Using Cultural Ceremonies to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Transmission

Violence against women (VAW), the most extreme manifestation of the unequal power balance between women and men, is a major global public health concern. One of the most common forms of VAW is that perpetrated by a husband or other intimate partner. In Ethiopia, 70.9% of women reported having experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the problem. A growing body of evidence has also linked IPV and HIV risk. This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a community-based intervention focused on Intimate Partner Violence and HIV delivered in the context of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, a culturally established forum for community discussion and conflict resolution. Villages will be randomly assigned to one of 4 study arms (3 intervention and one control arm): 1) Women only participate in the intervention, 2) Men only participate, 3) Both men and women (couples) participate, 4) Women and men receive the control intervention comprising a short informational session on violence reduction.