SOAS Research Online

Abstract

A common reference for the scholarship that looks at faith-based interventions involving clergy is the understanding that religious personnel, the discourses they use and their responses to communities can both contribute to the continuation of the problem of domestic violence and serve as a positive influence in efforts to address the problem. While the literature on domestic violence interventions involving clergy is extensive, crossing the disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology and the sectors of public health and international development, the evidence on evaluation and assessment methods is visibly limited. A systematic review of the evidence identified 12 relevant papers that discussed domestic violence interventions involving clergy across the world, some of which assessed effectiveness and/or impact. Most assessments of such programmes were qualitative, and there was a visible dearth of studies that managed to evaluate programme effectiveness using quantitative methodologies. The presentation will discuss some of the most relevant evidence on faith-based interventions to problematise and explore standards of effectiveness when programmes are designed and delivered in diverse cultural and religious contexts. The second part of the presentation will turn to look at the assessment approach followed by project dldl/ድልድል to assess the impact of a series of domestic violence workshops delivered with clergy in Ethiopia combining approaches used in the NGO sector with research rigorous methodologies and objectives.