Peers in Action: An Experiment on Female Genital Cutting and Child Marriage

Last registered on July 21, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Peers in Action: An Experiment on Female Genital Cutting and Child Marriage
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006168
Initial registration date
July 21, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
July 21, 2020, 11:24 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Burkina Faso
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Selim Gulesci
Affiliation
Trinity College Dublin
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Lucia Corno
PI Affiliation
Cattolica University and Laboratory for Effective Antipoverty Policies (LEAP)
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-02-01
End date
2021-09-01
Keywords
Gender
Additional Keywords
Peer effects, Female genital cutting, Child marriage
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Harmful gender norms, such as female genital cutting and child marriage affect millions of girls in developing countries. These customs have a strong detrimental effect on women’s human capital accumulation, empowerment and wellbeing, thus perpetuating gender inequality. Yet we have little causal evidence on what policies are able to eradicate them. In this project we address the following research questions: Can a multi-faceted policy intervention that combines information provision and the acquisition of soft-skills reduce the practice of harmful gender norms? What is the role of peers in improving individuals' attitudes towards harmful norms?

We are collaborating with UNICEF and local NGOs in Burkina Faso to evaluate a program aiming to change attitudes towards child marriage and female genital cutting (FGC) among adolescent girls and boys in Burkina Faso. The program creates adolescent clubs for girls and separately for boys. The clubs are meant to provide a safe space for youth to interact and to create a platform for improving the youth's attitudes towards harmful gender norms. To achieve this objective, local mentors are trained to facilitate discussions in the clubs, offering information on consequences of child marriages/FGC, enabling dialogue and sensitization about harmful traditions. We evaluate the impact of the program on girls and boys' attitudes towards FGC and child marriage by randomizing the program at the village level.

In order to answer the second research question (on the role of peers in improving individuals' attitudes towards harmful norms) we induce random variation in the composition of the clubs in term of attitudes towards FGC and child marriage. In some villages, we incentivize youth with more progressive attitudes towards FGC and child marriage to participate in the club (henceforth "targeted incentives"). The incentives are cash transfers, provided by mobile money transfers, conditional on attending the club. In the rest of the treatment villages, we provide similar incentives to randomly selected youth to participate to the club (henceforth "random incentives"). By comparing the impact of the program in villages with targeted v.s. random incentives, we aim to quantify the role of having peers with better attitudes towards FGC and child marriage.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Corno, Lucia and Selim Gulesci. 2020. "Peers in Action: An Experiment on Female Genital Cutting and Child Marriage." AEA RCT Registry. July 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6168-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The program creates adolescent clubs for girls and separately for boys. The clubs are meant to provide a safe space for youth to interact and to create a platform for improving the youth's attitudes towards harmful gender norms. To achieve this objective, local mentors are trained to facilitate discussions in the clubs, offering information on consequences of child marriages/FGC, enabling dialogue and sensitization about harmful traditions.
Intervention Start Date
2020-09-01
Intervention End Date
2021-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our main outcomes are youth's attitudes towards gender norms, in particular towards FGC and child marriage; and the prevalence of FGC and child marriage within the targeted communities.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We collect data among girls and boys who are eligible to participate in the clubs using survey questions on attitudes towards FGC and child marriage, and indirect revelation methods such as “item lists”.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Fertility, teenage pregnancy, schooling.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly allocate the study villages into three groups:
- Treatment 1 (T1): In these villages, clubs are established and a ranomly selected youth are provided incentives to participate in the clubs (i.e. random incentives)
- Treatment 2 (T2): In these villages, clubs are established and a youth with more progressive attitudes towards FGC and child marriage are provided incentives to participate in the clubs (i.e. targeted incentives)
- Control (C): In these villages no clubs are established.

In addition, villages in T1 and T2 are further randomized into two groups: half of them receive only girls' clubs and half of them receive both girls' and boys' clubs.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
The randomization is conducted at the village level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
The experiment covers 135 villages. The villages are based in 4 provinces in Burkina Faso: Tapoa and Gurma in the East and Passore and Yatenga in the North.
Sample size: planned number of observations
We interview 40 households or 40 youth (20 boys and 20 girls) per village for a total of 5400 youth.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
45 villages control, 45 villages T1 (clubs with random incentives), 45 villages T2 (clubs with targeted incentives).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli Comitato Etico, Italy
IRB Approval Date
2019-12-20
IRB Approval Number
54613/19
IRB Name
Research Institute in Health Service (Comite D’Ethique Institutionnel pour la recherché en sciences de la Sante), Burkina Faso
IRB Approval Date
2019-11-11
IRB Approval Number
49-2019
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials