1. Perspectives on Gender-Based Violence and
Women’s Economic Empowerment in Sub-
Saharan Africa: Challenges and
Opportunities
Carolina Mejia, PhD, MPH
Abby Cannon, MSW, MPH
Sukie Zietz, MPH
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 12, 2014

2. AGENDA
 Introduction
 Methods
 Findings
 Literature Review
 Key Informant Interviews
 Discussion and
Recommendations
 Q&A period

3. BACKGROUND
Gender-based violence (GBV):
 All acts resulting in physical, sexual, psychological, or
economic harm or suffering based on socially
ascribed (gender) differences between males and
females.
 Complex and pervasive problem.
 Rooted in gender-based power inequalities.
 Major health and development implications.

4. BACKGROUND (Cont.)
 Women’s Economic
Empowerment (WEE) sets a path
towards gender equality.
 Economically empowered women
contribute to more others.
 WEE is a structural approach.
 Knowledge gaps still exist in trying
to understand this relationship
between GBV and WEE.
Photo by Micaela Arthur

5. OVERALL GOALS
 Gain a deeper understanding of the relationship
between WEE programs and GBV; and
 Identify promising approaches for programming
that would strengthen economic empowerment
interventions and reduce risks of GBV.

6. METHODOLOGY
Photo by: Sukie Zietz

7. Systematic Literature Review
 Expanding on a systematic review that included articles published
through August 2007.1
 Searches were conducted for published articles and reports in 6
databases and in the grey literature.
 Publications from Sep. 2007 – Mar. 2014
 Studies in low-to middle-income countries
 Outcome measures of GBV, intimate partner violence (IPV),
child marriage, non-partner physical/sexual violence, and FGC,
attitudes towards child beating, decision-making powered and
gender equitable attitudes.
 Rating of the evidence (effective, promising or unclear)

8. Research Questions for KIIs
 How do programs perceive the
influence of WEE on GBV?
 What do programs identify as
important drivers in the relationship
between WEE and GBV?
 What are the common M&E
practices used and challenges
faced by WEE programs to
document intervention impact?
Photo by: Jack Hazerjian

9. Key Informant Interviews
Inclusion criteria:
 Sub-Saharan African countries
 Work with women/girls to increase economic
strengthening
Sampling and Recruitment
 Internet-based searches using key terms for
programs and countries addressing WEE
programming.
 Snowball sampling of WEE technical and
program staff
Photo by: Wayne Hoover

10. Data Collection & Analysis
• 49 in-depth interviews (28 phone
and 21 in-person)
• Interview responses were
entered, coded, and analyzed
using Atlas.ti software Telephone
In-person
Data collection
• Analysis entailed iterative process of reviewing the
interviews.

11. KEY FINDINGS
Photo by: Micaela Arthur

12. GBV Experience and Attitudes
 20 articles on 19 interventions (of 246) were found to
be relevant.
 9 articles were deemed effective, 8 promising, and 3
unclear
 Measures of physical, sexual, economic, and
psychological violence.
 8 studies showed small, reductions in violence within
the past 12 months.
 Many studies showed reduction in acceptance of IPV
and among participants and community members
challenging traditional gender norms

13. GBV Experience and Attitudes
 Intervention spotlight:
Intervention with
Microfinance for AIDS
and Gender Equality
(IMAGE)
Photo by: Wayne Hoover

14. Adolescent Girls
 10 programs focused on adolescents
and young adults
 Life skills plus EE (livelihoods training,
cash transfers etc.)
 Higher effects among those that
integrating life skills and SRH training
 Additional outcomes: HIV incidence,
knowledge of HIV transmission, risky
sexual behaviors, unintended
pregnancy, school retention
Photo by: Jack Hazerjian

15. Adolescent Girls (cont.)
 Intervention spotlight:
Safe and Smart
Savings Products for
Vulnerable Adolescent
Girls4

16. Male Involvement
 Men engaged as allies or
partners vs. direct
involvement
 Men as allies: no studies
found significant decrease
in IPV though some change
in attitudes and care
behaviors
 Men as participants: no decrease in violence

17. Male Involvement
 Program spotlight:
CARE Rwanda and
Instituto Promundo VSL
program5
Photo by: Jessica Fehringer

18. Challenges of Evaluation Studies
 Lack of clear reporting on indicators
 Low number of clusters in RCTs
 Population mobility
 Participant retention
 Evaluation time-period
Photo by: Jack Hazerjian

19. Qualitative Interviews
Photo by: Micaela Arthur

20. Type of Organization and WEE
Program
Map of Interview SitesInterviews by type of organization

21. Types of Interventions
 Human capital most common form of economic
empowerment
 15 programs engaged men as allies partners
 11 programs did not have a GBV component
 GBV components included: awareness
education, rights-based/legal education, referral
to services, direct services

22. Program Perceptions of the Influence
of WEE on GBV: Reduction in IPV
 18 KII respondents reported that their program
decreased the experience of GBV.
 Included reduction in IPV, sexual harassment in
public spaces, and forced sex
 Reliance on anecdotes, lack of M&E data
There is testimony that GBV decreases. Participation in the program
increases their income, and their respect and confidence. This is a
positive way of empowering women, which decreases GBV. Women can
contribute to the family, as well as understand their rights and capacity.
(ID40, East Africa)

23. Tension and backlash
 Terms frequently used to describe problems with
husbands or partners as a result of participating
in WEE programs
 Balance of power and traditional gender norms
“We know if we empower women in rural areas especially, there is negative
impact in terms of domestic violence. But knowing that might happen, our
seminar series are designed to bring together, so role models can give
testimony on how they are working together, man is supporting wife, and
what [positive] impact it brings to the family through that. To show them you
can live better if you live like this couple.” (ID37, East Africa)

24. Drivers identified in the
relationship between WEE and
GBV
 Improved attitudes towards gender norms
 Life skills
 Education
 Self-esteem
 Emotional support systems
“The intervention resonates with the
participants. They realize they have
experience, skills, and are
empowered economically.
Information alone without economic
empowerment is not enough.”
(ID01, Southern Africa)

25. M&E Practices and Challenges
Records from a site visit
Photo by: Abby Cannon

26. M&E practices by organization type
Studies and international NGOs:
 Quantitative and qualitative
data
 Regular, planned time points
 More variety in indicator
types
 External evaluators

27. M&E practices by organization type
(Cont.)
 Country and grassroots NGOs:
 Primarily informal, qualitative
 Less frequent time points
 More focus on inputs
 Difficulty prioritizing M&E—lack of
funding, time, expertise

28. M&E Challenges: Demand,
prioritization, and funding
 Focus is on program
implementation.
 Lack of demand for
M&E.
 Limited funding to pay
data collectors, train
staff, and use more
advance M&E
techniques.
“Program implementation is
often about putting out fires, so
the normal strategy for the
program was difficult, let alone
the strategy for M&E.” (ID 23,
Southern Africa)

29. M&E Challenges: Staff and
organizational capacity
 Volunteers have little to no M&E training
 Questionable data quality and
consistency
 Few qualified staff
 Implementing partners’ M&E capacity
varies

30. M&E Challenges: Measurement
 Tracking inputs and
outputs, but few outcomes
and impact.
 Only tracking loan
repayment and
attendance
“Our measurements focus
on money and ignore other
factors. There are longer
term issues around creating
effective economic
behavior change, with
bringing people up. We
need to measure that.” (ID
41, East Africa)

31.  Limited expertise to develop/select
appropriate indicators.
 Lack of clear GBV and WEE
indicators
M&E Challenges: Measurement
 Desire for more
documentation of success
stories.

32. M&E Challenges: Methodology
 Assessing impact is difficult:
 Program overlap
 Small sample size
 Lack of control group
 Time constraints limit longer term outcomes
 Tracking mobile populations

33. “M&E is something very
important to be integrated
into project management.
When you have regular
M&E, it gives a prosperous
moment to have checks
and balances. It also gives
a say to the beneficiaries to
have an input. And you can
influence policy at all
levels.” (ID39, East Africa)
Photo by: Micaela Arthur

34. Limitations
 Limited evidence on WEE and GBV
 Varying quality of articles
 Social desirability bias
 Selection bias

35. LESSONS LEARNED
1. Programs that provided only financial capital seem to
result in less positive outcomes than those that provided it
with other types of capital (social, human, or physical).
2. No conclusive evidence to determine whether WEE-only
programs can increase or decrease the experience of GBV.
3. WEE programs with gender components also showed
positive results for other outcomes related to women and
girl’s health and well-being.
4. The majority of effective and promising interventions
involved activities for men alone or men and women in
some capacity.

36. LESSONS LEARNED (Cont.)
5. Improved measurement methods are necessary
to understand what increases or decreases GBV
or GBV-related outcomes.
6. Lack of evidence on other forms of GBV other
than IPV.
7. Lack of capacity and resources to document
program impact.

37. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
 WEE programs should incorporate human as well as
social capital components in program design and
implementation.
 Economic empowerment programs promoting livelihoods
among adolescent girls should incorporate safe spaces for
girls to access support, mentoring, and share experiences.
 Engage men constructively in gender-related activities in
order to promote gender equitable norms.

38. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS (Cont.)
 Further rigorous research and evaluation should be
conducted on the intersection of WEE and GBV using
measurement guidelines to increase the evidence base
for improved programming.
 Map the pathways in which WEE directly or indirectly
affects GBV, given that the current evidence about the
mechanism in which WEE impacts GBV is inconclusive.

39. The Report
To access the report:
http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/publications
If you need additional information, please
contact Carolina Mejia at:
cmejia@unc.edu

40. References
1. Vyas S, Watts C. How does economic empowerment affect women's risk of intimate
partner violence in low and middle income countries? a systematic review of published
evidence. Journal of International Development. 2009;21(5):577-602.
2. Kim JC, Watts CH, Hargreaves JR, et al. Understanding the impact of a microfinance-
based intervention on women's empowerment and the reduction of intimate partner
violence in South Africa. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(10):1794-1802.
3. Kim J, Ferrari G, Abramsky T, et al. Assessing the incremental effects of combining
economic and health interventions: The IMAGE study in South Africa. Bull World Health
Organ. 2009;87(11):824-832.
4. Austrian K, Muthengi E. Safe and smart savings products for vulnerable adolescent girls
in Kenya and Uganda: Evaluation report. 2014.
5. Slegh H, Barker G, Kimonyo A, Ndolimana P, Bannerman M. ‘I can do women's work’:
Reflections on engaging men as allies in women's economic empowerment in Rwanda.
Gender & Development. 2013;21(1):15-30.

41. Acknowledgments
The report was prepared by Carolina Mejia, Abby Cannon, Susannah Zietz, Jennet
Arcara, and Afeefa Abdur-Rahman of MEASURE Evaluation at the University of North
Carolina but it could not be completed without the contributions with many others.
 Staff at MEASURE Evaluation for their contributions to this report: MaryBeth
Grewe, Katharine L McFadden, and Micaela Arthur (MEASURE Evaluation).
 Reviewers who provided valuable insights and helped us to refine the report:
Mahua Mandal, Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, Bernard Agala (MEASURE
Evaluation), Kristen Wares, Ana Djapovic Scholl, and Amelia Peltz (USAID),
and Madhumita Das (International Center for Research on Women).
 The organizations and individuals who participated in the interviews for
sharing views on a number of issues related to this study.

42. MEASURE Evaluation is funded by the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) and implemented by the
Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in partnership with Futures Group, ICF International,
John Snow, Inc., Management Sciences for Health, and Tulane
University. Views expressed in this presentation do not necessarily
reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. government.
MEASURE Evaluation is the USAID Global Health Bureau's
primary vehicle for supporting improvements in monitoring and
evaluation in population, health and nutrition worldwide.

43. Questions / Comments?
Photo by: Sukie Zietz
Thank you!