Current

Globally, stigma and discrimination impede HIV prevention, testing and treatment efforts. Yet research by ICRW and others shows that stigma and discrimination can be reduced in different contexts, such as the community and health facilities, thus contributing to the success of HIV programs and services.

India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) recognizes HIV-related stigma as a key challenge to controlling the epidemic. With support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and in collaboration with NACO, ICRW will design and test a strategic framework and implementation guidelines for stigma reduction in multiple settings in India. The framework will build on one previously developed by a global working group made up of stigma experts and led by ICRW.   The framework for India will identify key entry points for stigma-focused programming and measurement.  

ICRW will provide technical support to select organizations in applying the framework and guidelines for stigma reduction.  ICRW also will collect data on the organizations’ experiences in applying the tools and use the information in finalizing the strategic framework and implementation guidelines.  The final tools will be widely disseminated to guide policymakers and practitioners in addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination at the local and national levels.

Over the next decade, more than 100 million girls are expected to marry before they turn 18. While this practice has diminished in many places, the pace of change has been slow in South Asia, particularly in India, where 40 percent of the world’s child marriages occur.

To help reduce child marriage, the government of India has launched several large-scale conditional cash transfer (CCT) initiatives to incentivize families to delay their daughters’ marriages. CCTs are arrangements in which governments provide individuals cash to encourage social change. CCTs represent a potentially cost-effective, high-impact strategy to delay marriage, however they have not yet been rigorously evaluated.

Through the Impact on Marriage: Program Assessment of Conditional Cash Transfers (IMPACCT) project, ICRW will evaluate the Apni Beti Apna Dhan (ABAD) program, one of the first CCT interventions in India to include delayed marriage as a specific goal. Initiated in 1994, the local government of Haryana dedicated bonds to newly-born girls that can be cashed out after the girls turn 18 and only if they are unmarried. The first beneficiaries will reach 18 in 2012, presenting the first opportunity to assess the program’s success in delaying marriage.

For its evaluation, ICRW will analyze government records and data on the ABAD effort. Experts also will survey girls and parents who participated in the program and those who did not, to compare their attitudes and behaviors related to child marriage. Finally, ICRW will interview key government officials to examine how well ABAD was implemented and identify how it might be improved for future CCT programs.

Alcohol use is associated with HIV risk behavior, according to a growing body of research. Programs that address the link between alcohol and HIV are urgently needed, but extremely rare.

ICRW and its partners will design and monitor a community-based intervention the informal settlement of Kabila, Namibia, located on the outskirts of the capital city, Windhoek. Many residents have migrated from rural areas in search of a viable income, and brewing and selling alcohol is one of the few profitable businesses.  

The project goal is to design, implement and assess the feasibility of an intervention to reduce the prevalence of heavy drinking and decrease alcohol-related sexual risk behavior among bar patrons in the community. ICRW will conduct formative research to better understand the impact of alcohol and related risky behavior on women and men. Research findings will inform the design of a demonstration program that applies multiple strategies to decrease alcohol-related HIV risk behavior. The results of this study will be used to inform future programming targeted at addressing links between alcohol and HIV risk.

This project is coordinated by AIDSTAR-One. As an AIDSTAR-One partner organization, ICRW provides technical oversight for this project.

Women and girls face unique barriers to accessing HIV prevention, treatment and care. As part of the Universal Access for Women and Girls Now! project, led by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), ICRW will examine the lives of women and girls in two unique settings in India: female sex workers in Maharashtra and wives of migrant men in Orissa. Research shows that these women are particularly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS, but there is still a need to know more about how best to minimize their risk and increase their access to services.  

Through surveys and in-depth interviews with these women, their spouses or partners and the health practitioners in the region, ICRW will explore the factors that prevent the women from accessing HIV and AIDS services. ICRW will coordinate with India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to develop an action plan to respond to the epidemic, and make recommendations on how to help women overcome legal, economic and social barriers to health services. 

Savings can be a powerful tool for poor women to escape poverty. But low-income women often are unaware of formal savings methods and their advantages. And women feel the need to secretly manage their finances because of gender power imbalances over the control of household income.

Can a television drama encourage low-income women to establish sound savings habits with formal financial institutions? ICRW is working with a consortium of partners in the Dominican Republic, including Women’s World Banking and Puntos de Encuentro, to launch and evaluate an innovative mass media campaign to improve perceptions about formal saving mechanisms and to encourage open dialogue between women and men about their financial habits. The project’s centerpiece is a 20-episode telenovela that will focus on the financial behaviors of couples and how they work toward more cooperative financial management. The television program will be complemented by an advertising campaign for specific savings products geared toward low-income women.

ICRW will conduct a rigorous evaluation of the program, measuring women’s awareness and opinions of formal saving methods and whether men and women discuss household finances before, during and after the campaign in order to determine what changes the program has caused.

Gender attitudes and norms, such as those around the roles and responsibilities of women and men, are learned at a young age. Through the Gender Equity Movement in Schools (GEMS) program, ICRW is exploring the potential for school-based curriculums to influence the formation of more gender-equitable norms among adolescents.

In partnership with the Committee of Resource Organizations for Literacy (CORO) and the Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS), ICRW has developed and implemented a curriculum to encourage equal relationships between girls and boys, examine the social norms that define men’s and women’s roles, and address different forms of violence and how to intervene. Using extracurricular activities, role-playing and games, GEMS begins in the sixth grade and works for two years with boys and girls ages 12-14 in public schools in Goa, Kota and Mumbai, India.

A recent survey of participants shows that many students’ impressions of traditional gender roles have shifted during the course of the program, particularly among girls. In the next phase of the project, ICRW hopes to involve teachers on a deeper level, as well as to engage the fathers of girls in the program.

Evaluations of programs working to end violence against women note that there is a need for greater coherence between evidence, policy and programs. Although global research studies have shed light on intimate-partner violence, there are still many forms of violence against women which are not well documented or understood.

To address this, ICRW, in partnership with the Gender-Based Violence Prevention Network, is promoting action-oriented research on violence against women in East and Southern Africa. The network links local implementing organizations with research institutions to conduct joint research on violence against women and apply the findings to improve programs. ICRW supports the research institutions as they provide technical assistance and oversight, mentoring and training for implementing organizations.

The network will increase the capacity of local organizations to conduct rigorous research to improve their programs. Additionally, the research studies will build a regional evidence base to inform policies and programs to eliminate violence against women.

Women play a crucial role in the apparel industry, comprising a majority of the world’s garment workers. ICRW and Gap, Inc. are collaborating to help female garment workers fulfill their potential through education. Gap, Inc.’s Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) is an innovative, factory-based education program that provides training for life skills, such as problem-solving and financial literacy, as well as workplace skills to help women advance beyond entry-level positions. ICRW partnered with Gap, Inc. on the initial development and implementation of the program, which was piloted in India, one of Gap, Inc.’s largest sourcing markets.

ICRW evaluates the program’s impact on participants in all countries where the program is being implemented. Initial results are promising. Women demonstrate more willingness to take on responsibilities and assume leadership roles; communicate better and more effectively at work and in their homes; show improved ability to solve workplace problems; and are better able to support their peers. In addition to gaining more respect from their family members, women also value themselves more.

Based on the success of the initial pilot programs, Gap, Inc. has expanded P.A.C.E. to additional factories in India and Cambodia. Development and implementation strategies for additional countries are currently underway.

Poor maternal health outcomes result in huge social and economic costs for women and the communities they live in. ICRW, Family Care International (FCI) and Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) will implement a data collection strategy to explore the short- and long-term costs and consequences of maternal death and disability. This project, based in Kenya, will document and analyze costs of maternal mortality and morbidity to women, families and communities. The study will be part of a larger, multi-country research initiative (potential study sites include India and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa).

The data will highlight the importance of maternal health for the health and well-being of newborns and children, as well as the household, and help catalyze support for increased investments to ensure maternal survival.

Women and girls are frequently subject to violence and abuse – from physical and verbal harassment to assault and rape – on city streets, public transportation or in their own neighborhoods. Such daily occurrences limit the rights and freedoms of women as equal citizens to enjoy their neighborhoods and cities.

ICRW is working with UNIFEM to develop ways to make public spaces safer for women and girls. The program, Safe Cities Free of Violence Against Women and Girls, is the first-ever global comparative effort to develop a model that will be rigorously evaluated for its processes and impact across different settings. The goal of the program is to develop and test a global model, which can be replicated and tailored to the specificities of local contexts.

ICRW is collaborating with local partners on project design and the impact evaluation strategy. The project aims to improve women’s safety by empowering women within the community, encouraging community advocacy for safer spaces, partnering with local governments, working with men and boys, and raising public awareness through the media.