Effectiveness of the Communities Care programme on change in social norms associated with gender-based violence (GBV) with residents in intervention compared with control districts in Mogadishu, Somalia

Abstract

ObjectiveDetermine the effectiveness of the Communities Care programme (CCP) on change in harmful social norms associated with gender-based violence (GBV) and confidence in provision of services with residents in intervention compared with control district. We hypothesised that residents in the intervention district would report a decrease in support for harmful social norms and increase in confidence in services in comparison with control district.SettingThe study was conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia.ParticipantsIn the intervention district, 192 community members (50% women) completed baseline surveys with 163 (84.9%) retained at endline. In the control district, 195 community members (50% women) completed baseline surveys with 167 (85.6%) retained at endline.InterventionCCP uses facilitated dialogues with community members to catalyse GBV prevention actions and provides training to diverse sectors to strengthen response services for GBV survivors.ResultsResidents in the intervention district had significantly greater improvement in change in social norms: (1) response to sexual violence (b=−0.214, p=0.041); (2) protecting family honour (b=−0.558, p<0.001); and (3) husband’s right to use violence (b=−0.309, p=0.003) compared with control district participants. The greatest change was seen in the norm of ‘protecting family honour’ with a Cohen’s d effect size (ES) of 0.70, followed by the norm ‘husband’s right to use violence’ (ES=0.38), and then the norm of ‘response to sexual violence’ (ES=0.28). Residents in intervention district had a significantly greater increase in confidence in provision of GBV services across diverse sectors than the control district (b=0.318, p<0.001) with an associated effect size of 0.67. There were no significant differences between residents in intervention and control districts on change in personal beliefs on the norms.ConclusionThe evaluation showed the promise of CCP in changing harmful social norms associated with GBV and increasing confidence in provision of services in a complex humanitarian setting.

Gender-norms, violence and adolescence: Exploring how gender norms are associated with experiences of childhood violence among young adolescents in Ethiopia

“…This package could include improved reporting systems, capacity strengthening for social workers, healthcare workers and justice officials to identify and respond to violence against children in the home, and parenting awareness sessions on positive disciplinary approaches. Learning is possible from examining the approaches of successful community-based programmes that have shifted gender and social norms related to violence against women in low-resource settings (see for example: Abramsky et al, 2014;Glass et al, 2019;Pulerwitz et al, 2015), though more research is needed to understand the effectiveness of such programmes on violence against childrenparticularly in regards to young adolescents. Notes 1.…”

Contraceptive use among adolescent and young women in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: A cross-sectional population-based survey

“…Interventions must, therefore, not only address stigma but also create an enabling environment by addressing gender and social norms to help adolescents to recognize and use their agency to make decisions about their SRH. Humanitarian emergencies and the response to them appear to contribute to or accelerate social norm change [36,37], making this a unique time to strengthen adolescent girls' empowerment.…”

The Risk that Travels with You: Links between Forced Displacement, Conflict and Intimate Partner Violence in Colombia and Liberia

“…In African contexts, women who have been directly victimized during war, including through militarized sexual violence, may then face stigmatization and retribution within the home (Albutt et al, 2016;Kelly, 2011;Kelly et al, 2012;Kelly at al 2017). Men who have experienced violence during conflict may then be more likely to perpetrate violence in the home post-conflict (Clark et al, 2010;Gupta et al, 2012;Vinck & Pham, 2013) Similarly, in Somalia the Communities of Care program demonstrated that harmful social norms that underlie the use of violence against women can be positively shifted, even in ongoing conflict (Glass et al 2019). In the wake of armed conflict and forced displacement, policies must prioritize both prevention and response, acknowledging the drivers of violence during conflict and displacement.…”