Impact of Microfinance and Participatory Gender Training for Women in Reducing Intimate Partner Violence

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine2,640 enrolled

Overview

Violence against women and girls is increasingly recognized as a major global public health and development concern. However, evidence on what forms of intervention should be prioritised is severely lacking. A cluster randomized controlled trial (The Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS \& Gender Equity - IMAGE Project) in rural South Africa combined a group-based microfinance intervention with a participatory gender and HIV training curriculum for loan participants and showed that, over a two-year period, levels of physical and/or sexual partner violence experienced by participants in the past year were reduced by 55%. The overall goal of the current study is to design and implement a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact on intimate partner violence of: 1) combining participatory gender training with microfinance for women in existing microfinance loan groups, and 2) a participatory gender training programme for women (not receiving microfinance) and their male partners.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

2,640

Conditions

Maltreatment by Spouse or Partner

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: FEMALEMin age: 20 YearsMax age: 50 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: Arms 1 and 2 - microfinance loan groups: 1. there are between 15 and 30 active members in the group 2. less than 25% of the women have been members for less than one year 3. there is a good attendance (repayment) record 4. a minimum of 70% of active members consent to take part in the study Arms 3 and 4, women who: 1. are aged 20-50 years 2. are not formally employed, i.e. either self-employed or not currently working 3. have been resident in Mwanza for at least two years 4. have not been a member of a microfinance loan group in the past 12 months 5. are fluent in Swahili 6. have consented to take part in the study. Exclusion Criteria: None

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Past 12 months exposure to intimate partner violence

Exposure to intimate partner violence will be assessed using the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women questionnaire

Time frame: 24 months post-intervention