Scientific Publication

Can transfers and behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence four years post-program? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

author(s) Roy, Shalini - Hidrobo, Melissa - Hoddinott, John F - Koch, Bastien - Ahmed, A
from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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themes
regions
  • Southern Asia
  • Asia
  • World
citation

Roy, Shalini et al., 'Can transfers and behavior change communication reduce intimate partner violence four years post-program? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh', International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, 2019

Publications and datasets provided via GARDIAN

Abstract

Little is known about whether reductions in intimate partner violence (IPV) from cash transfer programs persist over the longer term. Using a randomized controlled trial design, we show that a program providing poor women in rural Bangladesh with cash or food transfers, alongside nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), led to sustained reductions in IPV 4 years after the program ended. Transfers alone showed no sustained impacts on IPV. Evidence suggests cash and BCC led to more sustained impacts on IPV than food and BCC – through persistent increases in women’s bargaining power, men’s costs of perpetrating violence, and poverty-related emotional well-being.

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