IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0198926.html

A cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of SAFE on spousal violence against women and girls in slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Ruchira Tabassum Naved
  • Mahfuz Al Mamun
  • Sanjida Akhter Mourin
  • Kausar Parvin

Abstract

Background: Bangladesh reports one of the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the world. Despite wide recognition of IPV as an important public health and human rights issue, evidence for IPV prevention is still inadequate. Lack of guidance on effective IPV prevention in Bangladesh resulted in targeting only women in most of the programmes. Methods: This paper assesses impact of SAFE, a 20-month intervention (March 2012 to October 2013) in slums of Dhaka on IPV and tests effectiveness of female only groups vs. no groups; and female + male groups vs. female only groups on IPV in the community using a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial. SAFE’s core activities included interactive group sessions, community mobilisation, and services. The last two activities were common across arms. Findings: Regression analyses (female survey: baseline n = 2,666; endline n = 2,670) showed no effect of SAFE on IPV against women aged 15–29. However, sub-group analyses demonstrated 21% risk reduction of physical IPV against adolescent girls aged 15–19 in the female + male group intervention arm. A consistent reduction in sexual violence was observed in both female and female + male arms for both groups of women, but the results were not statistically significant. Interpretation: The findings emphasise the importance of combining male and female interventions for reducing physical IPV against adolescent girls. Implications for future research have been discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruchira Tabassum Naved & Mahfuz Al Mamun & Sanjida Akhter Mourin & Kausar Parvin, 2018. "A cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of SAFE on spousal violence against women and girls in slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0198926
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198926
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198926
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198926&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0198926?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:wbk:wbpubs:20153 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Koenig, M.A. & Stephenson, R. & Ahmed, S. & Jejeebhoy, S.J. & Campbell, J., 2006. "Individual and contextual determinants of domestic violence in North India," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(1), pages 132-138.
    3. Green, Eric P. & Blattman, Christopher & Jamison, Julian & Annan, Jeannie, 2015. "Women's entrepreneurship and intimate partner violence: A cluster randomized trial of microenterprise assistance and partner participation in post-conflict Uganda (SSM-D-14-01580R1)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 177-188.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arohi Anand & Animesh Karn & Avirup Mukherjee & Naboshree Bhattacharya, 2025. "Does earning money empower women? Evidence from India," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Gram, Lu & Paradkar, Sukanya & Singh, Chatush & Suryavanshi, Anand & Cislaghi, Beniamino & Osrin, David & Daruwalla, Nayreen, 2024. "Remedial, institutional or radical? Explaining community responses to violence against women in an NGO programme to prevent violence in Mumbai, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raj, Anita & Silverman, Jay G. & Klugman, Jeni & Saggurti, Niranjan & Donta, Balaiah & Shakya, Holly B., 2018. "Longitudinal analysis of the impact of economic empowerment on risk for intimate partner violence among married women in rural Maharashtra, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 197-203.
    2. Abdurrahman Keskin, 2023. "Determinants of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Against Women in Turkiye According to Socioeconomic and Sociodemographic Factors," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 73(73-1), pages 587-613, June.
    3. Pandey, Shanta, 2017. "Persistent nature of child marriage among women even when it is illegal: The case of Nepal," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 242-247.
    4. Go, Vivian F. & Srikrishnan, Aylur K. & Salter, Megan L. & Mehta, Shruti & Johnson, Sethulakshmi C. & Sivaram, Sudha & Davis, Wendy & Solomon, Suniti & Celentano, David D., 2010. "Factors associated with the perpetration of sexual violence among wine-shop patrons in Chennai, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(7), pages 1277-1284, October.
    5. Wong, William Chi Wai & Chen, Wei Qing & Goggins, William B. & Tang, Catherine S. & Leung, Phil W., 2009. "Individual, familial and community determinants of child physical abuse among high-school students in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1819-1825, May.
    6. Pakrashi, Debayan & Saha, Sarani, 2020. "Intergenerational consequences of maternal domestic violence: Effect on nutritional status of children," GLO Discussion Paper Series 551, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Abhijit Banerjee, 2016. "Policies for a better-fed world," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 3-17, February.
    8. Ruchira Tabassum Naved & Mahfuz Al Mamun & Kausar Parvin & Samantha Willan & Andrew Gibbs & Marat Yu & Rachel Jewkes, 2018. "Magnitude and correlates of intimate partner violence against female garment workers from selected factories in Bangladesh," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, November.
    9. Amare, Mulubrhan & Arndt, Channing & Guo, Zhe & Seymour, Greg, 2024. "Variation in women’s attitudes toward intimate partner violence across the rural–urban continuum in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    10. R Shobitha Shanthakumari & Prabha S Chandra & Ekaterina Riazantseva & Donna E Stewart, 2014. "‘Difficulties come to humans and not trees and they need to be faced’: A study on resilience among Indian women experiencing intimate partner violence," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(7), pages 703-710, November.
    11. Lagomarsino, Bruno Cardinale & Rossi, Martin A., 2024. "JUE insight: The unintended effect of Argentina's subsidized homeownership lottery program on intimate partner violence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    12. Ximena Castro-Sardi & Yuli Andrea Salazar & Margarita M. Mun�var, 2020. "¡Todos(as) emprendedores(as)! Subjetividad y salud mental en un proceso de capacitación en emprendimiento," Revista Sociedad y Economía, Universidad del Valle, CIDSE, issue 40, pages 25-44.
    13. Dr. Hajra Masood, 2024. "Patriarchal Violence in Central U.P: Interrogating the Gender Equality and Human Security System," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(16), pages 112-119, November.
    14. Kathryn M. Yount & AliceAnn Crandall & Yuk Fai Cheong & Theresa L. Osypuk & Lisa M. Bates & Ruchira T. Naved & Sidney Ruth Schuler, 2016. "Child Marriage and Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Bangladesh: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1821-1852, December.
    15. Shivani A. Patel & Susan G. Sherman & Subarna K. Khatry & Steven C. LeClerq & Joanne Katz & James M. Tielsch & Parul Christian, 2016. "An Index of Community-Level Socioeconomic Composition for Global Health Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 639-658, November.
    16. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2022. "War and Intimate Partner Violence in Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    17. D. C. Pathak, 2022. "Do Women Empowerment and Intimate Partner Violence Go Hand in Hand? Evidence from India," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 27(2), pages 238-263, December.
    18. Ana Maria Buller & Amber Peterman & Meghna Ranganathan & Alexandra Bleile & Melissa Hidrobo & Lori Heise, 2018. "A Mixed-Method Review of Cash Transfers and Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 33(2), pages 218-258.
    19. Hector Galindo-Silva & Guy Tchuente, 2026. "Religious competition, cultural change, and domestic violence: evidence from Colombia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 1-29, March.
    20. Clark, Cari Jo & Ferguson, Gemma & Shrestha, Binita & Shrestha, Prabin Nanicha & Oakes, J. Michael & Gupta, Jhumka & McGhee, Susi & Cheong, Yuk Fai & Yount, Kathryn M., 2018. "Social norms and women's risk of intimate partner violence in Nepal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 162-169.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0198926. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.