Training Local Leaders to Prevent and Reduce Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Peru

About this event

More than one in four women worldwide have been affected by sexual or physical intimate partner violence (WHO 2021). A third of all women intentionally killed worldwide are killed by an intimate partner (UNODC 2019). Despite the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its long-term welfare consequences, there is scarce rigorous evidence on interventions that aim to reduce it. Leaders in Action (LIA), the flagship program of the Peruvian Ministry of Women (MIMP), is a large-scale intervention aimed at changing social norms around IPV in rural areas. The program trains local leaders to work within their communities to prevent and reduce IPV. LIA itself is organized through the MIMP’s network of Emergency Centres for Women (CEMs), each of which identifies and trains leaders from local social organizations to administer regular IPV prevention activities in rural Peru. We conduct a randomized evaluation to assess the impact of two alternative, theory-driven approaches to delivering this program: a household-based intervention (HT) and a group-based intervention (GT). We also evaluate the benefit of targeting community-based influencers – individuals central in the village social network that could amply the diffusion of the treatment. Moreover, we integrate and evaluate an edutainment approach, a communication strategy that works through media with the aim of promoting a better context for behavior change than the delivery of information alone.