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General

Study Overview

Title:

Evaluation of Madhya Pradesh Safe Cities Initiative

Study is 3ie funded:

No

Study ID:

RIDIE-STUDY-ID-566efe555bf22

Initial Registration Date:

12/14/2015

Last Update Date:

12/14/2015

Study Status:

Ongoing

Location(s):

India

Abstract:

This study assesses the effects of the DFID-funded Safe Cities Initiative being implemented in 4 cities in Madhya Pradesh, India. The initiative, which aims to reduce the prevalence of domestic and public violence experienced by women in the urban context, includes 3 interventions: 1) provision of general support to existing women’s self-help groups (SHG) 2) provision of general support to existing women’s SHGs with specialized trainings addressing violence against women (VAW) and community action and 3) creation of new men and boys collectives with trainings addressing life skills, gender, and community action. The study uses a randomized control trial to identify the effect of the initiative on a range of outcomes including levels of domestic and public violence, women’s mobility and perceived safety, individual attitudes and social norms surrounding domestic and public violence. The study employs a blocked factorial design, randomizing 6 treatment combinations across 250 urban slums. At the time of this registration in Dec. 2015, the baseline data had been collected, the treatment had been assigned, the intervention had just completed, and endline data was about to be collected.

Registration Citation:

Humphreys, M., Khan, S. and Lindsey, S., 2015. Evaluation of Madhya Pradesh Safe Cities Initiative. Registry for International Development for Impact Evaluations (RIDIE). Available at: 10.23846/ridie075

Categories:

Other

Additional Keywords:

Violence against Women, Social norms, Intimate Partner Violence, Development

Secondary ID Number(s):

Principal Investigator(s)

Name of First PI:

Macartan Humphreys

Affiliation:

Columbia University

Name of Second PI:

Sarah Khan (sk2947@columbia.edu); Summer Lindsey (sel2129@columbia.edu)

Affiliation:

Columbia University

Study Sponsor

Name:

DFID - India

Study Sponsor Location:

India

Research Partner

Name of Partner Institution:

Social Development Direct (*also partnering with New Concept Information Systems in India)

Type of Organization:

Private firm

Location:

United Kingdom

Intervention

Intervention Overview

Intervention:

The Safe Cities Initiative is designed to reduce the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence and harassment against women and girls in public spaces in urban slums. It consists of three interventions: 1) provision of general support to existing women’s self-help groups 2) provision of general support to existing women’s self-help groups with specialized trainings addressing violence against women and community action and 3) creation of new men and boys collectives in slums with trainings addressing life skills, gender, and community action. Within each slum in the sample, there are 6 possible combinations of these interventions: no intervention, Life-Skills only, SHG Strengthening only, SHG Strengthening +Life-Skills, SHG Strengthening + VAW, SHG Strengthening+ VAW + Life Skills. Program beneficiaries include: (1) Direct female beneficiaries that are members of SHGs (18-49 yrs) (2) Indirect female beneficiaries are females from the wider community (3) Direct male beneficiaries who are members of the boys’/men’s groups (15-25 yrs) and (4) Indirect male beneficiaries are males from the wider community. For measurement, indirect beneficiaries will be ages 18-49.

Theory of Change:

Multiple Treatment Arms Evaluated?

Yes

Implementing Agency

Name of Organization:

The programme is being delivered through a partnership between the MP Urban Development and Administration Department (UADD) and their implementing partner GHK/IPE Global.

Type of Organization:

Public Sector, e.g. Government Agency or Ministry

Program Funder

Name of Organization:

DFID, India

Type of Organization:

Public Sector, e.g. Government Agency or Ministry

Intervention Timing

Intervention or Program Started at time of Registration?

Yes

Start Date:

03/01/2014

End Date:

12/02/2015

Evaluation Method

Evaluation Method Overview

Primary (or First) Evaluation Method:

Randomized control trial

Other (not Listed) Method:

Additional Evaluation Method (If Any):

Other (specify)

Other (not Listed) Method:

Panel Survey; Qualitative Assessments

Method Details

Details of Evaluation Approach:

The evaluation is based on a cluster Randomized Control Trial (RCT) where the unit of randomization is the slum. The sample of 250 slums was pre-selected based on previous identification for inclusion in the larger MPUIIP program, of which the Safe Cities Initiative is a part. It includes either 62 or 63 slums in each city across 4 cities Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The purpose of the evaluation is not only to identify the effects of the Safe Cities Initiative but also to examine the effect of specific interventions and combinations of interventions within the Initiative. In order to enable comparisons of the various combinations of interventions, we use a 3x2 factorial design under which each slum can be assigned to one of 6 possible treatment arms. A block randomization approach was used to ensure that the treatment and control slums are balanced over a set of blocking variables and with the intention of reducing the intra-cluster correlation. Data on blocking variables was obtained from administrative sources and a baseline survey conducted in the 250 slums in Dec 2013. See Pre-Analysis Plan (PAP) for further details.

Outcomes (Endpoints):

Outcome families are as follows: 1. Women’s economic empowerment 2. Women’s mobility and safety 3. Experience and perpetration of IPV 4. Experience and perpetration of public harassment and violence 5. Responses to VAW by police and self-help groups 6. Individual attitudes on gender and VAW 7. Descriptive norms around VAW 8. Prescriptive norms around VAW

Unit of Analysis:

Primary analysis is at individual level clustering standard errors at the slum-level and controlling for covariates (see analysis plan).

Hypotheses:

Our hypothesis families are as follows (see PAP for further details): H1: The program improves women’s economic empowerment. H2: The program improves women’s mobility and safety. H3: The program decreases the experience and perpetration of IPV. H4: The program decreases the experience and perpetration of public harassment and VAW. H5: The program improves responses by police and self-help groups to VAW. H6: The program decreases harmful individual attitudes around VAW. H7: The program decreases harmful descriptive norms around VAW. H8: The program decreases harmful prescriptive norms around VAW.

Unit of Intervention or Assignment:

Slum

Number of Clusters in Sample:

250 Slums

Number of Individuals in Sample:

30 individuals per slum = 7,500 individuals

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

T1: Pure Control (41) T2: Life-skills Training Only (41) T3: SHG Strength only (42) T4: SHG Strength + Life Skills only (42) T5: SHG Strength + VAW only (42) T6: SHG Strength + VAW + Life Skills (42)

Supplementary Files

Analysis Plan:

20151207MPSafeCities_PAP.pdf

Other Documents:

Data

Outcomes Data

Description:

Endline outcome measures will be collected in an individual-level household survey (7500=n; 30 per slum). The survey will sample from beneficiary groups: 8 Female direct (18-49 years); 8 Female indirect (18-49 yrs); 6 Male direct (15-25 yrs); 4 younger male indirect (15-25 yrs), and 4 older male indirect (26-49 yrs). The same respondents will be interviewed as at baseline with a replacement procedure to implement when 10% of respondents in a slum are not located.

Data Already Collected?

No

Data Previously Used?

Data Access:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Treatment Assignment Data

Participation or Assignment Information:

Yes

Description:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Previously Used?

Data Access:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Data Analysis

Data Analysis Status:

Study Materials

Upload Study Materials:

Registration Category

Registration Category:

Prospective, Category 1: Data for measuring impacts have not been collected

Completion

Completion Overview

Intervention Completion Date:

Data Collection Completion Date:

Unit of Analysis:

Clusters in Final Sample:

Total Observations in Final Sample:

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Findings

Preliminary Report:

Preliminary Report URL:

Summary of Findings:

Paper:

Paper Summary:

Paper Citation:

Data Availability

Data Availability (Primary Data):

Date of Data Availability:

Data URL or Contact:

Access procedure:

Other Materials

Survey:

Survey Instrument Links or Contact:

Program Files:

Program Files Links or Contact:

External Link:

External Link Description:

Description of Changes:

Study Stopped

Date:

Reason: