Gibbs, A., Khoza, Z., Khaula, S., Mkhwanazi, S., Mannell, J., & Washington, L. (2025). Zethembe: a co-developed couples intervention for young heterosexual couples in informal settlements in South Africa. PLOS Glob Public Health. 5(4), e0004332.

Abstract

Effective interventions to address violence against women and girls in urban informal settlements are limited. To address this gap, the 2020 SVRI grantee undertook an intervention co-development process, bringing together four young women (aged 18–25 years) living in an urban informal settlement, academics and NGO partners. Following the 6 Steps in Quality Intervention Development (6SQuID) approach, they collaboratively worked through the steps using participatory methods, supporting the young women to think critically and interrogate their lived reality, identify the causes of violence in their lives, and where they felt change was possible. The researchers co-created Zethembe Couples Care, and ‘pre-tested’ this with 17 participants (some were couples). Finally, the academics and practitioners revised the intervention and theory of change. The co-development process led to a series of learnings: the process of building trust and supporting young women to reflect and understand their lived realities took a long time (12 of 15 months), limiting intervention development time.