Impact of Microfinance and Participatory Gender Training for Women in Reducing Intimate Partner Violence

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Maltreatment by Spouse or Partner
• Interventions: Other: Microfinance; Behavioral: Participatory gender training

• Registration Number: NCT02592252
• Lead Sponsor: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Brief Summary

Violence against women and girls is increasingly recognized as a major global public health and development concern. However, evidence on what forms of intervention should be prioritised is severely lacking. A cluster randomized controlled trial (The Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS \& Gender Equity - IMAGE Project) in rural South Africa combined a group-based microfinance intervention with a participatory gender and HIV training curriculum for loan participants and showed that, over a two-year period, levels of physical and/or sexual partner violence experienced by participants in the past year were reduced by 55%.

The overall goal of the current study is to design and implement a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact on intimate partner violence of: 1) combining participatory gender training with microfinance for women in existing microfinance loan groups, and 2) a participatory gender training programme for women (not receiving microfinance) and their male partners.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-09
• Study First Submitted: 2015-08-13
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-10-28
• Study First Posted: 2015-10-30
• Status Verified: 2018-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-03-23
• Last Update Posted: 2018-03-26
• Primary Completion: 2019-07
• Study Completion: 2019-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: Female
• Target Recruitment: 2640

Inclusion Criteria

Arms 1 and 2 - microfinance loan groups:

1. there are between 15 and 30 active members in the group
2. less than 25% of the women have been members for less than one year
3. there is a good attendance (repayment) record
4. a minimum of 70% of active members consent to take part in the study

Arms 3 and 4, women who:

1. are aged 20-50 years
2. are not formally employed, i.e. either self-employed or not currently working
3. have been resident in Mwanza for at least two years
4. have not been a member of a microfinance loan group in the past 12 months
5. are fluent in Swahili
6. have consented to take part in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

None

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Microfinance only	Microfinance	Receive microfinance only
Gender training only	Participatory gender training	10 sessions of participatory gender training for women and their male partners
Microfinance + gender training	Participatory gender training	Microfinance + 10 sessions of participatory gender training
Microfinance + gender training	Microfinance	Microfinance + 10 sessions of participatory gender training

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Past 12 months exposure to intimate partner violence	24 months post-intervention	Exposure to intimate partner violence will be assessed using the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women questionnaire

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Mawanza Intervention Trials Unit; 🇹🇿 Mwanza, Tanzania