Efforts to address intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children (VAC) often remain fragmented, despite a growing body of evidence that documents and acknowledges the intersections across these forms of violence. Earlier life experiences of abuse, neglect or family violence can establish patterns of victimisation and perpetration in adolescents which reinforced by harmful gender norms, can turn into predictable family disruptions and violence during adulthood. Having a life course approach is key to break the intergenerational cycle of violence. Nonetheless, prevention and response interventions tend to focus on one form of violence while the VAC and VAW field continue to work in silos.
A systematic review recently published in The Lancet Public Health and conducted by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UNICEF, and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), sheds light on effective coordinated interventions aimed at preventing and responding to IPV and VAC by parents or caregivers.
The systematic review was presented in a webinar, in which the authors of the study highlighted key findings from the systematic review and a panel of experts discussed the implications for the field.
Findings reveal a significant overlap of IPV and VAC and the importance of a gendered approach to addressing these intersections.
– Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG/VAC) of the United Nations
Key Findings from the Systematic Review
- Global Scope and Intervention Coverage: The review analysed 36 studies covering 30 unique interventions from 16 countries, with 20 of these addressing both IPV and VAC. Most of the studies (24) were based in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), while 12 were from high income countries (HICs).
- Primary Prevention Interventions (19): Effective primary prevention interventions centred on community- or couple-based programmes, and parenting programmes. Commonalities across effective interventions included improving communication and conflict resolution skills, encouraging reflection on harmful gender norms including promoting men’s engagement in parenting, and raising awareness of the adverse consequences of IPV and VAC on children.
- Response interventions (11): Most of the response interventions studied were from high income countries, thus highlighting a clear research gap of response interventions in LMICs. Therapeutic programs for IPV survivors and their children, as well as programs targeting male perpetrators proved to reduce IPV and the use of violent discipline, hostility and aggression towards children. At the same time, programs targeting health and social care professionals provided key knowledge to better understand the processes for addressing IPV and VAC together.
Key Elements to Reduce IPV and VAC
The study identified four key elements in prevention and response interventions that can effectively reduce both forms of violence.
- Taking a broader approach vs survivor-centric: Interventions with multiple components that go beyond the individual or couple level and involve the wider community
- Creating awareness: exposing the adverse effects of multiple forms of violence against children to the perpetrators.
- Ensuring the inclusion of critical reflection on gender norms: promoting more equitable relationships and shared parenting.
- Improving communications skills: Interventions that help couples to develop better communications skills based on non-violent strategies to resolve conflict.
Evidence Gaps
The study also noted significant gaps in the interventions analysed, with a tendency to focus on one type of violence. Similarly, the authors found an alarming lack of evidence on response interventions in LMICs, with missed opportunities to integrate VAC responses into already existing responses to IPV in the health systems. Overall, there is also a lack of programming and research on interventions targeting adolescents.
The Way Forward: Implications of the Study for the VAW and VAC Field
Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children (SRSG/VAC), underscored the importance of a gendered, child sensitive and comprehensive approach in interventions that need to address both forms of violence, thus calling for coordinated and integrated actions.
Sheema Sen Gupta, Director of Child Protection at UNICEF, proposed a new paradigm for UNICEF programs, featuring three approaches:
- Life Course Approach: Preventing violence from early childhood to adulthood to break the intergenerational cycle of violence.
- Service Coordination: Strengthening the coordination of services for VAW and VAC to ensure that social service workers can support both types of violence at the same time and ensure the safety and well-being of survivors.
- Resource Maximization: Break the current silos that characterize the VAC and VAW fields by integrating efforts to eliminate violence against women and children, pooling resources, and aligning policy and funding efforts.
The findings of this systematic review are of capital importance to our country programs. We look forward to integrating this new evidence about effective interventions into our global body of work, preventing violence against girls, boys and women.
– Sheema Sen Gupta, Director of Child Protection at UNICEF
During the discussion on implications of the study important insights and recommendations emerged from a panel of experts including practitioners, researchers, and donors. Ana Flavia d’Oliveira, from the University of São Paulo, advocated for a balance between prevention and treatment, urging integrated and comprehensive interventions at the national health system level targeting both individuals and the population at large.
At the same time, Ritha Nyiratunga, Senior Associate at The Prevention Collaborative, recommended viewing prevention and response interventions as a “continuum”, especially when establishing the objectives of programming and thinking about resource allocations. She also explained how impactful this review would be in terms of providing updated evidence and bolstering their capacity strengthening efforts with practitioners and researchers in the field.
Senzekile Bengu, from the Institute for Security Studies, discussed the practical application of research findings in multisectoral settings such as the Western Cape Violence Prevention Forum to influence policy. She highlighted the necessity of moving beyond silos and fostering collaboration with specific individuals in big institutions that can push for evidence-based interventions and programs.
What is really valuable for us about this paper is that it puts in our hands the wisdom and the know-how of how to rigorously and simultaneously address both intimate partner violence and violence against children. This is not the way of the past but it has to be the way of the future.
– Don Cipriani, Director of Ignite Philanthropy
Finally, Elizabeth Dartnall, Executive Director at the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, in her closing remarks, welcomed the growing evidence showing that integrated programmes that include specific components can effectively address both VAC and IPV. She also pointed out the “need to invest in evidence-based design and rigorous evaluations to ensure the best possible outcomes for children and women”. This includes gendering our data, moving away from silos and educating health care providers on how to provide services to both children and caregivers.
