Using Cultural Ceremonies to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Transmission

NCT02311699 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: ALJameelPAL
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 6,800
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Violence against women (VAW), the most extreme manifestation of the unequal power balance between women and men, is a major global public health concern. One of the most common forms of VAW is that perpetrated by a husband or other intimate partner. In Ethiopia, 70.9% of women reported having experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the problem. A growing body of evidence has also linked IPV and HIV risk. This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a community-based intervention focused on Intimate Partner Violence and HIV delivered in the context of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, a culturally established forum for community discussion and conflict resolution. Villages will be randomly assigned to one of 4 study arms (3 intervention and one control arm): 1) Women only participate in the intervention, 2) Men only participate, 3) Both men and women (couples) participate, 4) Women and men receive the control intervention comprising a short informational session on violence reduction.

Conditions

HIV

Keywords

Gender; Physical Violence; Sexual Violence; HIV; AIDS; Prevention; Community Intervention; Ethiopia; Intimate Partner Violence

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Experience of physical violence by an intimate partner in the previous 12 months (among married or co-habitating women)

  12 months

• Experience of sexual violence by an intimate partner in the previous 12 months (among married or co-habitating women)

  12 months

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Perpetration of physical violence towards an intimate partner in previous 12 months (among married or co-habitating men)

  12 months

• Perpetration of sexual violence towards an intimate partner in previous 12 months (among married or co-habitating men)

  12 months

• Proportion with comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge (among married or co-habitating men or women)

  18 months

• Proportion using a condom at last high risk sexual intercourse (among married or co-habitating men or women)

  18 months

Study Arms (4)

Women Only

EXPERIMENTAL

Groups of women will receive the behavioral intervention to reduce IPV and HIV. Sessions will be led by female facilitators.

Behavioral: Intervention to reduce IPV and HIV

Men Only

EXPERIMENTAL

Groups of men will receive the behavioral intervention to reduce IPV and HIV. Sessions will be led by male facilitators.

Behavioral: Intervention to reduce IPV and HIV

Couples

EXPERIMENTAL

Couples will receive the behavioural intervention to reduce IPV and HIV. Sessions will be led by a male and a female facilitator.

Behavioral: Intervention to reduce IPV and HIV

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

Community members in the control villages will receive a short informational session on violence reduction.

Interventions

Intervention to reduce IPV and HIV BEHAVIORAL

The Ethiopian traditional coffee ceremony will be used as an entry point for a community based intervention to provide information, change behaviour around IPV and improve gender equity and intra-couple relations. The coffee ceremony is a culturally established forum for community discussion and conflict resolution and an integral part of Ethiopian life. The intervention will involve regular coffee ceremonies, during which approximately 20 members of the community will participate in education and discussions centred on gender issues, sexuality, communication and conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS and its link with violence, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention. Each coffee ceremony will be moderated by a female or male facilitator trained in participatory learning, moderation, HIV/AIDS prevention, counselling, and gender issues. The intervention will involve 14 two-hour session per group of participants.

Couples; Men Only; Women Only

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 49 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• currently married or cohabitating with partner
• residing in selected village for at least 6 months

You may not qualify if:

• eligible women who do not consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab: lead
• Ethiopian Public Health Association: collaborator
• Addis Ababa University: collaborator
• EngenderHealth: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Ethiopian Public Health Association

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Leight J, Deyessa N, Sharma V. Cost-effectiveness analysis of an intimate partner violence prevention intervention targeting men, women and couples in rural Ethiopia: evidence from the Unite for a Better Life randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2021 Mar 29;11(3):e042365. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042365.

  PMID: 33782020 DERIVED

• Leight J, Deyessa N, Verani F, Tewolde S, Sharma V. Community-level spillover effects of an intervention to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV transmission in rural Ethiopia. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Jan;6(1):e004075. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004075.

  PMID: 33509840 DERIVED

• Leight J, Deyessa N, Verani F, Tewolde S, Sharma V. An intimate partner violence prevention intervention for men, women, and couples in Ethiopia: Additional findings on substance use and depressive symptoms from a cluster-randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2020 Aug 18;17(8):e1003131. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003131. eCollection 2020 Aug.

  PMID: 32810147 DERIVED

• Sharma V, Leight J, Verani F, Tewolde S, Deyessa N. Effectiveness of a culturally appropriate intervention to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV transmission among men, women, and couples in rural Ethiopia: Findings from a cluster-randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2020 Aug 18;17(8):e1003274. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003274. eCollection 2020 Aug.

  PMID: 32810146 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Coitus; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Interventions

Seroconversion

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Sexual Behavior; Behavior; HIV Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Slow Virus Diseases; Genital Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Immune System Phenomena

Study Officials

• Vandana Sharma, MD, MPH

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Jessica Leight, PhD

  Williams College

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Negussie Deyessa, PhD

  Addis Ababa University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 2, 2014
• First Posted: December 8, 2014
• Study Start: December 1, 2014
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2018
• Study Completion: April 1, 2018
• Last Updated: January 15, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-01

Locations

ET (1)