Over the last two decades, the global community has come to recognise the profound impact of violence on the lives of women and girls. This fundamentally undermines their health and well-being, and stands as a barrier to women’s full participation in global development and the economic and civic life of their communities. This evidence brief outlines the effective design and implementation elements in interventions to prevent violence against women and girls emanating from the UKAID-funded, What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (What Works) programme, a six-year, £25-million investment in VAWG prevention.

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Little is known about how to reduce men’s perpetration of intimate partner violence. Our team, from Sonke Gender Justice and Wits University, led the Sonke CHANGE Trial in Diepsloot, a township near Johannesburg.The trial tested if the Sonke CHANGE intervention could reduce men’s reports of perpetrating partner violence over two years. A trial means that some areas of Diepsloot were randomly chosen to get the project (called “intervention clusters”), while others did not (“control clusters”). This allowed us to compare behaviors of men living in intervention clusters with men living in control clusters.

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Over the last two decades, the global community has come to recognise the profound impact of violence on the lives of women and girls. This fundamentally undermines their health and well-being, and stands as a barrier to women’s full participation in global development and the economic and civic life of their communities. This evidence brief outlines the effective design and implementation elements in interventions to prevent violence against women and girls emanating from the UKAID-funded, What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (What Works) programme, a six-year, £25-million investment in VAWG prevention.

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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is preventable. Over the last two decades, VAWG prevention practitioners and researchers have been developing and testing interventions to stop violence from occurring, in addition to mitigating its consequences. This rigorous, in-depth review of the state of the field presents what is now known five years on after the UKAID-funded, What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (What Works) programme, a six year investment, in advancing our understanding of What Works within the context of the wider evidence base.

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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is preventable. Over the last two decades, VAWG prevention practitioners and researchers have been developing and testing interventions to stop violence from occurring, in addition to mitigating its consequences. This document is an executive summary of the longer review of the state of the field of VAWG prevention, five years on after the UKAID-funded, What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (What Works) programme, a six year investment, in advancing our understanding of What Works within the context of the wider evidence base.

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A critical task of the past 25 years of research on violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been to develop an understanding of the drivers of men’s perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) – physical and/or sexual violence against their female partners – and the risk factors that shape women’s experience of IPV. In this brief, we reflect on the evidence produced through What Works, as well as the wider body of literature that has emerged in the past six to ten years. We also provide a comprehensive review of new knowledge of the drivers of, and risk factors for, men’s violence against their wives or girlfriends.

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This report outlines the medium-term impacts of Zindagii Shoista (Living with Dignity) – a project to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Tajikistan – by determining levels of violence and measuring socioeconomic and emotional wellbeing indicators 15 months after the project ended – 30 months after its commencement. At the endline of the intervention, VAWG levels had dropped by 50%, and relationship and gender equality indicators had improved. Significant positive changes were seen for all socioeconomic status indicators as well as significant positive changes for all health measures, including depression scale and suicidality.

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Ogum-Alangea, D., Addo-Lartey, A., Chirwa, E., Sikweyiya, Y., Coker-Appiah, D., Jewkes, R., & Adanu, R. (2019). Evaluation of the Rural Response System (RRS) to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls in Ghana.

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In order to bridge the gap between research and action, the Global Women’s Institute (GWI) has developed this new toolkit to support non-academic stakeholders to understand and interpret the data gathered through population-based research on VAWG and to create a process for moving from evidence to implementing action. The Research to Action tool provides a step-by-step process for practitioners and policymakers to better understand and utilise data generated by VAWG research activities.

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In order to bridge the gap between research and action, the Global Women’s Institute (GWI) has developed this new toolkit to support non-academic stakeholders to understand and interpret the data gathered through population-based research on VAWG and to create a process for moving from evidence to implementing action. The Research to Action tool provides a step-by-step process for practitioners and policymakers to better understand and utilise data generated by VAWG research activities.

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Globally, activists and researchers have pointed to the contribution of harmful alcohol and substance use conditions to the occurrence and severity of intimate partner violence (IPV). There has been much debate over the relationship and whether it is truly causal. To date, there has been limited evidence about whether interventions to prevent harmful alcohol use and treat common mental health problems have an impact on IPV outcomes, and whether gender-transformative interventions that seek to prevent IPV can reduce harmful alcohol use and improve mental health. Available evidence on these associations has largely been from the global North. DFID’s What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Global programme (What Works) has generated new evidence on these associations from evaluations of IPV prevention interventions in a range of settings in the global South, including peri-urban Zambia, rural Rwanda and Ghana, and urban informal settlements in South Africa, with promising findings for IPV prevention.

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant and pervasive health and human rights issue for women around the world; one in three women experience physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of a partner within their lifetime. A similar proportion of women is affected in Nepal.1-3 Nationally, 11.2% of women who have ever been married report having experienced physical and/or sexual violence in the past 12 months. In rural Nepal, where gendered norms around dominance, aggression and sexual rights of husbands over their wives are entrenched; over half of young married women report violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.4

The Change study took place in the Terai region which has rates of IPV that are higher than the national average.5 Approximately one quarter of the 1,800 women surveyed in the Change baseline study had experienced IPV in the past 12 months, with 18% reporting sexual IPV and 16% reporting physical IPV.

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This brief presents the evaluation findings of the Rural Response System’s community mobilisation and social norms change intervention tested under the What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls programme. It is intended to inform the work of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), like-minded local NGOs for women and children, leaders in the broader community, and donors working to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Ghana.

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Stern, E., Gibbs, A., Willan, S., Dunkle, K., & Jewkes, R. (2019). ‘When you talk to someone in a bad way or always put her under pressure, it is actually worse than beating her’: Conceptions and experiences of emotional intimate partner violence in Rwanda and South Africa. PLOS ONE.  

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The study aimed at understanding factors that drive violence against women from men’s and women’s perceptive as part of a Community Randomized Control Trial aimed at reducing violence against women. It is based on the Ecological Model, a well-documented and greatly acclaimed theoretical model that considers the inclusion of multiple domains of risk and protective factors for IPV perpetration by men or IPV victimization in women and based on multiple theories that include power (unequal gender relations), resource, social learning amongst others. The model organizes factors into four levels of influence (individual, relationship, community and societal levels)[1]. Individual level factors include low education level, young age, low economic status/income, unemployment and harmful use of alcohol or illicit drugs among others, and relationship level factors include education disparity among couples or how couples communication. Acceptance of violence against women, weak community sanctions and lack of societal legislation are among those factors identified at community and societal levels. Annex 1 shows Theory of Change for the study.

The main objectives of the baseline study were to:

• To determine the past year prevalence of women’s experience of physical or sexual intimate partner violence
• To determine the past year prevalence of physical or sexual violence perpetration by men against their intimate partners in the communities
• To understand risk or protective factors associated with IPV perpetration among men or IPV experience among women.

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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced years of conflict. Millions have died or been displaced with a collapse of basic services. While the First Congo War (1996–1997) and the Second Congo War (1998–2003) are long past, conflict-related violence continues. Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is estimated to be very high. Conflict has increased all forms of VAWG, including sexual violence perpetrated by rebels, militia, soldiers, peacekeepers and civilians, as well as intimate partner violence (IPV) in the home. Congolese society is also characterised by gender inequality with widespread impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence.1

While the media often portray sexual violence as militia-related, findings of various studies, including the present one, suggest otherwise. Promundo’s International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) found that IPV is more prevalent than non-partner sexual violence (NPSV), with 45 per cent of women in eastern DRC reporting having ever experienced physical IPV and 49 per cent reporting having ever experienced sexual IPV. Rape as part of conflict is also high, reported by 22 per cent of women.2 The 2014 Demographic and Health Survey found that 57 per cent of ever-married 15–49-year-old women reported having ever experienced any type of IPV (physical, emotional or sexual) and 16 per cent reported experiencing sexual IPV or NPSV in the past 12 months.3 Violence against women and girls in DRC is thus not only a weapon of war but is ‘used as a weapon in daily life to oppress and abuse women and girls across the whole country’.

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Javalkar, P., Platt, L., Prakash, R., Beattie, T. S., Collumbien, M., Gafos, M., ... & Bhattacharjee, P. (2019). Effectiveness of a multilevel intervention to reduce violence and increase condom use in intimate partnerships among female sex workers: cluster randomised controlled trial in Karnataka, India. BMJ Global Health, 4(6).

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Hatcher, A. M., Gibbs, A., McBride, R., Rebombo, D., Khumalo, M., & Christofides, N. (2019). Gendered syndemic of intimate partner violence, alcohol misuse, and HIV risk among peri-urban, heterosexual men in South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 112637.

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McLean, L., Heise, L. L., & Stern, E. A. (2019). Shifting and transforming gender-inequitable beliefs, behaviours and norms in intimate partnerships: the Indashyikirwa couples programme in Rwanda. Culture, health & sexuality, 1-18.

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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is driven in part by gender attitudes, norms on gender inequality and the acceptability of violence, which are socially reproduced and shared. Women’s rights organizations across the global south have dedicated themselves to challenging these. Early evaluations of work they have championed has shown that sufficiently equipped community volunteers, guided in a long-term structured programme, can enable widespread diffusion of new ideas on gender and VAWG and ultimately achieve changes in harmful attitudes and norms across communities.

DFID’s What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls Global Programme (What Works) has generated new evidence on the effect of these interventions in a range of settings – from rural areas and small towns of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Rwanda, Nepal, to urban informal settlements in South Africa. Rigorous evaluations have shown the potential for preventing VAWG through multi-year, intensive change interventions with welltrained and supported community action teams, that purposefully engage both women and men to effect change.

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By Aisling Swaine, Michelle Spearing, Maureen Murphy, Manuel Contreras-Urbina
Published 12 May 2019

This article makes three major contributions to guide researchers and policymakers in addressing VAWG in post-conflict contexts. First, it identifies critical gaps in understanding the intersection between VAWG and post-conflict statebuilding and peacebuilding processes. Second, it presents an ecological model to explore the drivers of VAWG during and after armed conflict. Third, it proposes a conceptual framework for analysing and addressing the intersections of VAWG with both post-conflict statebuilding and peacebuilding. The article concludes that application of this framework can help policymakers shape statebuilding and peacebuilding processes to more effectively institutionalise approaches to VAWG so that post-conflict transitions advance sustainable, positive peace.

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By Maureen Murphy, Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer, Junior Ovince, Mary Ellsberg, Manuel Contreras-Urbina
Published 14 May 2019

Based on secondary analysis of a larger study on VAWG in South Sudan, this article highlights the specific experience of conflict-affected adolescent girls resident in the Juba Protection of Civilian sites. Quantitative data from a cross-sectional household survey shows that the prevalence of non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) was high among a cohort of girls who were of adolescent age during the 2013 crisis. Direct exposure to armed conflict increased the odds of respondents experiencing NPSV and IPV. Quantitative and qualitative data also showed that patriarchal practices, compounded by poverty and unequal power relationships within the home, remain some of the primary drivers of VAWG even in conflict-affected settings.

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By Alexandra Blackwell, Jean Casey, Rahmah Habeeb, Jeannie Annan, and Kathryn Falb
Published 28 June 2019

The International Rescue Committee conducted an evaluation of a cash programme in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. The aim was to examine the effect of a cash for basic needs programme on outcomes of violence against women, and women’s empowerment. This article draws on qualitative data from interviews with 40 women at the end of the cash programme. It offers evidence of potential increased tension and abuse within both the community and the household for some women whose families received cash, as well as potential increased social protection through repayment of debts and economic independence for others. Both negative and positive effects could be seen. While the objective of the cash programme was not to influence underlying power dynamics, this research shows it is necessary to integrate gender-sensitive approaches into programme design and monitoring to reduce risk to women of diverse identities.

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POLICY BRIEF
Adolescence is a crucial and defining stage in a girl’s life. However, girls around the world too often face unique risks of gender discrimination and gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, human trafficking, forced marriage and sexual exploitation and abuse. This is particularly the case in humanitarian settings, where girls’ already-limited access to vital services and family and peer support networks are disrupted by crises and displacement. Despite this, humanitarian programmes and policies do not adequately  address adolescent girls’ needs. Caught between childhood  and adulthood, these girls are often not able or willing to  access services designed for adult women or young girls.

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This study examines the unique experience of adolescent girls by exploring the types of GBV and drivers of violence within the context of South Sudan, where women and girls experience high levels of gender inequality and subordination. Data was collected under the What Works programme, and secondary analysis of this data set focusing on the experiences of violence against adolescent girls was supported by the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence consortium. Key findings can inform policymakers and donors as they support programs that will effectively prevent and respond to violence against adolescent girls in conflict and humanitarian settings.

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Developed with support from the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the UK Department for International Development as part of the What Works programme, this manual aims to support researchers and members of the humanitarian community in conducting ethical and technically sound research, monitoring and/or evaluation on gender-based violence within refugee and conflict-affected populations.

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Mixed-methods evaluation of intervention to prevent violence against women in Tajikistan
Summary:
The Zindagii Shoista (Living with Dignity) project was implemented by International Alert, Cesvi and three local partners – ATO, Farodis and Zanoni Sharq – in four villages in Tajikistan with 80 families.
It aimed to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) through a combination of gender norm, behavioural change and income-generating activities (IGA) over a period of 15 months.
https://www.international-alert.org/publications/zindagii-shoista-living-dignity-evaluation

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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is common across the socioeconomic spectrum; a third of women experience violence from a partner in their lifetime. Poverty and VAWG are mutually reinforcing: poverty increases the risk of experiencing violence; VAWG increases poverty.

New evidence from four projects rigorously evaluated through DFID’s What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls Global Programme (What Works) demonstrates that combining economic empowerment and gender-transformative interventions for women and families can reduce intimate partner violence and strengthen the economic position of individuals and families.

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