An interventional study of Discussion sessions and Village Savings and Loans Associations in Intimate Partner Violence, sponsored by London School of Economics and Political Science. Completed at 1 site in Burundi. Open to participants aged 15 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2011-03-25.
Sponsored by London School of Economics and Political Science · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
Over the last twenty years micro-finance based interventions have proven to be a popular and often effective means of improving the economic outcomes of impoverished women. However, the gains to microfinance based interventions on women's decision making in both economic and non-economic arenas remains largely unknown. Specifically, the question of to what extent does access to small-scale credit alone, rather than other programs often combined with microfinance, affect women's empowerment is of particular interest when determining interventions in a variety of setting in developing nations. There exists evidence that women's empowerment is associated with reduced violence and as such maybe an important tool for improving adult women's wellbeing. In addition increased decision making power by women has been associated with improvement in children's health outcomes, especially for girls, and as such may be way generating intergenerational improvements in women's outcomes.
The goal of this project is to disentangle the effects of access to credit alone from the information on financial and personal decision making that is frequently coupled with these programs. To accomplish this, the investigators use a randomized field experiment among participants in Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA's). VSLA participants are a self-selected group of people who pool their money into a fund from which members can borrow. The money is paid back with interest, causing the fund to grow. The regular savings contributions to the VSLA are deposited with an end date (usually less than 1 year) after which all or part of the total funds are distributed to the individual members. The small loans are paid back with interest which is determined by the group at the time of formation and the returns from these interest payments are also distributed to the groups. The investigators then test whether there are additional gains to women's well-being by providing VSLA participants with training on process-based decision making to determine if there is a need for additional efforts to improve the decision making structure in households. To the extent that increased access to credit and more broadly financial resources is limited by existing constraints on women's decision making power, this additional training may be a necessary part of the creation of credit markets in improving the health and well-being of women and children.
Subjects are voluntary participants in a Village and Savings Group organized by the International Rescue Committee
Subjects will be 600 individuals, predominantly women, aged 20-50, who reside in the Burundi province of Makamba (in the southern part of Burundi)
Jodi Nelson: (protocols)
Everyone in the sample (N=600) is in a VSLA with its financial design previously determined. Half of the sample will be treated as the "control" group and will not receive the treatment. Of this sample, in half of the VSLA's the investigators will ask the spouse to accompany the member to one payment meeting. A baseline survey will be conducted in January 2008 to gather basic demographic information as well as pre-treatment levels of variables of interest The training/discussion groups will take place over several months are intended to promote joint decision-making. conduct a post-treatment survey to determine immediate gains from the treatment. After another 1-2 months, the investigators will conduct a final survey to determine the survival rate of any changes. Interviews will be recorded in written form to be input into computerized data management systems.
London School of Economics and Political Science is the lead sponsor of 13 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Inclusion Criteria:
The project, administered by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), involved 25 village savings and loans association (VSLA) groups across the province. The VSLA groups initially formed through local members of the community designated as community based facilitators (CBF).
Behavioral: Village Savings and Loans Associations
Half of the VSLA participants were invited to participate in an additional set of discussion groups to be attended along with their spouse. All participants were informed that due to space constraints, only half of the members would be able to attend. In each VSLA, individuals drew numbers from a bag or hat, and those with "winning" slips were the ones who entered the discussion groups with spouses.
Behavioral: Discussion sessions · Behavioral: Village Savings and Loans Associations
Those selected were invited to attend a 6 session course on household decision-making with their spouses. Topics included budgeting, household financial management, and negotiation skills
Also known as: Household Financial Training
The approach developed by CARE International develops Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs). A VSLA is a self-selected group of people who pool their money into a fund from which members can borrow. The money is paid back with interest, causing the fund to grow. The regular savings contributions to the Association are deposited with an end date in mind for distribution of all or part of the total funds (including interest earnings) to the individual members, usually on the basis of a formula that links payout to the amount saved. This lump sum distribution provides a large amount of money that members can then use as they want, without restriction.
Also known as: Village Microfinance
Domestic Violence Exposure
The measure of exposure to violence used in this survey is the Hurt Insult Threaten Scream (HITS) instrument. It includes four items: physical abuse, insults, threats and screaming. The four items are scored on a Likert 5-point scale. The HITS was chosen due to its proven applicability in a variety of settings , and because it allows for a rapid appraisal of past experiences of violence. Its measurement regards the two weeks prior to the interview. Similar to the more commonly used World Health Organization methodology, but includes indicators of abuse such as threats and insults.
Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 15 months
Attitudes towards gender roles and rights
Attitudinal questions on traditional gender roles and appropriateness of abuse in a range of common settings. The questions are based on those asked in the Demographic Health Survey funded by USAID
Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 15 months
Economic Empowerment
The intervention aimed to improve decision making dynamics in this direction, encouraging both men and women to take increasingly more decisions jointly. We identified several areas which may be critical to women's empowerment: income/asset-related decision making authority, fertility decision making authority, safety, and legal and political rights
Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 15 months
This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2009. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
London School of Economics and Political Science