How can sex workers negotiate condom use with their romantic partners?

, ; How can sex workers negotiate condom use with their romantic partners?

A guardian article, written by Priya Pillai, shares photographs and quotes from female sex workers engaged in an intervention and evaluation study in northern Karnataka, India. Samvedana Plus seeks to understand and address violence in the intimate relationships of female sex workers and their increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

Can violent couples change? - Elizabeth Starmann

There is now a growing body of research indicating that prevention interventions can reduce intimate partner violence (IPV); much less is known, however, about how couples exposed to these interventions experience the change process. Understanding the dynamic process that brings about the cessation of violence in relationships is essential for understanding how interventions work (or don’t) to reduce IPV.

Honour and Prestige: The influence of social norms on violence against women and girls in Karnataka, South India

This qualitative paper draws on findings from Samata and Samvedana+, two STRIVE evaluation studies of norms interventions, implemented by the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT).

Photovoice: Pushing the boundaries of participatory research - Gerry Mshana

Why use photovoice as a research methodology? This Learning Lab presents experiences and findings from two studies in Tanzania, detailing successes and challenges of this approach.

Research to inform adaptation: An IPV case study from Rwanda - Erin Stern

How do we re-implement programmes in new contexts while maintaining core goals, delivery techniques and intensity? Frequent mismatches often arise between the priority population, implementing agency and local community, and those of the original programme*, but we need to bridge the gap between proof-of-concept pilots and broader application.

Samvedana Plus intervention briefs

Violence in the intimate relationships of female sex workers increases their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. An intervention and evaluation study in northern Karnataka, India, Samvedana Plus seeks to understand and address this form of violence and HIV risk.

Evidence that an intervention works is crucial but practitioners in the field want to know: How does it work? These briefs give some answers. 

Ending Gender-Based Violence Key to Health and Well-Being

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An article written by Natalia Linou (Policy specialist in Gender, Health and HIV at the UN Development Program) highlights key lessons learned from international interventions tackling gender-based violence (GBV).

Linou emphasises that GBV is a consequence of structural inequalities that:

Exploring Couples’ Processes of Change in the Context of SASA!, a Violence Against Women and HIV Prevention Intervention in Uganda

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There is now a growing body of research indicating that prevention interventions can reduce intimate partner violence (IPV); much less is known, however, about how couples exposed to these interventions experience the change process, particularly in low-income countries. Understanding the dynamic process that brings about the cessation of IPV is essential for understanding how interventions work (or don’t) to reduce IPV. 

Prevalence of intimate partner violence and abuse and associated factors among women enrolled into a cluster randomised trial in northwestern Tanzania

, ; Full research article online

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is recognised as an important public health and social problem, with far reaching consequences for women's physical and emotional health and social well-being. Furthermore, controlling behaviour by a partner has a similar impact on women's well-being, yet little is known about the prevalence of this type of behaviour and other related abuses in Tanzania and other sub-Saharan African countries.

Norms Learning Report 1: Measuring Social Norms

The Learning Group on Social Norms and Gender-based Violence hosted a meeting in Baltimore, Maryland on the 14-15 June 2016. 

The group was launched by the Gender, Violence and Health Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). As part of the learning initiative, LSHTM convened an expert group meeting on the measurement of social norms sustaining GBV. The meeting focused on identifying best-practice strategies to diagnose and measure social norms.

The key learnings from the meeting were:

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