topic / Social norms
Training Curricula
Stepping Stones Training Manual Adapted for South Africa
Stepping Stones is a workshop series designed as a tool to help promote sexual health, improve psychological well-being and prevent HIV. The workshops address questions...
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Prevention Stories
Lessons from Oxfam’s Bano Nayi Soch: Buno Hinsa Mukt Rishtey Campaign to Prevent Violence in India
Against the backdrop of India’s high rates of violence against women (VAW) and insufficient efforts to prevent it, in November 2016, Oxfam India launched the...
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Practice Briefs
Shifting Social Norms in the Economy for Women’s Economic Empowerment
This document is a summary of the process and insights from the participants of a 2017 Practitioner Learning Group (PLG) on “Shifting Social Norms in...
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Multimedia
Webinar: Tackling Gender Norms through Media
The power of the media to influence gender norms both towards greater equality and reinforcing discriminatory attitudes and behaviour has long been recognised. This webinar...
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Working Papers and Reports
Community Activism Approaches to Shift Harmful Gender Attitudes, Roles and Social Norms
This evidence review evaluates the impact made through community activism across a range of settings—from rural areas and small towns of the Eastern Democratic Republic...
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Working Papers and Reports
Redefining Norms to Empower Women: Experiences and Lessons Learned
This report documents CARE’s learnings in measuring social norms change through the Redefining Norms to Empower Women (ReNEW) project in Sri Lanka. Between 2014 and...
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Research Basics
Quantitative Measurement of Gendered Social Norms
This guide by ALIGN gives an overview of quantitative approaches to measuring gendered social norms. It draws from existing practices in the field, such as...
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Research Basics
Measuring Social Norms
This technical brief is useful to both researchers and programmers to understand what the social norms are, and how they are related to HIV and...
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Working Papers and Reports
Social Norms and AYSRH: Building a Bridge from Theory to Programme Design
This document provides guidance to support programmers to implement norms-shifting approaches, specifically to improve adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health. It unpacks theory and...
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Tools and Guidance
A Guide for Faith Communities to Prevent Violence and HIV
This guide by the Raising Voices adapts the SASA! Activist Kit to guide faith communities to come together to prevent violence against women and HIV....
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Study Summaries
Impact of Indashyikirwa in Reducing IPV in Rwanda
This is a summary of the impact made by the Indashyikirwa intervention in reducing the experiences and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural...
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Journal Articles
Theory and Practice of Social Norms Interventions: Eight Common Pitfalls
This article identifies eight pitfalls that practitioners must avoid as they plan to integrate a social norms perspective in their interventions, as well as eight...
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Multimedia
SASA! Video
This short video introduces the SASA! approach that mobilises communities to address power imbalances between women and men to reduce risks of violence and HIV.
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Study Summaries
The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore Programme: Engaging Boys to Prevent Violence in Bihar, India
This intervention, targeting boys and young men aged 13–21, provided gender transformative life skills education and sports–coaching in Patna district, Bihar. It aimed to promote...
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Study Summaries
The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore Violence Prevention Programme: Women’s Intervention in Bihar, India
This intervention targeted married women in existing village-level self-help groups (SHGs) in Nawada, Bihar. It provided gender transformative learning sessions on violence against women(VAW) together...
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Training Curricula
Gender Socialisation and Gender Dynamics in Families – The Role of the Home Visitor
This is a training module for practitioners visiting homes, to equip them with knowledge about gender, the impact of gender inequality on children and parental...
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Evidence Syntheses
A Review of Communication Initiatives Addressing GBV, Gender Norms, and Harmful Traditional Practices in Crisis-Affected Settings
This is a review of development communication initiatives across the world to prevent gender-based violence (GBV), harmful traditional practices (HTP), related health concerns, and promote positive gender...
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Working Papers and Reports
An Evaluation of an Intervention with Male Partners of Women Survivors of Conflict-Related Rape and IPV in DRC
This report presents findings of a qualitative, time-series evaluation that assessed the Living Peace intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention programme, which targeted the husbands of...
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Journal Articles
Tathmini Gender Based Violence Study in Tanzania
Tathmini cluster randomised trial assessed the impact of a gender-based violence (GBV) prevention programme in Tanzania which was delivered through a HIV/AIDS programme platform. The programme...
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Programme Summaries
The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore (Two Steps Towards Equality) Programme to Prevent VAW in Bihar, India
The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore (Two Steps Towards Equality) Programme was implemented to better understand what works to prevent violence against women (VAW) in...
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Working Papers and Reports
What are Social Norms? How are They Measured?
This report is based on a review of 173 different publications and articles on social norms in global development, and discusses what the social norms...
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Working Papers and Reports
Social Norms: A Review
This article provides: a) a review of literature on social norms; b) draws out similarities and differences in key operational definitions of social norms; c) reviews theories that...
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Tools and Guidance
Why Do People Do What They Do? A Social Norms Manual
This manual was developed from the training material used in a Multi Country Study on the Drivers of Violence. It asks the question “Why do...
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Tools and Guidance
Community-Based Norms Focused Interventions: Definition and Attributes
While social norms change is a powerful tool used in various development interventions, particularly in the fields of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health...
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Tools and Guidance
The Social Norms Exploration Tool (SNET)
This is an overview of the the Social Norms Exploration Tool (SNET), a simple, practical tool to identify social norms that hold relevant behaviours in...
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Tools and Guidance
Resources for Measuring Social Norms: A Practical Guide for Programme Implementers
This is a resource for programme planners and implementors who are engaged in norms-shifting interventions to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG). It provides guidance...
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Tools and Guidance
Social Norms, Gender Norms and Adolescent Girls: A Brief Guide
This brief by the Overseas Development Institute provides a useful overview of key thinking on social norms concerning gender inequalities that affect adolescent girls to...
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Multimedia
The Man Box – The Pressures of a ‘Real Man’
This short video summarises the findings of a survey by The Men’s Project that asked 1,000 Australian men, aged 18 to 30, about the pressures...
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Multimedia
‘The Mask You Live In’ Trailer on Harmful Masculinities
Research shows that compared to girls, boys in the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with a behaviour disorder, prescribed stimulant medications, fail out...
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Programme Summaries
Bandebereho Couples’ Intervention to Promote Male Engagement in Rwanda
The Bandebereho (or “role model”) intervention was based on Program P and part of the global MenCare fatherhood campaign. It aimed to promote positive fatherhood...
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Study Summaries
Bandebereho Couples’ Intervention to Promote Male Engagement in Rwanda
The Bandebereho (“role model”) intervention, adapted from Program P, aimed to promote positive fatherhood and gender equality amongst expectant fathers and fathers of children under...
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Study Summaries
Evaluation of the Stepping Stones and Creating Futures IPV Prevention Interventions in South Africa
This summary provides findings of an evaluation of the combined Stepping Stones and Creating Futures intervention, which was a 21 session, peer-facilitated violence prevention intervention,...
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Tools and Guidance
Scaling Up Norms-Shifting Interventions Targeting Adolescents and Youth
This resource by the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change, addresses the scaling of social norms change interventions targeting adolescents and youth’s sexual and reproductive...
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Journal Articles
On the CUSP: The Politics and Prospects of Scaling Social Norms Change Programming
This paper highlights learnings from the Community for Understanding Scale Up (CUSP), which is a working group of nine organisations who are developing and scaling social...
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Programme Summaries
The Safe Homes and Respect for Everyone (SHARE) Programme in Rakai Uganda
The Safe Homes and Respect for Everyone (SHARE) intervention was a multi-component intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV prevention programme integrated into the Rakai Health...
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Multimedia
MenCare+ Bandebereho Project in Rwanda
This documentary film shares the work and achievements of the MenCare+ Bandebereho project in Rwanda in engaging expectant fathers and their parters to promote men’s...
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Training Curricula
The Bandebereho Facilitator’s Manual
This manual was developed for facilitators in the MenCare+ (Bandebereho) project. The manual consists of guidance to facilitate 15-session small group workshops with expectant fathers...
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Training Curricula
Transforming Masculinities – Training Manual
This training manual by Tearfund equips ‘Gender Champions’, men and women who volunteer within communities, to lead and facilitate change with respect to sexual and...
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Training Curricula
Indashyikirwa Couples’ Curriculum Training Module
This Couples’ Curriculum by Indashyikirwa is designed to foster a process of change to reduce violence against women amongst couples in Rwandan communities. It consists...
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Training Curricula
Indashyikirwa Community Activist Training Module
This training module was developed to equip Indashyikirwa community activists with the skills to conduct community-based activism to prevent violence against women. This training module...
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Tools and Guidance
Mobilising Communities To Prevent Domestic Violence
Based on the methodology of Raising Voices at its inception, this resource guide aims to assist organisations to plan, implement and monitor a community mobilisation project...
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Prevention Stories
Holistic Youth Development as a Life Course Approach to Violence Prevention
Globally, research shows that there is a close association between boy’s childhood exposure to violence and the perpetration of intimate partner violence by men in...
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Multimedia
The SASA! Approach for Preventing Violence against Women and HIV
This short film describes the SASA! approach for Preventing Violence against Women and HIV, by showing how it is used in communities in Kampala, Uganda.
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Multimedia
Raising Voices: A Training Video for Organisations in East and Southern Africa
Designed for organisations that are working to prevent intimate partner violence by using a community-based approach, this training video by Raising Voices complements their resource...
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Multimedia
Raising Boys to be Men Who Care
This two-minute animation invite to reimagining a world free from gender-based violence, using lessons from the MenCare+ program. The film was produced by Rutgers and...
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Programme Summaries
The Indashyikirwa Programme, Rwanda
The Indashyikirwa programme aimed to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) and improve the wellbeing of survivors in selected communities in seven districts of Rwanda. It...
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Study Summaries
Integrating IPV and HIV prevention: Impacts of the SHARE Intervention in Uganda
This study evaluated the Safe Homes and Respect for Everyone (SHARE) intervention, a multi-component IPV and HIV prevention program integrated into the Rakai Health Sciences...
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Practice Briefs
Social Norms Change at Scale: Insights from Stepping Stones
This is a case study of Stepping Stones, which “promotes an inclusive, community-wide approach to address the complex issues communities face in changing social norms...
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Practice Briefs
Social Norms Change at Scale: Insights from SASA!
This case study documents the SASA! intervention that uses community mobilisation to change norms and behaviours that perpetuate gender inequality, violence and vulnerability of women...
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Practice Briefs
Social Norms Change at Scale: Insights from IMAGE
This is a case study of the Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE), which is a combined effort to address economic and gender...
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Practice Briefs
Social Norms Change at Scale: Insights from GREAT
This case study by the Community for Understanding Scale Up (CUSP) documents a social norm change intervention by the Gender Roles, Equality, and Transformation (GREAT)...
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Working Papers and Reports
Social Norms Background Reader
In this background reader, the Learning Collaborative to Advance Research and Practice on Normative Change for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Well-being provides a...
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Working Papers and Reports
Identifying and Describing Approaches and Attributes of Normative Change Interventions
While there is much interest in the public health field on the application of social norms change approach, there is seldom consensus or common standard...
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Practice Briefs
Strengthening Prevention Work with Men and Boys in Community Settings
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 makes a global commitment to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private sphere....
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Webinars
The Indashyikirwa Couples Intervention to prevent VAW in Rwanda
Erin Stern will present an overview of Indashyikirwa, a community IPV prevention programme that was implemented by CARE Rwanda, Rwanda Women’s Network, and Rwanda Men’s...
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Multimedia
Once Upon a Boy
This video by Promundo tells the story of a boy and his experiences growing up, including peer pressure, his first sexual relationship, his first job,...
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Tools and Guidance
DFID Guidance Note: Shifting Social Norms to Tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
This guidance note seeks to advise how programmes targeted at VAWG prevention can identify and address harmful social norms and constructions that sustain violence. It...
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Working Papers and Reports
Community Based Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence: A Review of Evidence and Essential Steps for Adaption
This review by the World Bank focuses on primary prevention programmes targeted at intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. It looks at programmes that aim...
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Prevention Stories
How Bicycles Started to Shift Gender Norms in Zaatari Refugee Camp
Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan is the size of a small city. Home to some 80,000 Syrian refugees, the camp spans more than five...
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Prevention Stories
How Personal Stories of Violence Can Change the Dynamic Between Trainers and Trainees
Early in 2018, Sharanya Gautam, Assistant Director at the Indian NGO Voices 4 Girls, travelled to the town of Jamshedpur in the state of Jharkand...
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Prevention Stories
Why Engaging Religious Scholars in Dialogue Could Hold the Key to Ending FGM in East Africa
When Maryam Sheikh joined the Population Council to work on preventing female genital mutilation (FGM) among the Somali population of Kenya, progress had stalled. A...
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Prevention Stories
Giving Technical Assistance on Gender and VAWG Prevention: Balancing ‘Ownership’ and ‘Transformation’
When a public-sector organisation in Afghanistan decided to produce a set of gender resources for its employees, independent consultant Julienne Corboz was asked to provide...
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Training Curricula
Program M Manual
Program M is named after mulheres and mujeres, the words for women in Portuguese and Spanish. It was launched in 2006 as a companion to...
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Training Curricula
Program H|M|D: A Toolkit for Action
This toolkit presents the short version of the approach contained in Programs H and M. It seeks to make the model accessible so that an...
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Training Curricula
Program H Manual
Program H is named after homens and hombres, the words for men in Portuguese and Spanish. Launched in 2002 by Promundo and partners and now...
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Tools and Guidance
Change the Story: Ten actions to prevent Violence Against Women [booklet]
This booklet is an edited extract from Change the story: A shared framework for the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in...
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Journal Articles
Gender-transformative Bandebereho couples’ intervention to promote male engagement in reproductive and maternal health and violence prevention in Rwanda: Findings from a randomized controlled trial
This study assessed the impact of the Bandebereho gender-transformative couples’ intervention in Rwanda on impact on multiple behavioural and health-related outcomes influenced by gender norms...
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Evidence Syntheses
Respectful Relationships: Education in Schools
This paper was written following a decision by the Australian Government to include Respectful Relationships Education on the school curriculum. It aims to support policy...
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Tools and Guidance
Applying Social Norms Theory for Measurement [Presentation]
These slides summarise how CARE sought to apply social norms theory to practice in three different programmes: Sri Lanka: An IPV prevention programme focused on...
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Tools and Guidance
Top 20 Resources on Social Norms
This is a list of top 20 resources identified by members of the Learning Collaborative for Advancing Research and Practice on Normative Change for Adolescent...
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Working Papers and Reports
Social Norms and Girls’ Wellbeing: Linking Theory and Practice
This report seeks to better explore the connections between social norms theory and practice as they relate to girls’ lives, and the implications for efforts...
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Tools and Guidance
Addressing Social Norms to Prevent Gender-Based Violence [infographic]
This infographic was developed by CARE to communicate about the work they are doing to change social norms around intimate partner violence in Sri Lanka....
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Evidence Syntheses
Gender Socialisation During Adolescence in Low-and-middle-income Countries: Conceptualisation, Influences, and Outcomes
Adolescence is a critical period in the development of gender attitudes and behaviours, which have potentially life-long effects. The rapid changes that take place during...
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Practice Briefs
Tipping Point Social Norms Innovations Series: Amra-o-Korchi, Bangladesh
This brief outlines CARE’s experience with implementing ‘Amra-o-Korchi’ in Bangladesh. This was one of a series of ‘Tipping Point’ programme innovations that CARE piloted to...
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Tools and Guidance
CARE’s Journey Piloting Social Norms Measures for Gender Programming
This “Theory to Practice” brief describes CARE’s journey to understand social norm theory from academia, and apply it in development practice. CARE’s interest stemmed from...
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Working Papers and Reports
On Norms and Agency: Conversations about Gender Equality with Men and Women in 20 Countries
This paper summarises the findings of a qualitative field study with 4000 men and women in focus groups across 20 countries from all regions. The...
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Study Summaries
Enabling Social Change: How Value Deliberations Led to Individual and Collective Empowerment in Rural Senegal
This summary paper is based on four years of field research to look at how Tostan’s Community Empowerment Programme (CEP) – which entailed a process...
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Tools and Guidance
Community-based Prevention of Violence Against Women and their Children
This accessible toolkit compiled by Our Watch in Australia comprises a suite of materials for practitioners wishing to work with communities to prevent violence against women....
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Evidence Syntheses
Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls: A Summary of the Evidence
This short summary paper presents the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG). It is based on a...
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Evidence Syntheses
Interventions to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls
This rapid review paper examines the most common and promising interventions that specifically seek to reduce different types of VAWG as an outcome, and those...
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Evidence Syntheses
What Works to Prevent Partner Violence?
This document reviews the empirical evidence of what works in low-and middle-income countries to prevent violence against women by their husbands and other male partners....
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Evidence Syntheses
Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in South Asia: Evidence for Interventions in the Health Sector, Women’s Collectives, and Local Governance Mechanisms
This evidence review looks at a range of programmes implemented in South Asia to prevent Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). It looks at interventions to prevent...
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Evidence Syntheses
Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls: What Does the Evidence Say?
This paper reviews the evidence on interventions to reduce the prevalence and incidence of violence against women and girls (VAWG). It covers a wide range...
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