Two Sides of Gender: Sex, Power, and Adolescence

Abstract: Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa have some of the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) across the globe. We evaluate the impact of a randomized controlled trial that offers females a goal-setting activity to improve their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes and offers their male partners a soccer intervention, which educates and inspires young men to make better SRH choices. Both interventions reduce female reports of IPV. Impacts are larger among females who were already sexually active at baseline. The soccer intervention reduces IPV by shifting male attitudes around violence and reducing sexual activity. The goal-setting intervention reduces IPV by females taking more control of their sexual and reproductive health. There is significantly higher partner churn and females end up with higher quality partners in this arm.