 2017).

Catholics, Evangelicals, and Gender Ideology

A historical examination of the anti-gender movement demonstrates that the

movement has strong connections to conservative religious organizations. Moreira & de

Assis César (2019), utilizing discourse analysis on Internet documents since 2008 and

Facebook posts, found that gender ideology discourse was the strongest among Brazilian

conservative and fundamentalist groups. The notions of “gender ideology and “gender

theory” have been traced to the ideological background in the Vatican’s scholarly

discourse, with the Vatican’s reaction to feminist theorists and activists’ mobilization in

international human rights spaces such as the Conference on Population and Development

(1994), and the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing during the mid-

1990s (Anić, 2015; Bracke & Paternotte, 2015; Case, 2019; Lavizzari & Prearo, 2019;

Morán Faundes, 2019; Garbagnoli, 2016).

Paternotte and Kuhar (2018) stated that gender ideology is more than an analytical

frame but rather a political strategy deployed by the Catholic Church. Paternotte and

Kuhar (2018) noted that the notion of ‘gender ideology” emerged as a counterstrategy by

the Catholic Church. Gender ideology emerged after their failed advocacy against the

incorporation of gender in public policy documents articulated at the 1994 UN

Conference on Population and Development and the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women

(Paternotte & Kuhar, 2018). Nevertheless, the Catholic Church’s role and its use of its

political strategy of gender ideology vary across countries.

In anti-gender campaigns, the Catholic Church’s centrality depends on its moral

and national authority status in each country (Paternotte & Kuhar, 2018). According to

Lazarus-Black (2008), religious actors, particularly Christian organizations within the

Caribbean region, exert substantial influence on the socio-cultural development of the

Caribbean in both the state and civil societies. Historically, the Catholic Church has taken

the lead role in contesting reproductive and sexual rights policies. Corrales (2019),

discussing LGBT rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, noted that beginning in

2010, both the Catholic Church and Evangelicals united as a coalition against LGBT

rights. Additionally, in 2010, in Latin America, the Catholic and Evangelical Churches, as

a coalition, employed the political strategy of gender ideology to fight against LGBT

rights in the Caribbean (Corrales, 2019).

Kahur and Paternotte (2018) identified four factors that may account for the

antigender campaigns’ worldwide nature: diffusion, transnational activism,

Europeanization, and globalization. Kahur and Paternotte (2018) further noted that the

diffusion of ideas, strategies, and modes of action from one country to another might

occur directly or indirectly. Direct diffusion occurs when anti-gender activists travel to

other countries. Indirect diffusion occurs when activists learn from their home logs in

another country through newspapers, books, and the Internet. Transnational activism

refers to more sustained and frequent contact. Kahur and Paternotte (2018) also

acknowledged the Europeanisation of these actors, with satellite organizations established

in various

European cities, specifically targeting European institutions. Additionally, Corrales

(2015), commenting on LGBT rights in Latin America, indicated that Catholic and

Evangelical Churches are transnational actors that operate in local settings. Kinny (2015)

pointed out that transnational religious networks serve as reciprocal channels for

disseminating networks and providing virtual channels for goods and ideas due to

globalization.

Summary

The prevalence and impact of intimate partner violence, the most predominant

type of violence against women, establishes it as a threat to national development. The

study filled the methodological and conceptual gaps identified in gender ideology

literature in the Caribbean, namely Trinidad and Tobago, and the level of adoption of

gender equality policies. Additionally, most scholars focused on successful and not failed

policies, another oversight that this study aimed to address. The chapter then expounds on

the theoretical underpinning for such a study, the narrative policy framework, its

devil/angel shift, symbols, and surrogates. It then provided the foundation for a

comprehensive discussion on intimate partner violence, its prevalence, its impact on

women, and the micro and macro drivers of violence against women. The chapter then

progressed to outline the emergence of gender ideology and how the use of narratives

championed either the villains, victims, and heroes fractions or actors in the gender

ideology debate. Lastly, the chapter concluded with a review of the role and power of the

Christian community or actor in gender policy adoption or lack of adoption. Despite the

progress made over the last thirty years in many countries adopting gender equality

policies, evolving literature concluded that there remained a danger from the discursive

rhetoric of gender ideology, resulting in a lack of adoption by several countries across

Europe, Latin America, and Africa.

Chapter 3: Research Method

In this study, an analysis of the National Gender Policy debate was done using the

exploratory mixed-method content analysis design. I examined the influence of gender

ideology through the policy narratives of coalitions. Exploratory research allows

researchers to investigate issues and phenomena where existing research is lacking (Gray,

2014), which in this study helped in examining the influence of gender ideology, as the

emerging literature indicated that discursive opposition to gender equality policies is

relatively recent. This study aimed to determine how policy actors use narrative elements

and strategies to expand or contain the scope of conflict and facilitate policy

intractability. This study’s findings may contribute to a more holistic understanding of the

determinants of successful gender equality policy adoption. Chapter 3 explains the

research design and rationale, possible threats to the validity, and a description of the

strategies used to address issues of trustworthiness and ethics.

Research Design and Rationale

Purpose rather than method or design determines the appropriateness of mixed

methods (Creamer, 2018; Green, 2007). As this study explored the influence of gender

ideology in policy actors’ policy narratives using the narrative policy framework, the

application of an exploratory sequential mixed-method approach was congruent with this

purpose. The exploratory sequential mixed-method approach is the convergence of

qualitative and quantitative data to examine a new phenomenon (Creswell, 2010). This

approach involved the implementation of the qualitative and quantitative strands in

sequence; however, more weight was given to the qualitative data and its interpretation

(Plano Clark & Ivankova, 2016). Furthermore, exploratory sequential mixed method

design facilitated testing an emerging theory (Hanson et al., 2005), which was appropriate

and closely embodied the overall purpose of this study.

Data were collected from social media and mainstream media sources. Content

analysis is appropriate for examining communication and textual patterns (Tashakkori &

Teddlie, 2010). This was facilitated in this study through deductive and inductive content

analysis. Some scholars contend that both approaches are mutually exclusive; however,

mixing both methods in a single study is possible (Kondracki, 2002). For example,

Bergman (2010) utilized qualitative content analysis initially to analyze the data, then

added exploratory dimensional analyses to the co-occurrences of codes to reveal patterns

not captured during the qualitative coding process. Moreover, the increased use of

automation of coding and counting words in content analysis and the emergence of the

big data revolution have facilitated a shift in integrating different data sources and

research approaches to analysis (Bazeley, 2018).

Methodology

Participant Selection Logic

In this study’s qualitative phase, a purposeful sampling strategy is used. A

purposeful sampling strategy facilitated the deliberate selection of participants from a

study population with specific experiences or knowledge of a phenomenon (Coyne, 1997;

Maxwell, 2012; Patton, 2015). Additionally, selected participants must satisfy the criteria

for participation in a study (Gentles et al., 2015). Participants chosen for this study

actively participated in the National Gender Policy debate.

In this study, the quantity of data collected was determined based on data

availability, which led to a convenience sample being deemed appropriate for this study.

Moreover, this study was longitudinal, as the sampling time frame is from 2010 to 2018.

This study’s sampling time frame was consistent with previous applications of the

narrative policy framework. For instance, Weiss (2020) examined New Public

Management reform narratives between 1993 and the late 2000s. Similarly, using

quantitative content analysis, Ertas and McKnight (2020) examined editorials and op-eds

on charter schools from 2006 -2016. Moreover, Neuendorf (2017) indicated that more

researchers are engaging in longitudinal studies using content analysis, given the ease of

digital access to older content.

Alternatively, statistical or mathematical formulas determine the appropriate

sample size for a particular study in quantitative research. However, this type of

calculation does not apply to qualitative research (Dworkin, 2012; Miles et al., 2014;

Patton, 2015). Typically, qualitative studies tend to have small sample sizes as larger

sample sizes can impact data analysis by making data abstraction difficult and

unstructured (Miles et al., 2014; Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007). Nevertheless, the sample

size should be large enough to reach the point of saturation. Saturation occurs when the

researcher determines that further data from the homogenous study sample will not add

additional insight into the phenomenon of interest.

Data Analysis Plan

Qualitative Data Analysis

Many policy debates occur within public spaces (Shanahan et al., 2018). This

gives researchers free access to sources of narrative data. Meso-level researchers

construct policy narratives utilizing various documents, including press releases by policy

actors, YouTube videos, newspaper editorials, government reports, and organizational

newsletters (Pierce et al., 2014). In this study, the data collection process was executed in

two stages. The first stage was to identify the significant actors involved in the National

Gender Policy subsystem and then to assign them to a coalition based on their beliefs

about the gender policy. Assigning policy actors to specific coalitions, such as progender

policy and antigender policies, involved a systematic analysis of articles. The Boolean

string “National Gender Policy + Trinidad” had to be contained somewhere in the article

to be included. Analysis of the articles helped identify key stakeholders in the National

Gender Policy arena.

This mixed-method study’s qualitative and quantitative research questions

reflected the analytic objectives, specifically, the examination of narrative elements and

narrative strategies. The focus of the qualitative questions was examining narrative

elements and strategies, which involved concept coding. Concept coding involves

assigning meso or macro-level meanings to data (Saldana, 2015). This deductive

approach facilitated the exploration of themes within the narrative elements and

strategies. Also, concept coding facilitated an inductive approach of adding codes to

categorize narrative elements. Moreover, the narrative policy codebook was the only

structural guide for analyzing the texts. Additionally, the codebook facilitated the

grouping of similar themes and similar arguments into structured categories such as

progender and anti-gender.

Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative analysis is a process that facilitates, via statistical techniques, the

inspection, evaluation, and interpretation of numeric data (Santos et al., 2017). Similarly,

quantitative content analysis involves coding data based on predetermined categories to

create variables that can facilitate statistical analysis (Krippendorff, 2004). The

predetermined categories or codes enabled a systematic and replicable analysis of each

sample. In this study, an abbreviated form of the narrative policy framework codebook

facilitated the coding of documents. Coding focused on identifying narrative policy

framework narrative characters such as villains, heroes, and victims and narrative

strategies. In this study, both SPSS 28 and MAXQDA 24 facilitated the strengthening of

the analysis of the textual data, but the latter software explicitly allowed the researcher to

utilize quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method tools embedded in the software to

strengthen the analysis.

Threats to Validity

Quantitative content analysis must comply with the stipulated scientific criteria for

objectivity, reliability, and validity (Neuendorf, 2017). Objectivity in the scientific

method requires that decisions about variables, how they are measured, and the coding

rules occur a priori before observations (Neuendorf, 2017). In this study, I used a

deductive approach based on the narrative policy framework codebook developed by

Shanahan et al. (2013) and updated by McBeth et al. (2007). The MAXQDA 24 software

then facilitated the nominal measurement of the codes.

Reliability is the accuracy of measurement procedures to produce identical scores

consistently (Clarke & Ivankova, 2016). When human coders are involved in

quantitative content analysis, reliability translates into intercoder reliability (Neuendorf,

2017). With acceptable levels of reliability, content analysis measures become

meaningful

(Neuendorf, 2017).

In this study, MAXQDA24 was used to calculate Cohen’s Kappa. There are three

statistical assumptions necessary for Cohen’s Kappa:

1. The units of analysis must be independent: In this proposed study, the

units of analysis are the policy documents comprising online newspaper editorials,

YouTube videos and brochures, Facebook posts, online blogs, and government

reports. These types of media content are often independently written.

2. The nominal scale categories must be independent, mutually exclusive,

and exhaustive: In this study, the coded meso narrative data are independent and

mutually exclusive and refer to different concepts.

3. The coders work independently: This study employed the work of two

coders, who coded the same sample without making any consultation or coming

to a consensus. (Stemler, 2001)

One of the primary reasons for establishing intercoder reliability is to ensure that

different individuals using the same coding scheme achieved similar results (Neuendorf,

2017). As noted, the coding of documents in this study is at the document level. The

analysis of each document group involved just one coder reading each document and

coding each group according to the codebook developed by McBeth et al. (2007) and

updated by Shanahan et al. (2013). The narrative policy framework codebook consisted

of nine dichotomous (yes/no) questions that guided the coder in identifying the extent to

which each document contained the narrative strategies outlined in this study’s

hypotheses. Furthermore, a random selection of documents from both coalitions was

given to the other coder, a postgraduate student at the University of the Southern

Caribbean, to ensure inter-rater reliability.

The other coder was given a specific quantity of documents to code for

consistency. To facilitate their work, the other coder was given a separate profile on the

MAXQDA 24 software to analyze the set of documents from both coalitions. Once the

other coder had completed the coding, the other coder’s coded documents were merged

with my project. The agreement/disagreement percentages were analyzed for each

document’s group against their narrative element code. Any discrepancies that arose

through discussions were addressed using the coder agreement and codebook. For the

progender coalition document group, there was an overall Kappa of 0.73. For the

antigender group, there was an overall Kappa of 0.71. A score of .81 to 1.00 indicates

“almost perfect” agreement, and .61 to .80 indicates “substantial agreement” (Neuendorf,

2017). Many narrative policy framework scholars tend to use percent agreement instead

of decimals (Shanahan et al., 2018). From the benchmarks presented, this study had

substantial agreement between both coders.

Issues of Trustworthiness

In the qualitative phase of this study, the findings’ integrity depended on the

data’s trustworthiness. There are four elements of trustworthiness in qualitative research:

credibility, dependability, transferability, and confirmability (Billups, 2021). There are

several strategies that researchers may employ to determine trustworthiness, such as peer

review or debriefing, detailed descriptions regarding transferability, member checking,

clarification of researcher bias, prolonged engagement, and persistent observation and

triangulation (Creswell, 2013).

Credibility

Credibility is one of the critical elements used to ensure trustworthiness. I was the

only researcher involved in data collection in this study. When the data collection and or

analysis process involves a singular researcher, credibility is determined by the

inclusivity and representatives of the data (Schmeller, 2019). Credibility was obtained by

thoroughly examining the theoretical framework, literature review, data analysis, and

personal self-reflection (Ravitch & Carl, 2016; Shenton, 2004). Specifically, I employed

the established coding framework in the narrative policy framework, and to enhance

credibility, I triangulated through multiple coding methods.

Inference Transferability

Inference transferability refers to the extent or degree to which people and other

researchers can apply the study’s conclusions gained through mixed-method research in

similar settings and contexts. A detailed description strategy could also enhance

transferability and credibility (Creswell, 2013; Guba, 1981; Plano Clark & Ivankova,

2016). Moreover, thick descriptions facilitate the conditions for thick interpretation

(Ravitch & Carl, 2016). Thick interpretation allows the reader to experience the essential

features of the study participants’ recorded experiences (Ravitch & Carl, 2016). It is the

responsibility of the researcher to provide a thick description, to make a thick

interpretation possible for the readers (Ponterotto, 2006). Thus, in this study, to facilitate

transferability, I relied on a thick description of the narrative elements and the

relationships between the elements.

Dependability

A study’s dependability references the ease with which other researchers can

follow the researcher’s decision trails (Elo et al., 2014). This required thorough, in-depth

detailing of the research design and the data collection process to ensure the ease of

duplicability. In addition, to encourage duplicability, researchers highlight the challenges

of the data collection process (Ang et al., 2016). Therefore, in this study, I documented

the primary challenge experienced during the data collection. Lastly, all the documents

and all analyses related to this study were stored in the MAXQDA 24 project file and a

flash drive.

Confirmability

Confirmability refers to providing corroborating evidence confirming that the

researcher’s interpretations of study participants’ constructions accurately mirror the

participants’ constructions (Jensen, 2013). In this study, the triangulation of coding

methods facilitated the breaking down and reassembling of the narratives to ensure that

the coding I utilized was cohesive and accurate for the collected documents.

Ethical Procedures

Obtaining Walden University Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was the

starting point for this study (approval no. 04-02-21-0502002). In this study, all the

documents obtained were public consumption documents, so there was no need to secure

permission as no private or confidential documents were collected during this study.

Nevertheless, all data were stored on my computer and flash drive.

Summary

In this study, an exploratory sequential mixed-method approach was used. This

approach facilitated a greater understanding of the influence of gender ideology as

expressed through policy narratives of competing coalitions involved in the National

Gender Policy debate. Additionally, public consumption documents provided data critical

to answering qualitative and quantitative research questions.

Chapter 4: Results

This mixed-method study examined the influence of gender ideology during the

National Gender Policy debate from 2010 to 2018. I focused on two categories of

narrative elements: the policy narratives of faith-based organizations opposed to the

National Gender Policy and the narratives utilized by the progender policy coalition

supporting the National Gender Policy. Narratives were chosen as an area of study after

reviewing contemporary research on the role of narratives in advancing a specific policy

or creating policy intractability. Policy intractability is one of the primary outcomes

coming out of the antigender movement’s use of gender ideology. One of the recurring

elements in gender ideology literature was the use of narrative elements such as villains,

heroes, and victims and narrative strategies to influence gender equality policies.

Therefore, the focal point of this study involved an evaluation of the narrative elements

and techniques used in local gender ideology narratives.

Setting

The setting for the narrative policy analysis included 29 public consumption

documents during two different political administrations, spanning 2010 to 2018. All the

documents utilized in this study were limited to public consumption documents;

therefore, no permission was required to access these documents. Articles were accessed

from the archives of the following local newspapers: Trinidad Guardian, Trinidad

Express, and Newsday. Articles were also accessed from the Catholic News and the

LGBT blog Gspott. I also accessed and transcribed one YouTube video that reflected the

views of the Catholic Church of Trinidad and Tobago.

Data Collection

This study’s articles in the data set contained the Boolean string “Gender Policy+

Trinidad.” This study aimed to collect 100 documents with equal progender and

antigender narratives to ensure equal representation. However, I was only able to collect

29 public consumption documents. I collected 11 antigender documents and 18 progender

documents. The data collected for this study and earmarked for analysis were then

entered into the MAXQDA 24 software package and SPSS 28, respectively.

Since the collected data were secondary sources, primarily public consumption

documents on public websites, any ethical issues with the data collection process were

eliminated. In the data analysis phase, I adhered to the coding framework consensus

found in the narrative policy scholarship. Adherence to the codebook prevented my bias

toward disadvantaged minority populations, as it reduced my subjectivity. Additionally, I

reflected and thus coded from an outsider’s position. An outsider positionality has no

connection with the phenomenon under study (Berger, 2013; Dwyer & Buckle, 2009).

Consequently, my positionality did not impact the study’s results.

Data Analysis

In this mixed-method study, descriptive and computer statistical analysis was

performed utilizing the SPSS v28 software and the mixed-method software MAXQDA

v24 These two software programs facilitated an examination of the qualitative and

quantitative data to ultimately aid in answering their related research questions.

Results

Qualitative RQ 1

RQ 1 was “What narrative elements are used by the competing coalitions to

discuss the draft National Gender Policy during the policy debate between 2010-2018?”

The first stage of analysis involved identifying active participants in the National Gender

Policy subsystem. Each article was read from the dataset, and the names of the

organizations involved in the public debate on the National Gender Policy and their

beliefs about the policy were recorded. Each article and the organization identified

alongside their belief surrounding the National Gender Policy was labeled as gender

policy or antigender policy coalitions, respectively, and as pro gender policy or

antigender policy coalitions, respectively. The relevant organizations identified included

five nongovernmental organizations, the two major political parties, and a few religious

organizations. Upon review, it was found that after reading each article, the five

nongovernmental organizations explicitly supported the draft National Gender Policy,

while all the religious organizations rejected the draft National Gender Policy. The

Peoples National Movement (PNM) rejected the view of gender as socially constructed in

the draft policy. At the same time, the United National Congress (UNC) at different

periods varied in its support of the draft National Gender Policy. See Table 3 for the list

of organizations and their categorizations.

Table 3

Coalitions in The National Gender Policy Subsystem

Antigender Policy Progender Policy

United National Congress United National Congress

Peoples National Movement

Catholic Church

Evangelical Church

Inter-religious Organization

Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation

(CAISO)

University of the West Indies Institute of Gender and

Development

Advocates for Safe Parenthood Improving Reproductive

Equity (ASPIRE)

Network of Non-Governmental Organisations

Coding Process

I used first-cycle coding in this study, which involved both attribute and concept

coding. Attribute coding involved essential aspects of the coded documents such as

headlines, publishing or copyrighted date, and the newspaper that published the article

(see Appendix A). I then utilized concept coding, which involved coding textual data

using narrative elements described in the narrative policy framework. This facilitated the

assignment of priori codes such as villains, heroes, and victims and narrative strategies.

Concept coding also facilitated inductive coding. The inductive coding process involved

the examination of the separate codes for narrative elements and identifying themes

within those codes. Using MaxMaps found in the MAXQDA 24, I explored those themes

and created subcodes for the narrative elements where appropriate. One central theme

emerged from the data, specifically, the theme of gender deception, which was identified

in the coding process. Within this theme, the anti-gender policy coalition identified

several villains. The villains in the narratives of faith-based organizations included LGBT

activists, politicians, and the nonbinary concept of gender (see Table 4 and Figure 4).

Table 4

Narrative Characters occurrence per Policy Documents

Character Antigender Progender

Hero

Gender policy 0 18

The Church 8 0

Victim

The Church 9 0

Heterosexual marriage 8 0

Women and LGBT persons 0 4

Unborn children 4 0

Villian

Gender 8 0

LGBT community 6 0

The Church 0 5

Figure 4

Furthermore, from the 11 articles categorized by the antigender coalition, the

nonbinary definition of gender was central to faith-based organizations’ resistance to the

National Gender Policy from 2010 to 2018.A quantitative breakdown of the narrative

characters’ interaction with the theme of gender deception can be seen in Table 5.

Table 5

Character Interaction with the Theme of Gender Deception

Characters Gender Deception

Villian

Gender

77.67 %

LGBT activists

23.53%

Victim

Church

12.94%

Heterosexual Family

69.96%

Unborn Children 17.11%

Hero

Church

100%

Heroes. The primary hero in the narratives of the antigender policy coalition was

the Church. When faith-based organizations took on the role of the hero in the National

Gender Policy debate, they often framed themselves as the primary protector of the moral

fabric of society against persons, groups, and international organizations that were to

destroy the spiritual and ethical values of Trinidad and Tobago. For instance, Ms. Leela

Ramdeen is an attorney, Catholic layperson, and Chairman of the Catholic Commission

of Social Justice. In 2012, in a press release commenting on the National Gender Policy

Ms Ramdeen stated that the Church stood as the “voice of the vulnerable” and “the

voiceless unborn.” Similarly, in 2013, she challenged the faithful “more than ever to be

the Defenders of our faith- of the ‘truth’ about man and woman.”

In comparison, the primary hero in the narratives of the progender policy coalition

was the National Gender Policy. The progender policy coalition viewed the National

Gender Policy as a mechanism to improve women’s social, physical, and economic lives

by removing discrimination.Verna St Rose-Greaves – Minister of Gender, Youth, and

Child Development stated,

Our approach is a rights-based approach… Whilst we may not agree on issues, let

us be uppermost in our focus on the rights of citizens of this country... We must

respect people’s rights as citizens and all that comes with it. The National Gender

Policy will go before the Cabinet in June 2012. Reiterating its importance, St

Rose-Greaves said there was a critical issue of “backstreet” abortions that needed

to be addressed from a public health perspective. She made it clear that she was

not advocating abortion, but the right to choose.

Ramona Ramdial Minister in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development

stated,

Homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals in T&T will no longer be discriminated

against if the national gender policy is approved by the Cabinet… There is a

proposal in the policy that, a person should not be discriminated against because

of his or her sexual orientation. Whether we say it or not, it is already an informal

part of our society. It is phrased differently (in the policy). It’s more of a human

rights thing, and according to international standards. The gender policy has been

drafted from a human-rights perspective and is more about equal opportunities.

Mary King (Former Minister of Planning, Economic and Social Restructuring and

Gender Affairs) stated,

The National Gender Policy is a framework put in place by the Government to

promote fairness and equality between men and women and ensure the

development of the full potential of all men and boys, and women and girls in

society. The Gender Policy deals with health and well-being, education and

literacy, labor and employment, agriculture and food security, macro-economy

and trade, leadership, and governance. The Government will measure all its

policies, plans, programs, and activities by the principles of gender equality and

equity.

In 2013, Hazel Brown, Co-coordinator of the Network of Nongovernmental

Organisations for the Advancement of Women, argued that without a National Gender

Policy, “discrimination against women and girls will continue.” She added that without

such a policy “domestic violence and other correlating issues would be guided by a

zigzag zoo.” In that same article, Marian Taylor, a rape crisis society director and board

member, argued that a gender policy was “another tool in the fight against sex crimes.”

Villains. The villains in the narratives of both the antigender policy and progender

policy coalitions included institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and policies. The

concept of gender constituted the primary villain in the narratives of the antigender

coalition. Antigender policy narratives consistently highlighted the policy support of

abortion and same-sex marriage and its consequential harm to society.

Hyacinth Griffith is an attorney and a member of the local chapter of Lawyers for

Jesus. In a newspaper article published in 2012, Mrs. Griffith rejected the National

Gender Policy, arguing that the policy supported both abortion and same-sex marriage. In

a 2013 editorial, another writer strongly believed that the National Gender Policy would

“deliberately force children into unnatural modes of development.”

The narratives of progender advocates identified the Church as its primary villain.

The Church, comprised of Catholics, Evangelicals, and other non-Christian groups,

consistently protested the adoption of the policy. Prime Minister Kamala PersadBissessar,

in a 2014 interview, blamed the Catholic Church for the non-adoption of the gender

policy. A year prior, in 2013, former Minister Mrs. St-Rose Greaves posited that faith-

based organizations, motivated by their “own narrow interest,” kept raising the issue of

gay marriage in discussions when the real problem was “protection from stigma and

discrimination.”

Victims. The character who appeared frequently in the narratives of the

antigender coalition was the heterosexual institution of marriage. From the perspective of

the antigender coalition, the goal of the National Gender Policy was the overthrow of the

heterosexual institution of marriage. Catholic Priest Father Ian Taylor, in a 2013

interview, noted that the National Gender Policy sought to “legalize abortion and samesex

marriage.” In another 2013 article, this time published by the Catholic Commission for

Social Justice, Mrs. Leela Ramdeen argued that the redefinition of gender “would strike

down laws governing such things as heterosexual marriage.” Additionally, Mr. George

Pritchett, in a 2013 Letter to the editor, argued that “reverse stereotyping poses the

greatest threat to the mental health of future generations.”

However, results from an examination of the narratives of the progender coalition

revealed that the primary victim was the LGBT community. In a 2012 newspaper article,

the then Minister of Gender, Youth, and Child Development of the governing

liberalminded party, the United National Congress, argued that the National Gender

Policy would prevent the “bullying of boys perceived to be gay.” Similarly, in 2012,

Ramona Ramdial, a Minister in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development,

argued that the National Gender Policy would prevent the discrimination of

“homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals” in Trinidad and Tobago.

Qualitative RQ 2

What narrative strategies are employed by the competing coalitions during the

National Gender Policy debate between 2010-2018?

Use of Symbols and Policy Surrogates

The evidence indicated that the antigender coalition tended to utilize symbols

more frequently, in the form of metaphors and colorful language, than the progender

coalition. Specifically, in this study, (n =12) of the speakers’ antigender public

consumption documents utilized symbolic language. In public consumption documents

reflecting a progender policy stance, the speakers were less likely to use symbolic

language only (n =4). See Table 6 for breakdown.

Table 6

Crosstabulation of Symbol Use in Policy Narratives

Policy Position No Symbol Use Symbol Use Total

Anti-Gender 1 11 12

Pro Gender 12 4 17

Sum Total 14 15 29

The qualitative investigation of the use of symbols by both coalitions indicated

that the antigender coalition consistently used hyperbolic language that emphasized the

negative impact of policy implementation. For instance, the Catholic Church said “Once

you change or enlarge gender, the consequences of such a new definition would be

monumental, as it could change the meaning of thousands of UN documents and all our

laws.” In one antigender article, the speaker stated, “This law is an evil step to take.

Unless the hearts of the leaders can be set right, we will be lost as a nation”. The

antigender dialogue also tended to frame the gender policy debate using religious

imagery. In one antigender coalition, the speaker urged followers, “Do not underestimate

the battle for the souls of our family members.” Another antigender speaker utilizing ‘end

of times’ terminology stated that “the Bible predicts certain things … if the legislation has

changed and you refuse, it could mean the difference between buying and selling.”

The antigender policy coalition often portrayed the concept of gender as

destructive to the family, nation, and the Church. In a May 2013 article entitled “The

Gender Agender: destructive to our Children,” the writer in commenting on the impact of

staying silent on such a divisive issue for children stated: “Not to do so brings a tsunami

of grief that the “gender agenda” can get on our children and our society, as it already has

on Western civilization” The Catholic blog, Dominican Vocation of Trinidad and Tobago

published on the 24th June 2012, the following statement by Leela Ramdeen was made

under the heading “Church call on Gov’t to look again at Gender policy - No to abortion,

same-sex unions”:

We stand as the voice of our vulnerable, voiceless unborn and call for others to

open centers such as Mary Care Centre, which was established in 1980, as a

sanctuary for unmarried, pregnant young women. As we strive to move from a

culture of death to a culture of life in Trinidad and Tobago, we must reject the

violence of abortion and devise effective strategies to enable our pregnant mothers

to have their babies and to care for them.

Touching on the issue of same-sex marriage, the release further pointed out that

the Church believes that marriage as an institution is enduring, intimate, and one that is

meant to be exclusively for a man and a woman. The article further stated that Pope

Benedict XVI has warned of “powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the

legal definition of marriage.” The Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ) said the

Church was prepared to defend traditional marriage from every possible

misrepresentation of its true nature.

The antigender coalition linked the Gender Policy to the salient and contentious

issue of abortion and the increase in homosexual rights. In a Newsday Article published

on June 9th, 2012, titled” Keep out Same Sex Abortion”, Lawyers for Jesus and other

Advocates across the Caribbean were united alongside members of various faith and

community groups, to reject the proposed gender policy, which they believe supports

abortion and same-sex relationships.

The following statement was published on the 25th of April 2013 in the Trinidad

Guardian newspaper entitled “Definition of gender worries religious groups”:

The Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ), the Inter-Religious

Organization (IRO), and the Trinidad and Tobago Council of Evangelical

Churches were among those who shared their views during a symposium

explicitly held to allow them to share their concerns about the wording of, and

definitions contained in, the latest version of the draft policy. A total of 12 men

and women spoke out against it, paying particular attention to the final line of the

two-paragraph definition, which stated that gender “is socially constructed and

learned through socialization processes.

Leading the charge against this definition was CCSJ Chairperson Leela Ramdeen, who

warned that Trinidad and Tobago were headed “down a slippery slope...if we accept that

definition.” Ramdeen further supported her argument by referring to a statement made by

the Catholic Church during a United Nations meeting in 2011:

The Catholic Church said … once you change, or enlarge gender, the

consequences of such a new definition would be monumental, as it could change

the meaning of thousands of UN documents and all our laws. Activists could then

use this expanded definition in their respective countries to strike down laws

governing such things as heterosexual marriage and anything that would seem to

discriminate against them.

Use of Policy Surrogates

Narrative policy scholars contend that coalitions seeking to expand the scope of

the conflict tend to link policy surrogates to national issues that are both salient and

contentious. The antigender coalition frequently linked the National Gender Policy to the

contentious national issues of abortion and gay rights. For instance, a June 24th, 2012,

article stated:

The Catholic Church rejects any attempt to redefine ‘gender’ which, as the Holy

See stated at a UN meeting in March 2011, ‘asserts that sexual identity can

somehow be adapted indefinitely to suit new and different purposes, not

recognized in international law … We reject any attempts to legalize abortion in

Trinidad and Tobago. We believe human life must be respected and protected

absolutely from the moment of conception. The inalienable right to life of every

innocent human individual is a constitutive element of civil society and its

legislation.

In a June 10th, 2012, article, Roman Catholic (RC) Archbishop Joseph Harris

called on citizens to resist moves to accept homosexuality. He was the latest religious

leader to speak out against what he described as “society’s increasing acceptance of

same-sex relationships.” His comments came in the wake of the government’s National

Gender Policy, which promised to promote fairness and equality among citizens,

regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

Quantitative Content Analysis

Quantitative RQ 1

What is the relationship between the group’s perception of losing in the policy

debate (independent variable) defined as the group under attack even if partially winning

during the 2010-2018 gender policy debate and the narrative strategy of symbols and

policy surrogates (dependent variable) to expand or limit the scope of conflict?

H0: There is no relationship between a group’s perception of losing in the policy

debate and using the narrative strategy of symbols and policy surrogates to expand or

limit the scope of conflict.

H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between a group’s perception of

losing in the policy debate and using the narrative strategy of symbols and policy

surrogates to expand or limit the scope of conflict.

Quantitative RQ 2: What is the relationship between the group’s perception of

winning in the policy debate (independent variable) defined as supporting the policy

environment and actions discussed in the narrative during the 2010-2018 gender policy

debate and the narrative strategy of symbols and policy surrogates (dependent variable)?

H0: There is no relationship between a group’s perception of winning in the policy

debate.

Quantitative RQ 2: What is the relationship between the group’s perception of

winning in the policy debate (independent variable) defined as supporting the policy

environment and actions discussed in the narrative during the 2010-2018 gender policy

debate and the narrative strategy of symbols and policy surrogates (dependent variable)?

H0: There is no relationship between a group’s perception of winning in the policy

This study used the classical NPF characterization of winning and losing to test

the differences in the definitions of winning and losing. Specifically, an article

represented a winning position when its narrator agreed with the policy environment they

described. Alternatively, an article represented a losing position when language within the

document indicated that the narrator perceived him or herself as under attack in the policy

debate, even if the narrator was objectively winning (Shanahan et al., 2014). For instance,

one antigender policy author – Dr. David Jackson from the Hospital Christian Fellowship,

speaking on the gender policy, “appealed to the Government to consider their rights as

Christians. As the incremental process unfolds, he said, “Soon pastors and priests would

be forced to conduct same-sex marriages in churches. We are not accepting that, so we

are trying to nip it from the root.” This is considered a losing article because the narrator

perceives himself and the wider Christian community as the targets of the LGBT

community. Utilizing the MAXQDA 24 mixed analysis tools, the codes of losing and

winning were transformed into document variables, which allowed these codes to be

statistically analyzed. From the data, 66.7% (n=8) of antigender coalition speakers

adopted a losing position compared to 33.3% (n=4) of the progender speakers.

Additionally, 75% (n=9) of the progender policy speakers adopted a winning position

compared to just 25% (n=3) of the anti-gender speakers. See Table 7.

Table 7

Crosstabulation of the Perception of Winning and Losing

Perception Antigender Policy Progender Policy

WINNING 25.00% 75.00%

LOSING 66.7% 33.3%

Sum 91.7% 108.3%

The results from the crosstabulation indicated that 66.7% (n8) of antigender

coalition speakers adopted a losing position compared to 33.3% (n=4) of the progender

speakers. Additionally, in this study, in 73% (n=11) of the anti-gender public

consumption documents, the speakers utilized symbolic language compared to 23% (n=4)

of pro-gender policy documents.

Evidence of Trustworthiness

Credibility

In this study, the narrative policy framework, though relatively recent, is an

established framework that facilitated deductive coding. Adherence to the narrative policy

codebook also ensured credibility in the coding process. There was no deviation from the

policy framework or the codebook. Furthermore, to ensure the study’s credibility, a

second coder engaged in the coding process also utilized the codebook and was guided by

the narrative policy framework. The secondary coder was familiar with the MAXQDA 24

software. All 29 documents were sent to the second coder. When there were

disagreements, a collaborative approach was used to discuss the different interpretations

until consensus was achieved. Finally, throughout the study, methodological triangulation

facilitated and enhanced internal credibility.

Transferability

Korstjens and Moser (2018) argued that in qualitative research, transferability

refers to the extent to which the study’s findings are transferable to other contexts and

respondents. The results of this mixed-method study strongly correlate with the findings

of the influence of gender ideology by faith-based organizations in European and Latin

American countries. Like these nations, faith-based organizations in Trinidad and

Tobago’s use of the concept of gender ideology influenced the political landscape,

resulting in policy intractability in gender equality policies. The findings indicate that this

study’s data collection, coding, and data analysis procedures apply to similar populations

and other geographic locations. However, in this study, adjustments were made because

of the limited number of public consumption documents, which may affect the level or

depth of transferability.

Dependability

According to Korstjens and Moser (2017), a critical determinant of dependability

is the data collection and coding process’s strength to support the research questions and

the study’s findings. This mixed-method study’s qualitative and quantitative questions

intricately guided the data collection and coding processes. Additionally, I adhered to the

narrative policy framework definitions of all the narrative elements examined in this

study. Using a second coder in this study enhanced the dependability of this study. The

public consumption documents collected and all coded analyses are stored in the

MAXQDA 24 project file.

Confirmability

In this study, the MAXQDA 24, a mixed-method data management and analysis

software, facilitated transparency by creating project logs that recorded all actions taken

by both coders. Moreover, there was strict adherence to the narrative policy guidelines in

coding the narrative characters such as heroes, victims, and villains, as well as strategies

such as symbols, policy surrogates, and winning and losing.

Summary

This chapter covered the setting, data collection, analysis, and presentation of the

study’s results. Within this study, the central theme that emerged from the qualitative data

was Gender Deception. Additionally, the notion of gender predominantly (93%) appeared

in the narratives of the antigender coalition. The character of the victim in the narratives

of the antigender coalition was the heterosexual institution of marriage. The principle of

religious liberty or freedom was also portrayed as a victim. The hero in the narratives of

the antigender policy coalition was the principle of religious liberty and legal rights

related to religious freedom. The hero in the narratives of the progender policy coalition

was the National Gender Policy. The antigender coalition tended to perceive themselves

as losing even though they were able to stymie the gender policy. In comparison to the

progender coalition, the antigender policy coalition utilized symbols and policy

surrogates that linked the gender policy to salient and contentious policy issues such as

abortion and gay rights. An interpretation of the research findings and themes, along with

the study’s limitations and recommendations for further research, are provided in Chapter

Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations

This study aimed to determine how gender ideology influenced the policy

narratives of the coalition of faith-based actors and progender policy advocates. The

antigender coalition was comprised mainly of faith-based organizations. The People’s

National Movement linked itself to this coalition. At the same time, the United National

Congress sometimes positioned itself as politically neutral having no clear-cut political

stance and varied in support of or against the policy. Between 2012 and 2018, both parties

were alternatively in charge of overseeing the implementation of the National Gender

Policy. Policy intractability dominated both governments during their respective tenures.

I used mixed-method content analysis to explore the policy narratives of the antigender

and progender coalitions to answer the study’s qualitative and quantitative research

questions. Both qualitative and quantitative questions were developed in line with the

narrative policy framework.

Interpretation of the Findings

In this section, I discuss how the findings confirm, disconfirm, or extend the body

of knowledge related to the transnational phenomenon of gender theory and its use by

antigender coalitions in derailing gender equality policies and facilitating policy

intractability, as described in Chapter 2. I also discuss the interpretation of these findings

juxtaposed against the consensus found within the narrative policy framework literature.

The narrative policy framework was used to analyze all the policy documents.

Specifically, I engaged the NPF at the meso level as the group of policy actors

represented by the two groups comprised different policy actors.

This study sheds light on how policy actors use narrative elements and strategies

to expand or contain the scope of conflict and facilitate policy intractability. Such an

examination was made possible as mixed method content analysis allowed me to examine

the content of documents and identify data that addresses the researcher’s research

questions in this mixed method study. In alignment with this study’s purpose, the results

tentatively support the role of policy narratives in explaining how the notion of gender

theory can derail gender equality policies across geographical settings.

Finding 1: Narrative Elements

The qualitative analysis revealed that all major narrative characters were present.

Specifically, the narrative characters of heroes, villains, and victims populated the

narratives of the local antigender coalition. Antigender campaigns in European and Latin

American countries have commonly identifiable heroes, villains, and victims (Graf &

Korolczuk, 2017; Mayer &Sauer, 2017; Kuhar & Zorbec, 2017; Zuk & Zuk, 2019). In

this study, the narrative characters populating the narratives of the local antigender

coalition reflected those of their international counterparts. During the National Gender

Policy debates, the most notable frontline opponent of the National Gender Policy was

the Catholic Church. This is consistent with the antigender literature noting that the

greater the moral and national authority of the Catholic Church, the more religious actors

occupy a visible and frontline role in the antigender movement (Gryzmala-Busse, 2015).

Finding 2: Narrative Strategies

One of the goals of this study is to expand the application of the narrative policy

framework beyond environmental studies. Narrative policy scholars theorize that

coalitions will influence the scope of conflict by adopting a strategy that distributes

benefits and costs, uses symbols, or uses policy surrogates (Gupta et al., 2013). In this

study, the qualitative Research Question 2 focused on the use of symbols and policy

surrogates. Similar to antigender campaigns in Europe and Latin America antigender

coalitions in Trinidad and Tobago, specifically, the Catholic Church consistently portrays

the National Gender Policy not only as an anthropological or epistemological threat but as

a covert political strategy designed to uproot traditional values and institutions, while

imposing deviant and minority values on the general population that will legalize

samesex marriage and abortion as well as the sexualization of children. Their use of these

policy surrogates is consistent with international antigender movements’ use of these

policy surrogates (Cupać & Ebetürk, 2020; Graff & Korolczuk, 2017; Paternotte &

Kuhar, 2017; Zuk & Zuk, 2019.)

Furthermore, narrative policy scholars have contended that this strategy would be

used more frequently by persons who perceive that they are on the losing side of a policy

issue (Shanahan et al., 2018). This study found tenuous support for this hypothesis, as the

antigender coalition tended to utilize symbols in their narratives more than the progender

coalition. The results from the crosstabulation indicated that 66.7% (n = 8) of antigender

coalition speakers adopted a losing position compared to 33.3% (n = 4) of the progender

speakers. Additionally, in this study, in 73% (n = 11) of the antigender public

consumption documents, the speakers utilized symbolic language compared to 23% (n =

4) of gender policy documents.

Limitations of the Study

Within this study, I served as the primary instrument for collecting data. Given my

role as the sole researcher, the findings and implications must be viewed cautiously. To

mitigate against bias, I used several coding methods to triangulate the emerging themes

and collaborated with a second coder. The coder adhered to the narrative policy

framework approach to coding narrative elements as outlined by Jones et al. (2014)—

analysis of such a framework required persons trained in NPF analysis. Neither myself

nor the other coder were professionally trained in NPF analysis. Therefore, the fact that

this researcher is self-taught is a limitation that may result in some data coding and

interpretation inconsistencies, which may affect the trustworthiness and replicability of

the study. Nevertheless, the narrative policy framework, though relatively new, offered a

powerful lens to analyze the transnational phenomenon of gender ideology.

Additionally, as indicated in Chapter 2, third-world or developing countries tend

to produce and distribute fewer public consumption documents compared to first-world

countries such as the United States. In this study, I was only able to collect 29 articles.

This impacted the ability to conduct inferential or correlational analyses like the large-n

statistical analysis conducted by narrative policy scholars in first-world countries.

Therefore, this study was limited to descriptive statistics. Additionally, the lack of

research articles prevented an analysis of the devil/angel shift narrative strategy.

Recommendations

This study’s policy problem is the importance of implementing the National

Gender Policy as a policy mechanism to reduce violence against women. To date, the

National Gender Policy remains in a state of policy intractability (McFee, 2014). As the

statistics from the Women’s Health Survey (2017) indicated, violence against women in

the Anglophone Caribbean remains an urgent public health issue. Without a

comprehensive National Gender Policy to guide national policies such as health,

education, crime, and economics, violence against women will remain a persistent and

urgent public health issue (Hosein, 2017; McFee, 2014).

The antigender movement effectively led by the Catholic Church has facilitated

policy intractability by linking it consistently to the controversial but salient public issue

of abortion and same-sex marriage. On the other hand, the progender policy advocates

generally evidence-based language that highlights the utility of the policy document in

addressing social and public health issues that negatively impact women, children, and

men. Therefore, presenting more evidenced-based benefits of the public policy will likely

fail. A practical recommendation for local and international policymakers implementing

or adopting gender mainstreaming policies is to understand better the policy narratives

that focus on gender and develop approaches and policies to reframe these antigender

policy narratives.

The most salient future study recommendation that could be taken from this study

would be to expand the amount of content analysis conducted. Future studies should

include interviews with the key participants in the antigender movement as well as the

progender movement. The present study may also be re-engaged using other data

collection methods, such as surveys. This would facilitate greater participation. These two

data collection methods could be done individually or combined. Previous applications of

the narrative policy framework utilizing an empirical approach to the study of policy

narratives mainly utilized surveys, typically to measure the influence of policy narratives

(Pierce et al. 2017). The additional data collection methods would confirm, disconfirm, or

expand on the findings of this study.

Implications

The impact of positive social change through enhanced scholarship is that this

study will inform gender policy scholars, gender equality activists, and government

officials of the necessity of understanding policy narratives (see Callahan et al., 2012).

They can use the findings of this research to understand the influence of gender ideology

through the policy narratives of anti-gender activists. This research indicates it is

adequate to rely on academic language or statistical data only in the implementation and

adoption of gender mainstreaming policies. Being conversant with policy narratives will

allow activists to develop powerful communication strategies that will assist in the

implementation or adoption of gender policies and concomitantly address the issue of

violence against women.

Conclusion

The focus of this study on the National Gender Policy served as an example of the

influence of gender ideology as a transnational phenomenon not limited to European

countries. Content analysis facilitated the identification and use of narrative elements in

the messaging of both the antigender and progender policy coalition during the 2010 to

2018 policy debates on the National Gender Policy. Additionally, the results of this study

indicated the usefulness of the narrative policy framework in allowing social activists and

policy scholars to decipher the increasingly powerful political and sociocultural

components undergirding the obtuse concept of gender ideology.

Gender Ideology and Gender Equality Policy Adoption

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