Training Local Leaders to Prevent and Reduce Gender-Based Violence in their Communities

Gender-based violence (GBV) against women remains a major public health concern; yet to date there has been little rigorous research evaluating the impact of interventions aimed to reduce and prevent GBV. This project will bring new evidence on violence-reduction policies by carefully evaluating the impact of an innovative and theory-driven policy intervention in Peru that aims to reduce GBV through a community-based approach that trains local leaders to become community health volunteers and to work within their communities on GBV prevention, monitoring, and reduction. In close cooperation with the Government of Peru, this project’s research design will contribute to the empirical literature on the efficacy of GBV interventions by addressing pressing methodological concerns, provide feedback for programming of public institutions, and supply evidence on the theory underlying GBV.