Impact case study: Samvedana Plus – Tackling violence against sex workers in north Karnataka, India
Themes:
Samvedana impact case study.pdf
Female sex workers in north Karnataka are vulnerable to both HIV infection and intimate partner violence (IPV). However, as a group, they have often been left out of interventions meant to address IPV against women in general. For the Samvedana Plus study, aimed at reducing IPV among sex workers, the strategic goal for impact was “to inform future intervention design and policy to address IPV against female sex workers, both in itself and as a driver of HIV risk”.
The Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), working with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the STRIVE consortium, built impact in three ways:
- on the foundation of KHPT’s history and reputation in the state
- through strategic engagement with potential end-users of the research
- by producing a flow of accessible and imaginative materials to share findings and action with a range of audiences
As a result, Samvedana Plus had impact on:
- the Government of Karnataka
- networks focusing on domestic violence and violence against women in general
- the communities in villages where the intervention was implemented
