Prevention of IPV in children needs to encompass prevention of exposure to trauma in childhood and addressing gender attitudes and social norms to encourage positive disciplining approaches. : The trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT02349321.

GOAL To describe potentially preventable factors in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization among South African 8th grade students. METHOD Data were collected during a pilot evaluation of a classroom 8th grade curriculum on gender-based violence prevention in 9 public schools in Cape Town through self-completed interviews with 549 8th grade students, 238 boys and 311 girls. Structural equation models (SEM) predicting IPV were constructed with variables a priori hypothesized to be associated. RESULTS The majority of students (78.5%) had had a partner in the past three months, and they reported high rates of IPV during that period (e.g., over 10% of boys reported forcing a partner to have sex, and 39% of girls reported physical IPV victimization). A trimmed version of the hypothesized SEM (CFI =.966; RMSEA=.051) indicated that disagreement with the ideology of male superiority and violence predicted lower risk of IPV (p<.001), whereas the frequency of using negative conflict resolution styles (e.g., walking off angrily, sending angry text messages, or refusing to talk to them) predicted high IPV risk (p<.001) and mediated the impact of heavy alcohol drinking on IPV (Sobel test, z=3.16; p<.001). The model fit both girls and boys, but heavy drinking influenced negative styles of resolving conflict more strongly among girls than boys. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that interventions to reduce IPV among South African adolescents should challenge attitudes supportive of male superiority and violence; encourage use of positive conflict resolution styles; and discourage heavy alcohol use among both boys and girls.

BackgroundIn South Africa, it is illegal for adolescents under age 16 years to engage in any sexual behaviour whether kissing, petting, or penetrative sex, regardless of consent. This cross-sectional study investigated the extent to which young adolescents engage in various sexual behaviours and the associations between dating status and sexual behaviours.MethodGrade 8 adolescents (N = 474, ages 12–15 years, mean = 14.14 years) recruited from Cape Town schools completed surveys providing information about their sociodemographic backgrounds, dating experience, sexual behaviour, and substance use.ResultsLower hierarchy sexual behaviours, such as kissing (71.4% of girls; 88.4% of boys), were more common than oral (3.9% of girls; 13.8% of boys), vaginal (9.3% of girls; 30.0% of boys), or anal (1.4% of girls; 10.5% of boys) sex. Currently dating girls and boys were more likely to engage in sexual behaviours including several risk behaviours in comparison to their currently non-dating counterparts. These risk behaviours included penetrative sex (21.1% of dating vs. 4.5% of non-dating girls; 49.4% of dating vs. 20.2% of non-dating boys), sex with co-occurring substance use (22.2% of dating vs. 0 non-dating girls; 32.1% of dating vs. 40% of non-dating boys), and no contraceptive use (26.1% of sexually experienced girls; 44.4% of sexually experienced boys). Among girls, there were significant associations between ever having penetrative sex and SES (OR = 2.592, p = 0.017) and never dating (OR = 0.330, p = 0.016). Among boys, there were significant associations between ever having penetrative sex and never dating (OR = 0.162, p = 0.008). Although the currently dating group of young adolescents appear to be a precocious group in terms of risk behaviour relative to the currently non-dating group, teenagers in both groups had experience in the full range of sexual behaviours.ConclusionsMany young adolescents are engaging in a variety of sexual behaviours ranging from kissing and touching to intercourse. Of particular concern are those engaging in risky sexual behaviour. These findings indicate that adolescents need to be prepared for sexual negotiation and decision-making from an early age through comprehensive and accessible education and health services; sections of current legislation may be a barrier to adopting such policies and practices.

We evaluated the effectiveness of the Skhokho interventions (enhanced teaching materials and a parenting programme) in reducing dating and sexual violence. This pragmatic, three-arm cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in 24 State schools in Grade 8 classes, with all learners invited to participate. The interventions were: i) a schools’ package: A Life Orientation (LO) curriculum workbook for the Grade 8 national curriculum and teacher training; ii) a workshop for caregivers and teenagers, supported by clubs in the second year. Arms were: a no intervention control, the schools’ package, and the combined schools’ and families’ package. Learners were followed up for 18 months. The primary outcomes were the incidence of physical and/or sexual IPV, severe IPV and non-partner rape. At baseline, 3756 (61.8% of total) learners (aged 12–15) were interviewed and 3411 (90.8%) provided end line data. A third of caregivers and learners attended all four families’ intervention workshop sessions. At baseline, 47% of girls and 29% boys were dating and 18% of boys and 2% of girls had had sex. Differences in the primary outcomes between study arms were not statistically significant, however all effects were in the direction of protection from violence and several secondary outcomes were significantly changed. For girls, the incidence of any IPV experience was aIRR 0.84 (95%CI 0.66, 1.07 p = 0.159) for the school’s arm and the incidence of non-partner rape was aIRR 0.84 (95%CI 0.62, 1.14 p = 0.255) for the combined schools and families arm v. control arm. This under-powered pragmatic study’s findings suggest a generally beneficial impact of the Skhokho interventions on a number of outcome measures, when viewed by both adolescents, caregivers and their teachers. These include measures of adolescents’ exposure to violence, improved sexual health and reductions in several IPV risk factors. The intervention warrants further research.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02349321.