Publication: Engaging Men to Transform Inequitable Gender Attitudes and Prevent Intimate Partner Violence: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
Loading...
Published
2020-05-27
ISSN
Date
2022-04-18
Editor(s)
Abstract
Globally, one in three women worldwide report experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The study objective was to understand the effectiveness of Engaging Men through Accountable Practice (EMAP), a group-based discussion series which sought to transform gender relations in communities, on intimate partner violence (IPV), gender inequitable attitudes and related outcomes. Interventions engaging men have the potential to change gender attitudes and behaviours in conflict-affected areas. However, while EMAP led to changes in gender attitudes and behaviours related to perpetration of IPV, the study showed no overall reduction of women’s experience of IPV. Further research is needed to understand how working with men may lead to long-term and meaningful changes in IPV and related gender equitable attitudes and behaviours in conflict areas.
Link to Data Set
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Engaging Men to Transform Gender Attitudes and Prevent Intimate-Partner Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-12)Over a third of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have experienced physical or sexual intimate-partner violence (IPV) in the past year (2013-2014 DHS). In this context, the Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) in collaboration with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) tested the effectiveness of the Engaging Men through Accountable Practice (EMAP) program. EMAP is a male-only discussion group intervention aimed to prevent IPV, and to transform gender attitudes and couples’ power dynamics; all male discussion groups are informed by and accountable to women’s groups in the community. The EMAP program significantly improved the quality of the couple relationships and led to changes in men’s behaviors that are often associated with IPV, like reduced alcohol consumption. Further, the study found that the discussion groups led to improvements in men’s gender equitable attitudes, reducing their support for violence against women and increasing their support for a woman’s right to refuse to have sex. Despite these changes on the journey to IPV prevention, female partners of male EMAP participants reported, on average, no change in the levels of IPV that they experienced.Publication Breaking the Cycle of Intimate-partner Violence(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-11-28)Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global problem and a widespread issue in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where nationally more than one third of women have reported experiencing physical or sexual violence in the past year (2013-2014 DHS). The Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) tested the effectiveness of the Engaging Men through Accountable Practice (EMAP) program, a male-only discussion group intervention which aimed at preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) and promoting more egalitarian gender relations. EMAP was implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). New analyses of the study data paint a nuanced picture of the impact of the intervention. The authors find that among men who were the most physically violent at baseline, the EMAP program was effective at reducing the probability and severity of IPV perpetration. Although zero violence is a necessary and critical goal when promoting gender equality, these results reinforce the importance of measuring the contribution of policies and programs to reduce IPV’s occurrence, in addition to measuring effects on primary prevention and cessation of violence.Publication The Unintended Impacts of an Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program in Rwanda(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-25)A cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Rwanda evaluated a 22-week couples’ training program aimed at reducing intimate partner violence (IPV) by shifting gender norms and promoting equitable relationships among Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) members. Contrary to expectations, the intervention increased reported IPV, with women in the treatment group experiencing significantly more physical and sexual violence. Spillover effects also emerged in non-participating couples in treatment villages. Findings suggest that male backlash against changing gender norms contributed to the rise in IPV, driven by a divergence in attitudes between men and women. The study underscores the importance of anticipating resistance in patriarchal contexts and integrating real-time monitoring into IPV prevention programs to mitigate harm and inform safer, more effective approaches.Publication The Unintended Impacts of an Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-22)This study evaluates the impact of an intimate partner violence prevention program in Rwanda, using a randomized controlled trial. The 22-week couples training program aimed to improve communication, shift gender attitudes, and promote gender equality. Randomizing at both the village and couple levels, the study finds that the program caused large, unexpected increases in intimate partner violence. Treated women reported 5 and 10 percentage points more physical and sexual violence than control women, respectively, and control women living in treated villages reported even larger increases of 11 and 17 percentage points. Evidence suggests that these increases stem from male backlash against perceived identity threats, as women’s more progressive attitudes and aspirations contrast with men’s pressure to maintain traditional norms, generating friction within households. Innovative measurement techniques and extensive robustness checks show that changes in reporting behavior cannot explain the results.Publication Intimate Partner Violence : Economic Costs and Implications for Growth and Development(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-11)Violence against women, recognized globally as a fundamental human rights violation, is widely prevalent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries. Violence against women has significant economic costs in terms of expenditures on service provision, lost income for women and their families, decreased productivity, and negative impacts on future human capital formation. The paper makes a major contribution to the discussion of economic implications of intimate partner violence (IPV) through its conceptual mapping of the links between IPV and economic growth based on a review of literature on their complex dynamics based on data from Vietnam. It reviews costing methodologies and identifies types of costs that potentially can be estimated given different degrees of data availability. The paper argues strongly for a focus on estimating impacts on productivity, which is a key driver of economic growth. It also calls for committed action by both national governments and The World Bank Group in terms of integrating IPV and violence against women and girls (VAWG) into national and sectoral development plans and Bank funding streams; strengthening national statistics offices to collect, manage, and analyze data on violence systematically and regularly basis; prioritizing multi-sectoral and inter-ministerial responses; and most importantly establishing a dedicated budget or funding stream for IPV and VAWG policies, programs, and interventions.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Egypt Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11-08)This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores the challenges and opportunities of improving the alignment of Egypt’s development goals with its climate ambition. The CCDR offers a set of policy options and investment opportunities that, if implemented within five years, can deliver short-term benefits in selected sectors while also creating momentum toward important long-term benefits. The options identified in this report provide: Cost-effective adaptation approaches to reduce the negative impacts of climate change; Policy interventions to improve efficiency in the use of natural resources, and complement the creation of fiscal space to finance projects that reduce the vulnerability of people and the economy to climate shocks; Actions that can help avoid carbon lock-in through low-cost policy changes; Interventions to strengthen the country’s competitiveness while reducing negative externalities (such as pollution) and incentivize Egypt’s move towards a low carbon growth path in a manner consistent with its development objectives. Overall, the report identifies opportunities to reduce inefficiencies, manage risk, and strengthen the foundation for increased private sector participation.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.