Engaging with faith groups to prevent VAWG in conflict-affected communities : results from two community surveys in the DRC
Date
2020-10-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC (part of Springer Nature)
Abstract
Background: An evaluation was conducted of a three-year intervention focused on violence against women and
girls (VAWG) and implemented in the conflict-affected north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a
country with high rates of VAWG. The intervention addressed VAWG, and especially sexual violence, by specifically
engaging with communities of faith and their leaders.
Methods: Two community surveys were conducted, one before and one after the intervention, in three health
areas in Ituri Province in the DRC. At both baseline and endline, data was collected from male and female members
of randomly selected households in 15 villages (five per health area) in which the intervention was being
implemented. At baseline the sample comprised 751 respondents (387 women, 364 men) and at endline 1198
respondents (601 women, 597 men). Questionnaires were interviewer-administered, with sensitive questions related
to experience or perpetration of violence self-completed by participants.
Results: The study showed significantly more equitable gender attitudes and less tolerance for IPV at endline.
Positive attitude change was not limited to those actively engaged within faith communities, with a positive shift
across the entire community in terms of gender attitudes, rape myths and rape stigma scores, regardless of level of
faith engagement. There was a significant decline in all aspects of IPV in the communities who experienced the
intervention. While the experience and perpetration of IPV reported at endline did not track with exposure to the
intervention, it is plausible that in a context where social norm change was sought, the impact of the intervention
on those exposed could have had an impact on the behaviour of the unexposed.
Conclusion: This intervention was premised on the assumption that faith leaders and faith communities are a key
entry point into an entire community, able to influence an entire community. Research has affirmed this
assumption and engaging with faith leaders and faith communities can thus be a strategic intervention strategy.
While we are confident of the link between the social norms change and faith engagement and project exposure,
the link between IPV reduction and faith engagement and project exposure needs more research.
Description
CITATION: Le Roux, E., et al. 2020. Engaging with faith groups to prevent VAWG in conflict-affected communities : results from two community surveys in the DRC. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 20:27, doi:10.1186/s12914-020-00246-8.
The original publication is available at https://bmcinthealthhumrights.biomedcentral.com/
The original publication is available at https://bmcinthealthhumrights.biomedcentral.com/
Keywords
Women-- Violence against, Women -- Crimes against
Citation
Le Roux, E., et al. 2020. Engaging with faith groups to prevent VAWG in conflict-affected communities : results from two community surveys in the DRC. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 20:27, doi:10.1186/s12914-020-00246-8