From growing nutritious food to reducing family violence

A recent report shows how our work contributes to a reduction in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the communities where we work. The research carried out by the Global Women’s Institute at The George Washington University, co-funded by the World Bank, confirms what programme facilitators have been reporting to us anecdotally for many years: that well-designed interventions have a powerful impact well beyond the initial scope of a project.

It’s a reasonable question. Our mission is clear: to see a thriving rural Africa. In projects where our progress will be measured against increased food production, improved nutrition, greater food security and increased income, addressing negative power dynamics and helping to reduce violence in family relationships might reasonably be considered to be beyond our scope.

Except that Ripple Effect’s work is often set against a background of everyday violence for women, and even with three meals a day families can’t thrive in those circumstances.

When our project facilitators first start work in a community, discussing the issues and challenges they face, groups of women would often mention – almost in passing – that men beat their wives if they don’t do the work that is expected of them, or fail to conform in some way.

“Maybe the husband has money but does not put it on the table, which maybe leads to violence because they don't trust each other.” - Anonymous, Female research participant

• 71% of women in Ripple Effect's programme reported experiencing some form of IPV in their lifetime
• 59% of women had experienced sexual or physical violence

When end-of-project feedback was collected there were frequently comments about how family life had changed: relationships had improved; husbands and wives were working well together, showing affection and respect; there was laughter. It was clear that things were better in ways that we hadn’t planned to measure.

We applied for funding from the international Sexual Violence Research Initiative and the World Bank which allowed us to look at this in more detail and to learn more about why and how our programmes were contributing to these changes which could have positive effects for generations to come.

The qualitative and quantitative research was carried out by Global Women’s Institute at The George Washington University, Washington DC, led by Dr Manuel Contreras-Urbina with Maureen Murphy and Elizabeth Rojas and oversight by Dr Mary Ellsberg. They generously shared their knowledge and expertise to guide the research and build capacity of our staff in this important area.

We don’t claim to be experts in Intimate Partner Violence, but we do have decades of experience in challenging deep-rooted gender inequalities. Our facilitators are very skilled in questioning harmful norms (who does the work, who has control, who makes the decisions), breaking down barriers for women, and helping women claim their rights.

We use participatory tools to open up careful conversations around difficult topics. We use our innovative Transformative Household Methodology (THM) to explore in a visual way, that’s clear to everyone, how workloads, resources and decision-making are shared in an individual household.

In the picture below, a family in Petauke in eastern Zambia take part in the Transformative Household Methodology task under the guidance of the Ripple Effect project facilitator. The objects placed along one side of the grid on the ground represent household tasks and decision-making. Each member of the household puts a stone in their corresponding square if this task is their responsibility, with everyone discussing the division of work as they go along. At the end, everyone can see who does the most work, and who makes the decisions.

“Before training, women had to take on many roles, she would rise early and work all day. This exercise [THM] helps the man to realize that he is over-working her.” - Anonymous, Research participant