Adolescent Girls and Their Family Members' Attitudes Around Gendered Power Inequity and Associations with Future Aspirations in Karnataka, India.

Intergenerational differences in inequitable gender attitudes may influence developmental outcomes, including education. In rural Karnataka, India, we examined the extent of intergenerational (adolescent girls [AGs] vs. older generation family members) dis/agreement to attitudes around gendered power inequities, including gender roles and violence against women (VAW).

Prevention of violence against women and girls: A cost-effectiveness study across 6 low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a human rights violation with social, economic, and health consequences for survivors, perpetrators, and society. Robust evidence on economic, social, and health impact, plus the cost of delivery of VAWG prevention, is critical to making the case for investment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where health sector resources are highly constrained. We report on the costs and health impact of VAWG prevention in 6 countries.

A cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a gender transformative intervention on intimate partner violence against women in newly formed neighbourhood groups in Tanzania.

Introduction: Violence against women is a global public health concern; around a quarter of women will experience intimate partner physical or sexual violence during their lifetime. We assessed the impact of a gender transformative intervention for women designed to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV).

Methods: We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial in Mwanza city, Tanzania, among women in newly formed neighbourhood groups to evaluate a 10-session participatory intervention that aims to empower women, prevent IPV and promote healthy relationships.

Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of integrating screening for gender-based violence into HIV counselling and testing for adolescent girls and young women in Tanzania and South Africa.

Background: Gender-based violence (GBV) undermines HIV prevention and treatment cascades, particularly among women who report partner violence. Screening for violence during HIV testing, and prior to offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to HIV uninfected women, provides an opportunity to identify those at heightened HIV risk and greater potential for non-adherence or early discontinuation of PrEP. The paper describes our experience with offering integrated GBV screening and referral as part of HIV counselling and testing.

Using data from 'visible' populations to estimate the size and importance of 'hidden' populations in an epidemic: A modelling technique.

We used reported behavioural data from cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women (MSM/TGW) in Bangalore, mainly collected from 'hot-spot' locations that attract MSM/TGW, to illustrate a technique to deal with potential issues with the representativeness of this sample. A deterministic dynamic model of HIV transmission was developed, incorporating three subgroups of MSM/TGW, grouped according to their reported predominant sexual role (insertive, receptive or versatile). Using mathematical modelling and data triangulation for 'balancing' numbers of partners and role preferences, we compared three different approaches to determine if our technique could be useful for inferring characteristics of a more 'hidden' insertive MSM subpopulation, and explored their potential importance for the HIV epidemic.

Time to Scale Up Preexposure Prophylaxis Beyond the Highest-Risk Populations? Modeling Insights From High-Risk Women in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Objectives: New HIV infections remain higher in women than men in sub-Saharan Africa. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective HIV prevention measure, currently prioritized for those at highest risk, such as female sex workers (FSWs), for whom it is most cost-effective. However, the greatest number of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa occurs in women in the general population.

Changes in Family-Level Attitudes and Norms and Association with Secondary School Completion and Child Marriage Among Adolescent Girls: Results from an Exploratory Study Nested Within a Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial in India.

We evaluated the impact of Samata, a 3-year multilayered intervention among scheduled caste/scheduled tribe (SC/ST) adolescent girls in rural northern Karnataka, on family-level (parents or guardian) attitudes and direct and indirect norms related to child marriage and girl's education. Endline data from 1840 family members were used to assess the effect of Samata on attitudes and norms related to schooling and child marriage, while data from 4097 family members (including 2257 family members at baseline) were used to understand the shifts in attitudes and norms over the period 2014-2017. Overall, we found that the programme had little impact on family-level attitudes and norms.

Is modelling complexity always needed? Insights from modelling PrEP introduction in South Africa.

Background: Mathematical models can be powerful policymaking tools. Simple, static models are user-friendly for policymakers. More complex, dynamic models account for time-dependent changes but are complicated to understand and produce.

Effectiveness of a multilevel intervention to reduce violence and increase condom use in intimate partnerships among female sex workers: cluster randomised controlled trial in Karnataka, India.

Introduction: Samvedana Plus is a multilevel intervention working with sex workers, their intimate partners (IPs) and communities to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) and to increase condom use within intimate relationships of sex workers in Northern Karnataka, India.

Methods: A cluster randomised controlled trial in 47 villages. Female sex workers with IPs in the last 6 months were eligible for baseline (2014), midline (2016) and endline (2017) surveys.

Economic Evaluation of Public Health Interventions: An Application to Interventions for the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls Implemented by the "What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls?" Global Program.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has important social, economic, and public health impacts. Governments and international donors are increasing their investment in VAWG prevention programs, yet clear guidelines to assess the "value for money" of these interventions are lacking. Improved costing and economic evaluation of VAWG prevention can support programming through supporting priority setting, justifying investment, and planning the financing of VAWG prevention services.

A social empowerment intervention to prevent intimate partner violence against women in a microfinance scheme in Tanzania: findings from the MAISHA cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Globally, about 30% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence, or both, from an intimate partner during their lifetime. Associations between poverty and women's increased risk of intimate partner violence have been observed. We therefore aimed to assess the effect of a violence prevention intervention delivered to women participating in a group-based microfinance scheme in Tanzania.

The Samata intervention to increase secondary school completion and reduce child marriage among adolescent girls: results from a cluster-randomised control trial in India.

Background: Secondary education and delayed marriage provide long-term socio-economic and health benefits to adolescent girls. We tested whether a structural and norms-based intervention, which worked with adolescent girls, their families, communities, and secondary schools to address poverty, schooling quality and gender norms, could reduce secondary school drop-out and child marriage among scheduled-caste/scheduled-tribe (SC/ST) adolescent girls in rural settings of southern India.

Methods: 80 of 121 villages in Vijayapura and Bagalkote districts, Karnataka State, were randomly selected (control = 40; intervention = 40).

Associations Between Women's Economic and Social Empowerment and Intimate Partner Violence: Findings From a Microfinance Plus Program in Rural North West Province, South Africa.

Given the mixed evidence on whether women's economic and social empowerment is beneficial or not for reducing intimate partner violence (IPV), we explored the relationship between women's empowerment and IPV risk. We analyzed data from baseline interviews with married women ( = 415) from the Intervention with Microfinance and Gender Equity (IMAGE) longitudinal study in rural South Africa. IMAGE combines a poverty-focused microfinance program with a gender-training curriculum.

Prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among 13-14 year old adolescent girls in North Karnataka, South India: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Mental health disorders among adolescents have emerged as a major public health issue in many low and middle-income countries, including India. There is a paucity of research on the determinants of psychological distress, particularly among the poorest girls in the poorest communities. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of different indicators of psychological distress among 13-14 year old low caste girls in rural, south India.

Changing the norms that drive intimate partner violence: findings from a cluster randomised trial on what predisposes bystanders to take action in Kampala, Uganda.

Introduction: Despite widespread calls to end violence against women, there remains limited evidence on how to prevent it. Community-level programmes seek to engage all levels of the community in changing norms that drive intimate partner violence (IPV). However, little is known about what predisposes ordinary people to become active in violence prevention.

Recent intimate partner violence against women and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Objective: We reviewed cohort studies to determine the magnitude and temporal direction of the association between recent intimate partner violence (IPV) and a range of adverse health outcomes or health risk behaviours.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: Medline, EMBASE and PsycINFO were searched from the first record to November 2016.

'It's because I like things… it's a status and he buys me airtime': exploring the role of transactional sex in young women's consumption patterns in rural South Africa (secondary findings from HPTN 068).

Background: 'Transactional sex', defined as a non-marital, non-commercial sexual relationship in which money or material goods are exchanged for sex, is associated with young women's increased vulnerability to HIV infection. Existing research illustrates that the motivations for transactional sex are complex. The fulfilment of psycho-social needs such as the need to belong to a peer group are important factors underlying young women's desires to obtain certain consumption items and thus engage in transactional sex.

Examining diffusion to understand the how of SASA!, a violence against women and HIV prevention intervention in Uganda.

Background: A growing number of complex public health interventions combine mass media with community-based "change agents" and/or mobilisation efforts acting at multiple levels. While impact evaluations are important, there is a paucity of research into the more nuanced roles intervention and social network factors may play in achieving intervention outcomes, making it difficult to understand how different aspects of the intervention worked (or did not). This study applied aspects of diffusion of innovations theory to explore how SASA!, a community mobilisation approach for preventing HIV and violence against women, diffused within intervention communities and the factors that influenced the uptake of new ideas and behaviours around intimate partner relationships and violence.

Who perpetrates violence against children? A systematic analysis of age-specific and sex-specific data.

Objective: The epidemiology of violence against children is likely to differ substantially by sex and age of the victim and the perpetrator. Thus far, investment in effective prevention strategies has been hindered by lack of clarity in the burden of childhood violence across these dimensions. We produced the first age-specific and sex-specific prevalence estimates by perpetrator type for physical, sexual and emotional violence against children globally.

Child homicide perpetrators worldwide: a systematic review.

Objective: This study aims to describe child homicide perpetrators and estimate their global and regional proportion to inform prevention strategies to reduce child homicide mortality worldwide.

Design: A systematic review of 9431 studies derived from 18 databases led to the inclusion of 126 studies after double screening. All included studies reported a number or proportion of child homicides perpetrators.

A cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact on intimate partner violence of a 10-session participatory gender training curriculum delivered to women taking part in a group-based microfinance loan scheme in Tanzania (MAISHA CRT01): study protocol.

Background: Worldwide, almost one third (30%) of women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner. Given the considerable negative impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV) on women's physical health and well-being, there is an urgent need for rigorous evidence on violence prevention interventions.

Methods: The study, comprising a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) and in-depth qualitative study, will assess the impact on women's past year experience of physical and/or sexual IPV of a participatory gender training curriculum (MAISHA curriculum) delivered to women participating in group-based microfinance in Tanzania.

Spatial clusters of gonorrhoea in England with particular reference to the outcome of partner notification: 2012 and 2013.

Background: This study explored spatial-temporal variation in diagnoses of gonorrhoea to identify and quantify endemic areas and clusters in relation to patient characteristics and outcomes of partner notification (PN) across England, UK.

Methods: Endemic areas and clusters were identified using a two-stage analysis with Kulldorff's scan statistics (SaTScan).

Results: Of 2,571,838 tests, 53,547 diagnoses were gonorrhoea positive (positivity = 2.

Correlates of school dropout and absenteeism among adolescent girls from marginalized community in north Karnataka, south India.

Secondary education among lower caste adolescent girls living in rural Karnataka, South India, is characterized by high rates of school drop-out and absenteeism. A cross-sectional baseline survey (N=2275) was conducted in 2014 as part of a cluster-randomized control trial among adolescent girls (13-14 year) and their families from marginalized communities in two districts of north Karnataka. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used.

When are declines in condom use while using PrEP a concern? Modelling insights from a Hillbrow, South Africa case study.

Introduction: Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a promising new prevention approach for those most at risk of HIV infection. However, there are concerns that behavioural disinhibition, specifically reductions in condom use, might limit PrEP's protective effect. This study uses the case of female sex workers (FSWs) in Johannesburg, South Africa, to assess whether decreased levels of condom use following the introduction of PrEP may limit HIV risk reduction.