Multilevel Intervention for Preventing Men's Use of Violence in Urban South Africa (Sonke CHANGE Trial)

Summary

South Africa has one of the highest rates of violence towards women globally. However, little is known about how to prevent men's use of violence. The Sonke CHANGE Trial tests an intervention that targets men as individuals, groups, and community members in a peri-urban setting in South Africa. Eighteen neighborhoods will be randomly assigned to either the intervention condition or a control group. By speaking to men at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months, investigators will learn whether violence and other health behaviors shift over time. Alongside the trial, qualitative research will explore how the intervention took place and why participants may change attitudes or behaviors.

Conditions

• Domestic Violence
• Sexual Assault and Rape
• Masculinity

Interventions

OTHER

Sonke CHANGE intervention

The Sonke CHANGE intervention is a multi-level model aimed at individual, group, community, and societal levels. Sonke's programming is comprised of three core components: 1. Workshops based on the premise that deeply held gender and sexuality beliefs can be critically examined and transformed in a reflective group setting. Workshops aim to challenge inequitable and harmful ideas about manhood and encourage men to take action to promote equality. 2. Community Action Teams (CATs) are comprised of interested men and women, who mobilize on a voluntary basis around issues in their neighborhoods. Methods include ambush theatre, murals painting, door to door campaigns, street soccer festivals, rallies, and community dialogues. 3. Local Advocacy is undertaken by CAT members, who aim to hold government and other duty bearers to account for VAWG prevention. CAT members join local community structures to advance community education and local government accountability.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sonke Gender Justice

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Medical Research Council, South Africa

  collaborator OTHER

• Department for International Development, United Kingdom

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Nicola J Christofides, PhD · University the Witwatersrand

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

40 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-02-29

Primary Completion

2018-07-31

Completion

2018-08-31

Countries

• South Africa

Study Locations