Peer-reviewed article
Programs to Prevent Violence Against Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review
Katie M. Edwards, Manasi Kumar, Emily A. Waterman, Natira D. Mullet, Beatrice A. Madeghe et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5This is a systematic review that looked at 45 studies covering 22 different programs designed to reduce violence against children across Sub-Saharan Africa. It found that programs targeting economic strengthening, schools and teachers, whole families, caregivers, or children directly tend to reduce violence by improving things like parenting skills and children's ability to resist harm. No studies were found that tested policy-level changes or community-wide efforts to shift norms around violence. The authors say more research is needed on how to sustain these programs and get communities to adopt them widely.
Key points
- 45 articles reporting on 22 programs to reduce violence against children in SSA were reviewed
- Programs focusing on economic strengthening, teachers/schools, whole families, caregivers only, or children only were generally effective
- Effective programs worked through mechanisms like parenting skills, better parent-child relationships, and children's resistance skills
- No SSA research has yet examined policy interventions or community-level norm-change interventions for violence against children
- Future research is needed on comprehensive prevention efforts and on what predicts uptake and sustainability
Limitations
The review does not specify which countries the underlying programs were implemented in, and it aggregates studies of varying quality and design without detailing individual study rigor.
Abstract
Violence against children-which includes maltreatment (including physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence, and neglect), bullying (including cyberbullying), youth violence (including physical assault with or without weapons), intimate partner violence (including exposure to domestic violence and direct involvement in teen dating violence), and sexual violence-continues to present itself as a significant public health crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) leading to numerous short- and long-term deleterious outcomes. As such, the prevention of violence against children in SSA is a critical public health priority. In this systematic literature review, we identified 45 articles that reported on results from 22 programs that seek to reduce violence against children in SSA. Results suggested that programs that focus on (1) economic strengthening, (2) teachers schools, (3) entire families, (4) caregivers only, and (5) children only are generally effective in reducing violence against children by promoting focused action on the mechanisms of change (e.g., parenting skills, enhanced parent-child relationships, resistance skills for children). To date, no research in SSA has examined the impact of policy interventions on childhood victimization or community-level interventions to change norms and values that support violence against children. Future research is needed to examine the impacts of comprehensive efforts to prevent violence against children in SSA as well as factors that predict uptake and sustainability of such prevention efforts in SSA.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- A range of violence-prevention programs targeting economic strengthening, teachers/schools, whole families, caregivers only, or children only
- Population
- Children in Sub-Saharan Africa
Key finding
Programs focused on economic strengthening, teachers/schools, entire families, caregivers only, and children only were generally effective in reducing violence against children
Edwards et al. · OpenAlex · 25 Mar 2023