Using Cultural Ceremonies to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Transmission

Summary

Violence against women (VAW), the most extreme manifestation of the unequal power balance between women and men, is a major global public health concern. One of the most common forms of VAW is that perpetrated by a husband or other intimate partner. In Ethiopia, 70.9% of women reported having experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the problem. A growing body of evidence has also linked IPV and HIV risk.

This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a community-based intervention focused on Intimate Partner Violence and HIV delivered in the context of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, a culturally established forum for community discussion and conflict resolution. Villages will be randomly assigned to one of 4 study arms (3 intervention and one control arm): 1) Women only participate in the intervention, 2) Men only participate, 3) Both men and women (couples) participate, 4) Women and men receive the control intervention comprising a short informational session on violence reduction.

Conditions

• HIV

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Intervention to reduce IPV and HIV

The Ethiopian traditional coffee ceremony will be used as an entry point for a community based intervention to provide information, change behaviour around IPV and improve gender equity and intra-couple relations. The coffee ceremony is a culturally established forum for community discussion and conflict resolution and an integral part of Ethiopian life. The intervention will involve regular coffee ceremonies, during which approximately 20 members of the community will participate in education and discussions centred on gender issues, sexuality, communication and conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS and its link with violence, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention. Each coffee ceremony will be moderated by a female or male facilitator trained in participatory learning, moderation, HIV/AIDS prevention, counselling, and gender issues. The intervention will involve 14 two-hour session per group of participants.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ethiopian Public Health Association

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Addis Ababa University

  collaborator OTHER

• EngenderHealth

  collaborator OTHER

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Vandana Sharma, MD, MPH · Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Jessica Leight, PhD · Williams College

• Negussie Deyessa, PhD · Addis Ababa University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

49 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-12-31

Primary Completion

2018-04-30

Completion

2018-04-30

Countries

• Ethiopia

Study Locations