Preventing Intimate-partner Violence: Impact Evaluation of Engaging Men Through Accountable Practice in Eastern DRC

The objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of Engaging Men in Accountable Practice (EMAP) on the prevention of violence against women and girls in North and South Kivu (DRC). The study is conducted jointly by the World Bank's Africa Gender Innovation Lab and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). EMAP is a program developed and implemented by the IRC to engage men to reflect on how to reduce and prevent intimate partner violence through 16 weekly group discussion sessions. The study is a cluster randomized control trial in which two groups of 25 self-selected men in 15 communities receive the EMAP intervention while in 15 other communities, 50 self-selected men receive an alternative intervention. Key outcomes examined include: (i) Experience of past year physical, sexual and psychological violence reported by women whose partners are EMAP participants; (ii) Participant's gender attitudes and behaviors, conflict and hostility management skills; (iii) Power sharing and communication within the couple.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Domestic Violence; Intimate Partner Violence; Family Relations
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Engaging Men through Accountable Practice; Other: Alternative intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1387
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
  • Bukavu, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
    • International Rescue Committee
  • Goma, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
    • International Rescue Committee

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 20 or older but preferably at least 25;
• Resident of their village, having lived in the community for a minimum of six months with plans to continue living there for at least the coming six months;
• Ability to participate actively in group work and reflection activities;
• Commitment to attend meetings, sessions and other activities regularly without incentives;
• Commitment to non-violence toward women and girls for the duration of the EMAP intervention;

Exclusion Criteria:

• Involved in the IRC-led adolescent girl intervention (COMPASS).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EMAP Treatment; Engaging Men through Accountable Practice: 30 communities are matched into 15 pairs on a set of socio-demographic characteristic and within each pair, 15 treatment sites are randomly selected. Within each treatment community, all adult men (20+ years old) are eligible to participate in the EMAP intervention. A random draw of 50 participants determines who will participate in EMAP in case more than 50 eligible men express interest.	Behavioral: Engaging Men through Accountable Practice; Engaging Men through Accountable Practice aims to engage men as agents of change through structured, weekly discussions with committed groups of men. It aims to address entrenched views of gender roles and identify positive models of masculinity. The approach follows a structured series of discussions designed to explore existing understandings of masculinity and create more positive models of what it means to be a 'good' man, promoting self-reflection and pushing men to analyze and change their own power and privilege. This methodology begins with a series of discussions with women to inform men's dialogue groups, and includes continuous feedback loops with women throughout the process so that the work with men is grounded in, and accountable to, women's views and objectives.
Other: Control; In the 15 control sites, the male participants will receive an alternative intervention focused on a non-gender topic of 16 weekly sessions for men only.	Other: Alternative intervention; Control communities will receive an alternative intervention focused on a non-gender topic of 16 weekly sessions for men only.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in baseline prevalence of intimate-partner violence	Change in the % of women who self-report experience of violence by their male partner. The women interviewed are the partners of the male study participants.	Baseline, 12 months follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in acceptability of intimate partner violence	Change in the % of women (partners of participants) and men (participants) who report that violence is acceptable in at least one of the situations listed in the survey.	Baseline, 12 months follow-up
Change in intention to commit violence	Change in the % of male participants who report that they are likely to become violent in a list of situations. Scale used: Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes.	Baseline, 12 months follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: World Bank
• Collaborators: International Rescue Committee
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Julia Vaillant, PhD, World Bank

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Vaillant J, Koussoube E, Roth D, Pierotti R, Hossain M, Falb KL. 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. BMJ Glob Health. 2020 May;5(5):e002223. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002223.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 4, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 5, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): May 6, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 21, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 16, 2018
• Last Verified: May 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: P149394

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: The World Bank has an open data policy, and the de-identified, anonymized data will be published online after the study is completed.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No