Violence Against Women

Research provides needed evidence to advocate for strong laws and programs to combat gender-based violence. Yet research capacity is lagging in many parts of the world including Africa. In response, ICRW, the Gender-based Violence Prevention Network and the South African Medical Research Council undertook a capacity building program that paired NGOs with research institutions in the region. Our experience shows that partnering violence prevention organizations with researchers has strengthened the formers’ skills to carry out relevant action research, and directed evidence into the hands of those best positioned to use it, namely activists and program implementers.

Parivartan, which means transformation, engaged cricket coaches and mentors in schools and the community to teach boys lessons about controlling aggression, preventing violence, and promoting respect. Based on the US-based program, Coaching Boys into Men developed by Futures Without Violence, the program engages coaches as positive role models and trains them to deliver messages to their male athletes about the importance of respecting women and understanding violence never equals strength. ICRW along with Futures Without Violence partnered with the Mumbai Schools Sports Association and the non-governmental organization Apnalaya to implement Parivartan in the formal school system and the slum community of Shivaji Nagar, respectively. This report describes the three-year program and summarizes key findings from the evaluation conducted by ICRW.

Great numbers of men report experiencing violence as children and these experiences have significant lifelong effects, according to the new analysis of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) dataset included in this report. Adult men who were victims or witnesses of domestic violence as children, for instance, likely come to accept violence as a conflict-resolving tactic not only in intimate partnerships but also in their wider lives. Experiences of violence as children can also significantly influence how men relate to their partners and children and whether they show more or less gender-equitable attitudes. Men who experience violence as children are also consistently more likely to report low self-esteem and regular experiences of depression.

Using IMAGES data from six countries (Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India, Mexico, and Rwanda), this report explores the prevalence and nature of violence against children as well as its potential lifelong effects. The report expands understanding of these issues by examining data from low- and middle-income countries, analyzing men’s reports of experiencing and perpetrating violence, and exploring broad categories of lifelong effects.