Investing in research on violence prevention will enable the IRC to reach more women with effective programs, and to inform the policies and practices of governments and the wider humanitarian community to understand, prevent, and effectively respond to VAWG. In particular, we seek to promote investments by governments, donors and policy makers in interventions that have been proven to be effective and cost-efficient when implemented at scale, thus achieving sustainable reductions in violence for the most number of women.
The IRC, with its history of women’s protection and empowerment programming in over 30 low-income, conflict-affected countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, is uniquely positioned to make a difference in policy and practice related to violence prevention. As a result of this experience, the IRC has a deep understanding and appreciation of context, strong relationships with key governmental and non-governmental partners that are leading violence prevention efforts in their countries, and experience working to implement interventions tailored to the specific needs of women. The IRC also has partnerships with leading academics in the field of violence prevention, and together we have carried out some of the first rigorous research demonstrating effective approaches to violence prevention in low-resource and conflict-affected contexts.
Safe at Home: A family violence program model to prevent and respond to violence against women and children in the home in humanitarian settings
2017-2019
Funding Source: OFDA
To date, the humanitarian community has largely focused on IPV and child maltreatment via separate and distinct interventions and strategies. While standalone programming can be effective, the effects of each type of programming can be magnified on other forms of violence in the home through a family violence approach. To fill this gap, the IRC is conducting formative research in two separate countries to understand the factors that enable IPV against women and the abuse, neglect and exploitation of children and against other vulnerable members within the household and how they are interrelated. Following this learning, the IRC will adapt parenting and engaging men programs to better address shared drivers of violence in the home. Investment into understanding how to best design and implement a family violence program model may result in current reductions in IPV and child maltreatment in the home as well as in reductions of violence in future generations.
Evaluation of Engaging Men through Accountable Practice
2015–2017
Partners: Julia Vaillant, World Bank Gender Innovation Lab
Funder: World Bank
The IRC has developed the Engaging Men through Accountable Practice (EMAP) initiative which aims to engage men as agents of change while being accountable to women’s voices in their communities to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG). The IRC is undertaking a rigorous randomized controlled trial of EMAP across 30 communities in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study will be a two-armed, pair-matched, cluster randomized controlled trial in which up to 1,500 men and their female partners will be interviewed as part of the study examining the impact of EMAP on potential changes in intimate partner violence perpetration. Read the research brief here.
Evaluating the Impact of Evaluation the Impact of the Sisters of Success (SOS) Program
2013-2017
Academic partner: Tricia Gonwa and Joao Montalvao, The World Bank
Funding: Gender Innovation Lab, The World Bank
The Sisters of Success (SOS) program is designed to support girls’ transition into adolescence and adulthood and will take place in Monrovia, Liberia. SOS recruits and matches individual girls aged 12-15 with mentors. SOS mentors and mentees will then meet 30 times over the course of 18 months. The impact of the SOS program will be evaluated using the randomized control trial methodology. The SOS program’s goals are for girls to adopt healthy behaviors; build confidence and self-esteem; increase social capital through peer groups; build and practice problem solving skills; develop communication and leadership skills and healthy peer-relationships; learn and practice their rights; begin to develop savings and financial literacy habits; increase their community participation and involvement; and help them work towards their own personal development goals. Longer-term impact objectives also include increasing secondary school completion rates; reducing teenage pregnancy; improving girls’ voices within their households; girls’ financial decision-making; girls’ social and emotional well-being; and girls’ becoming agents of change and contributors within their peer groups and communities.
