The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Interventions among Refugees and Host Populations under the Social Safety Nets Project (Projet Filets Sociaux, PFS) in Cameroon.

Last registered on December 19, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Interventions among Refugees and Host Populations under the Social Safety Nets Project (Projet Filets Sociaux, PFS) in Cameroon.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007774
Initial registration date
June 29, 2021

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
June 29, 2021, 2:19 PM EDT

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

Last updated
December 19, 2022, 4:36 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Cameroon
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Rachel Cassidy
Affiliation
World Bank
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Estelle Koussoubé
PI Affiliation
World Bank
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Rachael Pierotti
PI Affiliation
World Bank
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Ariel Gruver
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-07-01
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Gender
Additional Keywords
Cash transfers, Intimate partner violence, Couples training
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
According to the 2011 Demographic Health Survey, nearly half of all Cameroonian women had recently suffered emotional, physical and/or sexual Intimate Partners Violence (IPV). In this context, the Social Safety Nets project (Projet Filets Sociaux, PFS) which is supporting the establishment of a basic national safety net system, including a cash transfer program with accompanying measures for the poorest households, is piloting new initiatives to prevent IPV.
The proposed evaluation will study the impacts of two innovative interventions, a couples training, and a radio edutainment intervention, integrated into the existing package of accompanying measures for PFS beneficiary households. These interventions are designed to reduce IPV by influencing behaviors and shifting perceptions of social norms around violence. The study will measure the impact of each of the interventions as well as measure which one is the more effective at preventing IPV, filling critical knowledge gaps on what works in the context of social safety nets projects.
The study aims to answer the following questions:
1. What is the impact of adding couples’ training to a cash transfer program on IPV, cooperation within the household, and women’s economic empowerment?
2. What is the impact on these same outcomes of adding edutainment, in the form radionovela listening groups, to a cash transfer program?
3. Is there a differential impact of either intervention in refugee host communities?
4. Is there a differential impact of either intervention on monogamous vs. polygamous households?
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cassidy, Rachel et al. 2022. "The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Interventions among Refugees and Host Populations under the Social Safety Nets Project (Projet Filets Sociaux, PFS) in Cameroon. ." AEA RCT Registry. December 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7774-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-08-01
Intervention End Date
2023-02-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Intimate Partner Violence
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
See pre-analysis plan (forthcoming) for details and for secondary outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This evaluation will target beneficiaries of the PFS unconditional cash transfers and accompanying measures program across five communes not previously covered by the program, as part of an expansion of the program to four new regions of Cameroon. Villages or clusters of the villages within the new project implementation area will be computer-randomised in equal numbers into one of three groups:

(i) couples training: selected households will receive training on topics including shared household budgeting and parenting, emotional expression, and conflict resolution, that support the existing PFS topics.

(ii) radionovela listening groups: selected households will be invited to participate in listening groups, where radionovela episodes will be played followed by group discussions. The overall content of the radionovela will be closely aligned with the couples training curriculum, to ensure comparability across treatment groups.

(iii) control group: selected households will receive the regular unconditional cash transfers and accompanying measures element of the PFS program, without the additional couples training or radionovela.

Both interventions will be targeted toward both men and women in the PFS beneficiary households, who will be explicitly invited and encouraged to attend, but activity groups will be open to the entire community regardless of PFS beneficiary status. The interventions will be integrated into the existing package of accompanying measures for cash transfer program beneficiary households, and will be delivered by project staff who will receive additional training on the new interventions.

We will stratify the randomization of clusters on characteristics that may affect our outcomes and treatment effects of interest, in order to prevent treatment-control imbalances in those characteristics: commune; village/cluster size; and the proportion of refugees in the village (which will also allow us to study heterogeneity of impacts depending on the refugee composition of the village). Data for stratification will be drawn from the census and poverty means testing exercise (PMT).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
In office by computer
Randomization Unit
Village/grouping of small villages
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 villages/groupings of small villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
10,400 individuals (5200 women, 5200 men)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
66 clusters per treatment arm (T1, T2, control)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
HML IRB Research and Ethics
IRB Approval Date
2021-05-20
IRB Approval Number
896TWBG21
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