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Vo AV, Majnoonian A, Shabalala F, Masuku S, Fielding-Miller R. "Hope is being stirred up": Critical consciousness in gender-based violence interventions. Soc Sci Med 2024; 357:117175. [PMID: 39116699 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2024] [Accepted: 07/31/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Gender-based violence (GBV) research in public health has historically paid close attention to gender as a system of oppression, with less attention paid to the intersections between gender and other oppressive systems such as colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism. In 2019, we adapted and pilot-tested an individual-level evidence-based sexual violence resistance intervention for university-attending women in Eswatini. We conducted a qualitative assessment of our adapted intervention's acceptability and feasibility using a critical pedagogy lens to explore how power operated in delivering an empowerment intervention, using in-depth interviews with intervention participants and facilitators. We analyzed interview transcripts thematically guided by a critical pedagogy framework and organized emergent themes into a concept map with two primary axes: participant-researcher-driven power and proximal-distal determinants. We located participant experiences with the intervention within three quadrants defined by these axes: 1) "Prescriptive," in which the researcher or facilitator primarily controls the content and delivery, with a principal focus on proximal risk reduction strategies; 2) "Solidarity," which emphasizes fostering critical consciousness among facilitators and intervention participants through dialogue, building collective power through participant-driven discussions of individual experiences; and 3) "Liberation," in which participants critically examined the power structures that underpinned their lived experiences, and expressed a desire to transform these in ways the intervention was not designed to address. These three quadrants suggest the existence of a fourth quadrant, "paternalistic," - in which the interventionist seeks to didactically educate participants about structural drivers of their own experience. Our analysis highlights a fundamental tension in the epistemology of GBV research: While there is a clear consensus that 'empowerment' is a necessary component of successful GBV interventions, "liberatory" approaches that cede power to participants are inherently antithetical to the scripted approach typically required for consistent replication in randomized control trials or other 'gold-standard' approaches for post-positivist evidence generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anh Van Vo
- University of California, San Diego- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, CA, USA.
| | - Araz Majnoonian
- University of California, San Diego- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, CA, USA; Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health-Global Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Sakhile Masuku
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eswatini, Mbabane, Eswatini
| | - Rebecca Fielding-Miller
- University of California, San Diego- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, CA, USA
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Nardell MF, Sindelo S, Rousseau E, Siko N, Fuzile P, Julies R, Bassett IV, Mellins CA, Bekker LG, Butler LM, Katz IT. Development of "Yima Nkqo," a community-based, peer group intervention to support treatment initiation for young adults with HIV in South Africa. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0280895. [PMID: 37319250 PMCID: PMC10270624 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
AIMS Half of young adults diagnosed with HIV in South Africa start antiretroviral therapy (ART). We developed and field tested a facilitator-guided peer support group called Yima Nkqo ("Standing Tall" in isiXhosa) to promote treatment initiation for young adults newly diagnosed with HIV in communities around Cape Town. METHODS Following an adapted version of the UK Medical Research Council's framework for developing complex interventions, we 1) identified evidence on previous interventions to improve ART uptake in sub-Saharan Africa; 2) collected and analyzed qualitative data on the acceptability of our proposed intervention; 3) proposed a theoretical understanding of the process of behavior change; and 4) developed an intervention manual and feedback tools. During field-testing, participant feedback on intervention acceptability, and team feedback on consistency of content delivery and facilitation quality, were analyzed using an iterative, rapid-feedback evaluation approach. In-depth written and verbal summaries were shared in weekly team meetings. Team members interpreted feedback, identified areas for improvement, and proposed suggestions for intervention modifications. RESULTS Based on our formative research, we developed three, 90-minute sessions with content including HIV and ART education, reflection on personal resources and strengths, practice disclosing one's status, strategies to overcome stressors, and goal setting to start treatment. A lay facilitator was trained to deliver intervention content. Two field testing groups (five and four participants, respectively) completed the intervention. Participants highlighted that strengths of Yima Nkqo included peer support, motivation, and education about HIV and ART. Team feedback to the facilitator ensured optimal consistency of intervention content delivery. CONCLUSIONS Iteratively developed in collaboration with youth and healthcare providers, Yima Nkqo is a promising new intervention to improve treatment uptake among young adults with HIV in South Africa. The next phase will be a pilot randomized controlled trial of Yima Nkqo (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04568460).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria F. Nardell
- Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Siyaxolisa Sindelo
- The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
| | - Elzette Rousseau
- The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
| | - Nomakaziwe Siko
- The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
| | - Pamela Fuzile
- The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
| | - Robin Julies
- The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
| | - Ingrid V. Bassett
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Claude A. Mellins
- HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Linda-Gail Bekker
- The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
- Department of Medicine, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
- Governing Council, International AIDS Society, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lisa M. Butler
- Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States of America
| | - Ingrid T. Katz
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Harvard Global Health Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- Division of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
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Sileo KM, Wanyenze RK, Anecho A, Luttinen R, Semei C, Mukasa B, Musoke W, Vermund SH, Dworkin SL, Dovidio JF, Taylor BS, Kershaw TS. Protocol for the pilot quasi-experimental controlled trial of a gender-responsive implementation strategy with providers to improve HIV outcomes in Uganda. Pilot Feasibility Stud 2022; 8:264. [PMID: 36564795 PMCID: PMC9783690 DOI: 10.1186/s40814-022-01202-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Antiretroviral treatment (ART) is the most effective clinical intervention for reducing morbidity and mortality among persons living with HIV. However, in Uganda, there are disparities between men and women in viral load suppression and related HIV care engagement outcomes, which suggests problems with the implementation of ART. Gender norms are a known driver of HIV disparities in sub-Saharan Africa, and patient-provider relationships are a key factor in HIV care engagement; therefore, the role of gender norms is important to consider in interventions to achieve the equitable provision of treatment and the quality of ART counseling. METHODS The overall research objective of this study is to pilot test an implementation strategy (i.e., methods to improve the implementation of an evidence-based intervention) to increase providers' capacity to provide gender-responsive treatment and counseling to men and women on HIV treatment in Uganda. Delivered to HIV providers, this group training adapts evidence-based strategies to reduce gender biases and increase skills to deliver gender-specific and transformative HIV counseling to patients. The implementation strategy will be piloted through a quasi-experimental controlled trial. Clinics will be randomly assigned to either the intervention or control conditions. The trial will assess feasibility and acceptability and explore barriers and facilitators to implementation and future adoption while gathering preliminary evidence on the implementation strategy's effectiveness by comparing changes in patient (N = 240) and provider (N = 80-140) outcomes across intervention and control clinics through 12-month follow-up. Quantitative data will be descriptively analyzed, qualitative data will be analyzed through thematic analysis, and these data will be mixed during the presentation and interpretation of results where appropriate. DISCUSSION This pilot intervention trial will gather preliminary evidence on the acceptability, feasibility, and potential effect of a novel implementation strategy to improve men and women's HIV care engagement, with the potential to reduce gender disparities in HIV outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05178979 , retrospectively registered on January 5, 2022.
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Affiliation(s)
- K M Sileo
- Department of Public Health, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
| | - R K Wanyenze
- Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda
| | - A Anecho
- Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda
| | - R Luttinen
- Department of Demography, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - C Semei
- Mildmay Uganda, Kampala, Uganda
| | | | | | - S H Vermund
- Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - S L Dworkin
- School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA, USA
| | - J F Dovidio
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - B S Taylor
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - T S Kershaw
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
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Ndungu J, Ngcobo-Sithole M, Gibbs A. Researchers or practitioners' opinion of the possibilities for creating virtual safe social spaces for violence prevention interventions for young people. HEALTH EDUCATION RESEARCH 2022; 37:155-166. [PMID: 35349674 DOI: 10.1093/her/cyac008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global concern. Interventions designed to prevent IPV are often participatory in nature, implemented in face-to-face settings and seek to create 'safe social spaces'. We however do not fully understand how safe social spaces can be created in online spaces. Our study sought to understand the possibility of creating safe social spaces online, supportive of participatory interventions, from the perspective of those developing and implementing IPV prevention interventions. We conducted in-depth interviews with a global sample of 20 researchers and practitioners. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic network analysis. We found mixed results about the possibility of creating safe social spaces online. Researchers and practitioners raised issues such as sharing of devices, the difficulties in developing trust and a sense of community online, challenges in having privacy and confidentiality online and difficulty in reading non-verbal cues as some of the key considerations when creating online safe social spaces. Younger researchers and practitioners were more optimistic about creating safe social spaces online. Our results show that the creation of safe social spaces online is complex and requires further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane Ndungu
- School of behavioral Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | | | - Andrew Gibbs
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
- Centre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
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Menon SV, Allen NE. Community Organizing and Transformative Change in the Response to Domestic Violence in India. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY 2020; 66:106-118. [PMID: 32452566 DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Pervasive cultural narratives that normalize domestic violence have made efforts to respond to domestic violence in India challenging. An effective response to domestic violence in India needs to be transformative in nature, supporting the empowerment of survivors of violence and empowering communities to support survivors. Various studies have highlighted the importance of settings like grassroots organizations for promoting empowerment of members through community organizing. This qualitative study builds on this growing body of research using a grassroots agency in India as an exemplar to understand (a) empowering processes at the individual and community level associated with the agency's community organizing efforts; and (b) salient mechanisms associated with social change and action in the response to domestic violence in the community. At the individual level, the agency's organizing efforts provided knowledge, skills and resources, and opportunities for participation and leadership. At the community level, the agency engages in capacity building and increases social capital of members. The mechanisms that emerged as salient were increased critical consciousness of members, an emphasis on breaking the silence around domestic violence, community trust and cohesion, and capacity for informal social control. Implications of our findings for intervention and prevention work are discussed. HIGHLIGHTS: Community organizing is an important avenue for change in the response to domestic violence. Community organizing can facilitate empowering processes like participation and leadership. Building capacity and social capital is central to facilitating empowerment of communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suvarna V Menon
- Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL, USA
- University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Nicole E Allen
- University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
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Gibbs A, Myrttinen H, Washington L, Sikweyiya Y, Jewkes R. Constructing, reproducing and challenging masculinities in a participatory intervention in urban informal settlements in South Africa. CULTURE, HEALTH & SEXUALITY 2020; 22:535-550. [PMID: 31208294 DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2019.1614671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Participatory interventions with men and boys to transform masculinities are increasingly common to improve health and reduce intimate partner violence and HIV-related risk. Yet, despite this, there has been little consideration of how facilitators' own masculinities shape interventions. In this analysis of Stepping Stones and Creating Futures, a gender-transformative programme delivered to young men (aged 18-30 years) in urban informal settlements in Durban, South Africa we explore how facilitators' masculinities were employed to engender change in the masculinities of participants. We argue facilitators had to negotiate two tasks existing in some tension, the first, overt and the main aim of the programme: namely, challenging elements of the youthful masculinity at play in the lives of participants, such as exerting violent power over women. A second task was more covert: namely, establishing facilitators' credibility 'as men' in order to do this work with participants. Through strategies including clothes, mobile phones, jokes and storytelling, facilitators demonstrated to participants their 'successful' masculinity and could then engage with participants around emotions, non-violence and consistent condom use. This enabled facilitators and participants to undergo a limited processes of change, without 'compromising' their sense of masculinity, and without fundamentally challenging men's patriarchal privilege.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gibbs
- South African Medical Research Council, Gender and Health Research Unit, Pretoria, South Africa
- Centre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | | | | | - Yandisa Sikweyiya
- South African Medical Research Council, Gender and Health Research Unit, Pretoria, South Africa
- School of Public Health, University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Rachel Jewkes
- South African Medical Research Council, Gender and Health Research Unit, Pretoria, South Africa
- School of Public Health, University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Office of the Executive Scientist, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
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Gram L, Fitchett A, Ashraf A, Daruwalla N, Osrin D. Promoting women's and children's health through community groups in low-income and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review of mechanisms, enablers and barriers. BMJ Glob Health 2019; 4:e001972. [PMID: 31908874 PMCID: PMC6936553 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2019] [Revised: 10/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Community mobilisation through group activities has been used to improve women's and children's health in a range of low-income and middle-income contexts, but the mechanisms through which it works deserve greater consideration. We did a mixed-methods systematic review of mechanisms, enablers and barriers to the promotion of women's and children's health in community mobilisation interventions. METHODS We searched for theoretical and empirical peer-reviewed articles between January 2000 and November 2018. First, we extracted and collated proposed mechanisms, enablers and barriers into categories. Second, we extracted and synthesised evidence for them using narrative synthesis. We assessed risk of bias with adapted Downs and Black and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists. We assigned confidence grades to each proposed mechanism, enabler and barrier. RESULTS 78 articles met the inclusion criteria, of which 39 described interventions based on a participatory group education model, 19 described community-led structural interventions to promote sexual health in marginalised populations and 20 concerned other types of intervention or multiple interventions at once. We did not have high confidence in any mechanism, enabler or barrier. Two out of 15 proposed mechanisms and 10 out of 12 proposed enablers and barriers reached medium confidence. A few studies provided direct evidence relating proposed mechanisms, enablers or barriers to health behaviours or health outcomes. Only two studies presented mediation or interaction analysis for a proposed mechanism, enabler or barrier. CONCLUSION We uncovered multiple proposed mechanisms, enablers and barriers to health promotion through community groups, but much work remains to provide a robust evidence base for proposed mechanisms, enablers and barriers. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD42018093695.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Gram
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Adam Fitchett
- Faculty of Life Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Asma Ashraf
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nayreen Daruwalla
- Society for Nutrition, Education & Health Action (SNEHA), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - David Osrin
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
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Dworkin SL, Barker G. Gender-Transformative Approaches to Engaging Men in Reducing Gender-Based Violence: A Response to Brush & Miller's "Trouble in Paradigm". Violence Against Women 2019; 25:1657-1671. [PMID: 31640533 DOI: 10.1177/1077801219872555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Brush and Miller's paper is critical of gender-transformative interventions and they believe that the paradigm is in trouble. In this response, we examine the body of evidence and the conceptual frames that undergird gender-transformative interventions, along with the emergence of these interventions and their efficacy. We argue here that it is reductionist to state either (a) that gender-transformative programs do not work, or (b) that gender-transformative programs only rely on social norms theory. We reveal how these claims omit important developments emerging from research on homophobia, feminist thought, and intersectionality that have made their way into gender-transformative interventions in several countries. We show that the implementation of gender-transformative interventions is far from uniform and we examine how changing power relations, relationships, communities, and masculinities, as well as other structures and practices that negatively influence health and well-being are integrated into this large body of work. We highlight how gender-transformative interventions show solid promise on balance, as measured in several evaluation studies in several settings, when implemented well and sustained. Overall then, gender-transformative interventions represent a tremendous advance over the previous "risk group-focused," single-topic approaches with men that have been implemented in public and global health interventions.
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Sprague L, Afifi R, Ayala G, El-nasoor ML. Participatory praxis as an imperative for health-related stigma research. BMC Med 2019; 17:32. [PMID: 30764812 PMCID: PMC6376721 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-019-1263-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Participatory praxis is increasingly valued for the reliability, validity, and relevance of research results that it fosters. Participatory methods become an imperative in health-related stigma research, where the constitutive elements of stigma, healthcare settings, and research each operate on hierarchies that push those with less social power to the margins. DISCUSSION Particularly for people who are stigmatized, participatory methods balance the scales of equity by restructuring power relationships. As such, participatory praxis facilitates a research process that is responsive to community-identified priorities and creates community ownership of the research, catalyzing policy change at multiple levels and foregrounds, and addresses risks to communities from participating in research. Additionally, through upholding the agency and leadership of communities facing stigma, it can help to mitigate stigma's harmful effects. Health-related stigma research can reduce the health inequities faced by stigmatized groups if funders and institutions require and reward community participation and if researchers commit to reflexive, participatory practices. A research agenda focused on participatory praxis in health-related stigma research could stimulate increased use of such methods. CONCLUSION For community-engaged practice to become more than an ethical aspiration, structural changes in the funding, training, publishing, and tenure processes will be necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurel Sprague
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Rima Afifi
- College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa USA
| | - George Ayala
- MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights, Oakland, California USA
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Naved R, Rahman T, Willan S, Jewkes R, Gibbs A. Female garment workers’ experiences of violence in their homes and workplaces in Bangladesh: A qualitative study. Soc Sci Med 2018; 196:150-157. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Gibbs A, Washington L, Willan S, Ntini N, Khumalo T, Mbatha N, Sikweyiya Y, Shai N, Chirwa E, Strauss M, Ferrari G, Jewkes R. The Stepping Stones and Creating Futures intervention to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV-risk behaviours in Durban, South Africa: study protocol for a cluster randomized control trial, and baseline characteristics. BMC Public Health 2017; 17:336. [PMID: 28427380 PMCID: PMC5397780 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-4223-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2017] [Accepted: 04/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a global public health challenge. Studies suggest urban informal settlements have particularly high levels of IPV and HIV-prevalence and these settlements are rapidly growing. The current evidence base of effective approaches to preventing IPV recognizes the potential of combining economic strengthening and gender transformative interventions. However, few of these interventions have been done in urban informal settlements, and almost none have included men as direct recipients of these interventions. METHODS Stepping Stones and Creating Futures intervention is a participatory gender transformative and livelihoods strengthening intervention. It is being evaluated through a cluster randomized control trial amongst young women and men (18-30) living in urban informal settlements in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa. The evaluation includes a qualitative process evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis. A comparison of baseline characteristics of participants is also included. DISCUSSION This is one of the first large trials to prevent IPV and HIV-vulnerability amongst young women and men in urban informal settlements. Given the mixed methods evaluation, the results of this trial have the ability to develop a stronger understanding of what works to prevent violence against women and the processes of change in interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT03022370 . Registered 13 January 2017, retrospectively registered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gibbs
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
- Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
| | | | - Samantha Willan
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Nolwazi Ntini
- Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Thobani Khumalo
- Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | | | - Yandisa Sikweyiya
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Nwabisa Shai
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Esnat Chirwa
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Michael Strauss
- Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Giulia Ferrari
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Rachel Jewkes
- Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
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Gibbs A. Tackling gender inequalities and intimate partner violence in the response to HIV: moving towards effective interventions in Southern and Eastern Africa. AJAR-AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AIDS RESEARCH 2017; 15:141-8. [PMID: 27399043 DOI: 10.2989/16085906.2016.1204331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Ending intimate partner violence (IPV) and reducing gender inequalities are recognised as critical to "'ending AIDS" by 2030. Amongst women, experiencing IPV has been shown to increase HIV acquisition, reduce women's ability to use HIV prevention strategies and reduce adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). In Southern and Eastern Africa there has recently been a significant push to strengthen programming around this through broad funding and programming streams. However, while gender inequality underpins IPV and HIV acquisition, in different contexts a variety of other factors intersect to shape this vulnerability. Using reflections focused on young women living in urban informal settlements and the Stepping Stones and Creating Futures intervention, this paper illustrates the need to understand the specific drivers of HIV and IPV in any given context and the need for interventions to prevent this. Any intervention needs to include three key components: 1) resonate with the lived realities of women they target; 2) tackle multiple factors shaping women's vulnerability to IPV and HIV simultaneously; and 3) consider how best to work with men and boys to achieve improved outcomes for women. Such an approach, it is argued, resonating with the "slow research" movement, will yield better outcomes for interventions, but will also require a fundamental rethinking of how interventions to prevent IPV and HIV amongst women are conceptualised, with a greater emphasis on understanding the ways in which gender resonates in each context and how interventions can operate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gibbs
- a Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD) , University of KwaZulu-Natal , Durban , South Africa
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Mannell J, Dadswell A. Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: Towards a Framework for Supporting Effective Community Mobilisation. JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/casp.2297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jenevieve Mannell
- Institute for Global Health; University College London; 30 Guilford Street London UK
| | - Anna Dadswell
- Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education; Anglia Ruskin University; Chelmsford CM1 1SQ UK
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Berglund A, Lindmark G. Preconception health and care (PHC)-a strategy for improved maternal and child health. Ups J Med Sci 2016; 121:216-221. [PMID: 27320774 PMCID: PMC5098484 DOI: 10.1080/03009734.2016.1191564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2016] [Revised: 05/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal health status before pregnancy is a decisive factor for pregnancy outcomes and for risk for maternal and infant complications. Still, maternity care does not start until the pregnancy is established and in most low-income settings not until more than half of the pregnancy has passed, which often is too late to impact outcomes. In Western societies preconception care (PCC) is widely recognized as a way to optimize women's health through biomedical and behavioural changes prior to conception with the aim of improving pregnancy outcomes. But the content of PCC is inconsistent and limited to single interventions or preconception counselling to women with chronic illnesses. It has been suggested that PCC should be extended to preconception health and care (PHC), including interventions prior to pregnancy in order to optimize women's health in general, and thereby subsequent pregnancy outcomes, the well-being of the family, and the health of the future child. With this definition, almost every activity that can improve the health of girls and women can be included in the concept. In the World Health Report of 2005 a longitudinal approach to women's wellness and reproductive health was highlighted, and the World Health Organization has proposed a more comprehensive maternal and child health care, also including psychosocial issues and intimate partner violence. The present article gives an overview of the recent literature and discusses contents and delivery of PCC/PHC in Western as well as low-income countries. The article puts special emphasis on why violence against women is an issue for PHC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Berglund
- National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence against Women, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gunilla Lindmark
- International Maternal and Child Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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