This case explores strategies for changing policy and attitudes at national and international levels through the lens of women’s health. Adrienne Germain: A Leader in Women’s Health Rights charts the career of Adrienne Germain, a leader in the field of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Germain successfully broadened and shifted the area of reproductive health to encompass SRHR. While the context of this case is women’s health, Germain’s strategies and choices would also interest those focused on generating lasting social change. The lessons students could learn from the use of this case in classroom discussion easily extend beyond women’s health to areas of social change, political advocacy, and the importance of judicious negotiation in health policy efforts. 

This case tracks Dr. Sam Thenya’s challenges in establishing and sustaining two Kenyan health organizations for women’s health. Thenya founded the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) and the Nairobi Women’s Hospital (NWH) Medical Training College. In particular, the case focuses on the choices made as he expanded these two closely connected enterprises even though the GVRC was a non-profit enterprise while the NWH was a for-profit enterprise. Students consider how he led change to improve women’s health at both the population and system levels. They reflect on his leadership and lessons learned as he sought to change the face of women’s health care in Kenya and shift societal attitudes about gender-based violence (GBV). Students analyze how Dr. Thenya scaled up his innovative model, and the subsequent decisions he made to sustain his enterprise. They consider the ways in which he adapted his vision in order to provide GBV services free of charge and expand the reach of these services. This case also provides a Kenyan context in which to discuss health care delivery, and explores general attitudes and issues surrounding GBV.

This case explores the role of social media in bringing a sexual assault incident to national attention and to trial. Two popular high school athletes sexually assaulted a teenage girl at a party. Despite evidence of their guilt based on their own boasts and eye witnesses, the community refused to hold the boys accountable for their actions because of their status as star athletes on the local football team. "Steubenville, Ohio: A Community’s Reckoning of Responsibility" is part of a case series on violence against women that illustrates the critical role of leadership through an examination of how social factors influence women’s health. Students analyze the situations described by considering the circumstances that placed each protagonist in vulnerable positions. Participants examined the commonalities and differences of these situations in an effort to understand the circumstances that affect women’s well-being. Additionally, using the cases as a framework, students analyzed the connections between collective outrage, reactive action, and leadership. 

This case explores the national, global, and social media response to a woman’s brutal rape in India in late 2012. The young woman was raped by strangers while taking a private bus after attending an event with a male friend, and subsequently died from her injuries. India’s Daughter: The Rape that Galvanized a Nation is a part of a case series on violence against women that illustrate the critical role for leadership through an examination of how factors within a society influence women’s health, in particular gender based violence. Students analyze the situations described by considering the circumstances that placed each protagonist in vulnerable positions. Participants examined the commonalities and differences of these situations in an effort to understand the circumstances that affect women’s well-being. Additionally, using the cases as a framework, students analyze the connections between collective outrage, reactive action, and leadership.

This case traces the story of Malala Yousafzai who has advocated passionately for girls’ right to education. In October 2012, a militant group with ties to the Taliban shot 14-year-old Yousafzai in the head as she was riding the school bus home after a day of classes. Yousafzai recovered and became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. This case explores the social factors that made such an attack possible and why there continue to be such barriers to educational opportunities for girls. "Malala Yousafzai: A Young Female Activist" is a part of a case series on violence against women that illustrate the critical role for leadership through an examination of how factors within a society influence women’s health. Students analyze the situations described by considering the circumstances that placed each protagonist in vulnerable positions. Participants examined the commonalities and differences of these situations in an effort to understand the circumstances that affect women’s well-being. Additionally, using the cases as a framework, students analyzed the connections between collective outrage, reactive action, and leadership. 

This case explores Nigerian attorney Hauwa Ibrahim’s defense of a woman charged with adultery by Islamic Shariah law. One of Nigeria’s first female lawyers, Ibrahim develops a strategy to defend a young married woman, Amina Lawal, against adultery charges that could potentially, if the court judged against her, result in her death. While many Western non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups viewed Lawal’s case as an instance of human rights abuse and called for an abolition of the Shariah-imposed punishment, Ibrahim instead chose to see an opportunity for change within a system that many – especially cultural outsiders – viewed as oppressive. Ibrahim challenged the dominant paradigm by working within it to create change that would eventually reverberate beyond one woman’s case. Willing to start with a framework that saw long-term opportunity and possibility, Ibrahim developed a very measured change approach and theory framed in seven specific principles. Additionally, Ibrahim’s example of challenging her own internal paradigms while also insisting that others do the same invites students to examine their own internal systems and paradigms.