Other
Edutainment to Prevent Violence Against Women and Children
Amber Peterman ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This review looks at 21 rigorous evaluations of edutainment (education delivered through entertainment) aimed at preventing violence against women and children. Most studies found more anti-violence attitudes and norms, and fewer than two thirds of the studies that measured behaviour found less violence. Most of the evidence is on violence against women, where results are weaker. Evidence on child, early and forced marriage is stronger but comes from fewer studies. The review says many open research questions remain before edutainment can be used at scale for behaviour change.
Key points
- 71% of 21 studies show increases in anti-violence attitudes and norms.
- 64% of 11 studies show reductions in violent behaviours.
- Violence against women has the most studies (13), but only 57–62% show protective impacts across outcomes.
- For child, early and forced marriage, 63–75% of studies show protective impacts across outcomes, from fewer studies.
- Only one study on violence against children was found, and it had null effects. Female genital mutilation findings show promise but the evidence is limited.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so we cannot see the study designs, the countries covered, how the studies were selected, or the size of the effects. The review notes that impacts vary by study arm, follow-up period and target group, and that there are methodological challenges.
Abstract
<span>Edutainment has potential to promote behavior change at scale, however effectiveness in addressing violence against women and children is still emerging. This review summarizes evidence from 21 rigorous evaluations measuring impacts on violence-related attitudes, norms and behaviors. Overall, 71% of 21 studies show promising increases in anti-violence attitudes and norms, while 64% of 11 studies show reductions in violent behaviors. Violence against women has the largest body of evidence with 13 studies yet with comparatively weak findings (57 – 62% show protective impacts across outcomes), while evidence on child, early and forced marriage is comparatively stronger, however with fewer studies (with 63 – 75% show protective impacts across outcomes). Findings for female genital mutilation show promise, however with limited evidence. Only one study with null effects was found for violence against children. Few studies contain adverse impacts, however numerous studies show variable impacts, depending on study arm, follow-up period or target group. There is evidence for mechanisms related to acquisition of information, individual persuasion, norm diffusion and increases in service linkages. Despite promising impacts, there are numerous open research questions and methodological challenges to tackle before the power of edutainment can be maximized for violence-related behavior change at scale.</span>
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Edutainment (entertainment-based media and education) to change violence-related attitudes, norms and behaviours
- Population
- Women, children and wider audiences in 21 evaluated edutainment programmes; the countries are not stated in the abstract
Key finding
71% of 21 studies show increases in anti-violence attitudes and norms.
Peterman · Crossref · 1 Jan 2024