Enhancing Protection Outcomes for Adolescent Girls: A Comparative Study of Girls-Only Intervention Model and Synchronized Sister-Brother Interventions

Background/Purpose: Adolescent girls are disproportionately vulnerable to violence, often stemming from harmful gender norms and exposure to violence within the household. Yet, few impact evaluations have been implemented to understand and document the effects of gender-based violence (GBV) prevention programs on adolescents, families, and their communities in humanitarian settings. In order to understand the effects of family involvement in violence prevention interventions, an evaluation will compare a synchronized, sibling-centered intervention with a traditional intervention model that engages only girls and their caregivers in two communities for internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno State, Nigeria.

Methods: This mixed methods, pilot randomized-control trial will document the design and implementation, and evaluate the comparative impacts on adolescent girls’ vulnerability to violence, of two study arms: 1) a synchronized, sibling-centered intervention that concurrently engages girls aged 10-14, their male siblings aged 15-19, and parents/caregivers with 2) a traditional intervention model that engages only girls aged 10-14 and parents/caregivers. Quantitative data will be collected through surveys administered at baseline and endline with all study participants (girls, boys, and caregivers/parents) in both study arms using Computer-Assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Qualitative data will be collected at endine from participants in both study arms, using in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions with adult participants as well as IDIs and participatory activities with adolescent participants. Primary outcomes measured will be the feasibility and validity of tools used. Secondary outcomes will include exposure to violence, gender-equitable attitudes, protective assets, family support, and gender norms. Intervention outputs such as schooling status and marital status will also be measured.

Results: Baseline data collection is scheduled to begin in June and endline data collection will take place in October.

Conclusions: Findings from this study will advance evidence around improving gender equitable attitudes and behaviors within families, with an emphasis on reducing girls’ vulnerabilities to violence; to building resilience of girls in the face of violence; and to breaking intergenerational cycles of harmful norms. Ultimately, this evaluation will help practitioners to understand the feasibility and effectiveness of engaging families in gender-transformative violence prevention programming.