Advocacy interventions to reduce violence and promote well‐being among women who experience intimate partner abuse
Citation: Rivas C, Ramsay J, Sadowski L, et al. Advocacy interventions to reduce or eliminate violence and promote the physical and psychosocial well‐being of women who experience intimate partner abuse: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews. 2016;12(1):1-202.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Socialforsknings Institut Nordic Campbell Centre and National Institute of Health Research (UK).
What is this: Women exposed to domestic and intimate partner violence are at high risk of having physical and emotional health problems. This type of violence can increase during periods of lockdown in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this Campbell systematic review, the authors searched for randomized or quasi‐randomized trials of advocacy interventions intended to reduce intimate partner violence and improve women’s well-being. They did not restrict their searches by language of publication and did their search in April 2015. They included 11 randomised and two quasi-randomized trials, which were from Australia (1 trial), China (2), Peru (1) and USA (9).
What works: Intensive advocacy interventions may reduce depression and improve quality of life in women who experience intimate partner abuse.
What doesn’t work: Brief advocacy interventions probably do not have an important effect in reducing physical or sexual abuse in women who have experienced intimate partner abuse.
What is uncertain: The effects of intensive and brief advocacy interventions on emotional and overall abuse are uncertain.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that intensive advocacy might have a role in improving short-term quality of life and reducing physical abuse, but further efforts are needed towards advocacy interventions, considering culture and ethnicity. They stated that further research is needed to assess the impact of advocacy interventions for abused women in various settings, in particular, healthcare settings and that economic analysis is needed to ensure the cost-effectiveness of advocacy interventions in community and healthcare settings.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, ethnicity, culture, gender, education, socioeconomic status, social capital and age.
This summary was prepared by Yasmeen Saeed, checked by Ana Pizarro and Cristián Mansilla, and finalized by Mike Clarke.