Amber Peterman
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 3582952 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Amber Peterman |
| NOMBRES | Amber |
| APELLIDO | Peterman |
| FIRMA | PETERMAN A |
| AFILIACIONES | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3921-5936 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 50 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 450 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 49 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2009 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 11 |
C'est la vie
Edutainment is a promising tool for changing behavior at scale, yet little is known about how to maximize impacts. We undertake an experimental evaluation of a popular West African television series, C’est la vie!, delivered through film clubs targeted at adolescent girls and young women in rural Senegal. We examine impacts on violence against women and girls and sexual and reproductive health. Results show C’est la vie! improved knowledge on bot…
Ethical reporting of research on violence against women and children
Changes in research practice during the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates renewed attention to ethical protocols and reporting for data collection on sensitive topics. This review summarises the state of ethical reporting among studies collecting violence data during early stages of the pandemic. We systematically searched for journal publications from the start of the pandemic to November 2021, identifying 75 studies that collected primary data on …
Smart investment in global childcare requires local solutions and a coordinated research agenda
‘Joy, not sorrow’
Evidence indicates that cash transfers can decrease intimate partner violence (IPV) against women, although most research has focused on women's perspectives and experiences, with less attention to men. We analyzed data from four focus group discussions with male partners of women who participated in the Ghana Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 cash transfer program. We elicited men's perceptions of poverty, relationship dynamics,…
Unconditional cash transfers and safe transitions to adulthood in Malawi
As national social safety nets are expanding in Africa and globally, evidence on the impact of programs on youth transitions can help guide future investment and program design decisions. This paper examines the effects of Malawi’s flagship cash transfer program on safe transitions to adulthood among youth living in households experiencing ultra-poverty. The evaluation was a cluster-randomized control trial implemented over three years using pane…
C’est la vie
Edutainment shows promise in changing behavior at scale, yet little is known about how to maximize impacts. We undertake an experimental evaluation of a popular television series, C’est la vie!, delivered through film clubs in rural Senegal, on violence against women and girls, and sexual and reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. We find C’est la vie! improved knowledge three months after film clubs ended, as well as violence-r…
A community edutainment intervention for gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, and maternal and child health in rural Senegal
This study showed that using film clubs to deliver sensitive edutainment content in rural areas is feasible and has potential for scale-up
Poverty can break a home
A growing body of research in West Africa and globally shows that cash transfers can decrease intimate partner violence (IPV). The purpose of this study was to explore how the government of Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 program, an unconditional cash transfer plus health insurance premium waiver targeted at pregnant women and women with young children, influenced IPV experiences. Existing program theory hypothesizes t…
Government Antipoverty Programming and Intimate Partner Violence in Ghana
We examine whether a government cash transfer program paired with a health insurance premium waiver targeted to pregnant women and mothers of young children in Ghana reduced intimate partner violence (IPV). The evaluation took place in two northern regions and followed a 24-month longitudinal quasi-experimental design. Findings show significant decreases in the 12-month frequency of emotional, physical, and combined IPV (0.09–0.12 standard deviat…
The pitfalls of modelling the effects of Covid-19 on gender-based violence
Since early 2020, global stakeholders have highlighted the significant gendered consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, including increases in the risk of gender-based violence (GBV). Researchers have sought to inform the pandemic response through a diverse set of methodologies, including early efforts modelling anticipated increases in GBV. For example, in April 2020, a highly cited modelling effort by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) a…
Cross-disciplinary intersections between public health and economics in intimate partner violence research
Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has progressed in the last decade in the fields of public health and economics, with under-explored potential for cross-fertilisation. We examine the theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches that each discipline uses to conceptualise and study IPV and offer a perspective on their relative advantages. Public health takes a broad theoretical perspective anchored in the socio-ecological frame…
Measuring women’s decisionmaking
Women’s decisionmaking indicators are widely used in social science research, though insufficient attention is given to measurement issues. We interrogate variations in indicator construction using survey experiments undertaken in the context of transfer programs in Ecuador, Yemen, and Uganda. Findings show that small variations can lead to meaningful differences in how women are ranked on decisionmaking, as well as change conclusions on whether …
Covid-19
The ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of the acute respiratory distress syndrome COVID-19, is placing unprecedented stress on healthcare systems and societies as a whole. The rapid spread of the virus in the absence of targeted therapies or a vaccine, is forcing countries to respond with strong preventative measures ranging from mitigation to containment. In extreme cases, quarantines are being imposed, limiting mobility to …
Disclosure, reporting and help seeking among child survivors of violence
Across countries examined, help-seeking and receipt of formal services is low for children experiencing physical and/or sexual violence, with few consistent factors identified which facilitated help-seeking. Further understanding of help seeking, alongside improved data quality and availability will aid prevention responses, including the ability to assist child survivors in a timely manner
Equality in the Home and in the Community
Social Protection in Contexts of Fragility and Forced Displacement
Effective social protection is increasingly as essential to supporting affected populations in situations of protracted instability and displacement. Despite the growing use of social protection in these settings, there is comparatively little rigorous research on what works, for whom, and why. This special issue contributes by adding seven high-quality studies that raise substantially our understanding of the role of social protection in fragile…
Economic Transfers and Social Cohesion in a Refugee-Hosting Setting
There is increasing interest in understanding if social protection can foster social cohesion, particularly between refugees and host communities. Using a cluster randomised control trial, this study examines if a short-term transfer programme targeted to Colombian refugees and poor Ecuadorians in urban and peri-urban areas of northern Ecuador led to changes in social cohesion measures. The overall results suggest that the programme contributed t…
Violence against children in Latin America and the Caribbean
Past-year physical and emotional violence by caregivers and students is widespread in LAC across all ages in childhood, as is IPV against girls aged 15 - 19 years. Data collection must be expanded in LAC to monitor progress towards the sustainable development goals, develop effective prevention and response strategies, and shed light on violence relating to organized crime/gangs
Aligning evidence generation and use across health, development, and environment
Although health, development, and environment challenges are interconnected, evidence remains fractured across sectors due to methodological and conceptual differences in research and practice. Aligned methods are needed to support Sustainable Development Goal advances and similar agendas. The Bridge Collaborative, an emergent research-practice collaboration, presents principles and recommendations that help harmonize methods for evidence generat…
Exploring Impacts of Community-Based Legal Aid on Intrahousehold Gender Relations in Tanzania
Community-based legal aid (CBLA) has been promoted as a promising intervention to reach rural marginalized populations who face barriers to accessing formal legal services and is increasingly implemented with the specific goal of protecting women's rights. This study evaluates the impact of a twelve-month CBLA program in northwestern Tanzania on intrahousehold gender relations using a clustered-randomized control trial across 139 villages. Among …
Government of Malawi's unconditional cash transfer improves youth mental health
We explore the impacts of Malawi's national unconditional cash transfer program targeting ultra-poor households on youth mental health. Experimental findings show that the program significantly improved mental health outcomes. Among girls in particular, the program reduces indications of depression by about 15 percentage points. We investigate the contribution of different possible pathways to the overall program impact, including education, heal…
A Mixed-Method Review of Cash Transfers and Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
There is increasing evidence that cash transfer (CT) programs decrease intimate partner violence (IPV). However, little is known about how CTs achieve this impact. We conducted a mixed-method review of studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Fourteen quantitative and eight qualitative studies met our inclusion criteria, of which eleven and five, respectively, demonstrated evidence that CTs decrease IPV. We found little support for in…
Who perpetrates violence against children? A systematic analysis of age-specific and sex-specific data
OBJECTIVE: The epidemiology of violence against children is likely to differ substantially by sex and age of the victim and the perpetrator. Thus far, investment in effective prevention strategies has been hindered by lack of clarity in the burden of childhood violence across these dimensions. We produced the first age-specific and sex-specific prevalence estimates by perpetrator type for physical, sexual and emotional violence against children g…
Does money buy happiness? Evidence from an unconditional cash transfer in Zambia
The relationship between happiness and income has been at the center of a vibrant debate, with both intrinsic and instrumental importance, as emotional states are an important determinant of health and social behavior. We investigate whether a government-run unconditional cash transfer paid directly to women in poor households had an impact on self-reported happiness. The evaluation was designed as a cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Z…
An empirical exploration of female child marriage determinants in Indonesia
This research fills a gap in understanding of child marriage determinants in Indonesia. There appears to be little support for child marriage among girls and young women, indicating an entry point for structural interventions that would lead to lasting change. Future research efforts should prioritize rigorous testing of gender-transformative education and economic strengthening interventions, including cost-effectiveness considerations to better…
The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index
Cash, food, or vouchers? Evidence from a randomized experiment in northern Ecuador
The debate over whether to provide food-assistance and the form that this assistance should take has a long history in economics. Despite the ongoing debate, little rigorous evidence exists that compares food-assistance in the form of cash versus in-kind. This paper uses a randomized evaluation to assess the impacts and cost-effectiveness of cash, food vouchers, and food transfers. We find that all three modalities significantly improve the quant…
Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Objectives. We sought to provide data-based estimates of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and describe risk factors for such violence. Methods. We used nationally representative household survey data from 3436 women selected to answer the domestic violence module who took part in the 2007 DRC Demographic and Health Survey along with population estimates to estimate levels of sexual violence. We used multivariate logistic …
Context and measurement
Using data from two culturally distinct locales, Bangladesh and Ghana, we investigate whether men and women who report sole decision making in a particular domain experience stronger (or weaker) feelings of autonomous motivation—measured using the Relative Autonomy Index (RAI)—compared to those who report joint decision making. Used primarily in psychology, the RAI measures the extent to which an individual’s actions are intrinsically or extrinsi…
Cash for Women’s Empowerment? A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Government of Zambia’s Child Grant Program
The empowerment of women, broadly defined, is an often-cited objective and benefit of social cash transfer programs in developing countries. Despite the promise and potential of cash transfers to empower women, the evidence supporting this outcome is mixed. In addition, there is little evidence from programs at scale in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of the Government of Zambia's Child Grant Program, a poverty-targete…
Can Government-Allocated Land Contribute to Food Security? Intrahousehold Analysis of West Bengal’s Microplot Allocation Program
Opening Up Pandora’s Box
Are Female Orphans at Risk for Early Marriage, Early Sexual Debut, and Teen Pregnancy? Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa
Female orphans are widely cited as being at risk for early marriage, early childbearing, and risky sexual behavior; however, to date no studies have examined these linkages using population‐level data across multiple countries. This study draws from recent Demographic and Health Surveys from ten sub‐Saharan African countries to examine the relationship between orphanhood status and measures of early marriage, early sexual debut, and teen pregnanc…
Impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on early pregnancy and marriage of adolescent girls
Measuring women’s decisionmaking
Women’s decisionmaking indicators are widely used in social science research, though insufficient attention is given to measurement issues. We interrogate variations in indicator construction using survey experiments undertaken in the context of transfer programs in Ecuador, Yemen, and Uganda. Findings show that small variations can lead to meaningful differences in how women are ranked on decisionmaking, as well as change conclusions on whether …
Government of Malawi's unconditional cash transfer improves youth mental health
We explore the impacts of Malawi's national unconditional cash transfer program targeting ultra-poor households on youth mental health. Experimental findings show that the program significantly improved mental health outcomes. Among girls in particular, the program reduces indications of depression by about 15 percentage points. We investigate the contribution of different possible pathways to the overall program impact, including education, heal…
Resettlement and Gender Dimensions of Land Rights in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda
Women’s Individual Asset Ownership and Experience of Intimate Partner Violence
Objectives. To assess the oft-perceived protective relationship between women’s asset ownership and experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the previous 12 months. Methods. We used international survey data from women aged 15 to 49 years from 28 Demographic and Health Surveys (2010–2014) to examine the association between owning assets and experience of recent IPV, matching on household wealth by using multivariate probit models. Matchin…
Poverty can break a home
A growing body of research in West Africa and globally shows that cash transfers can decrease intimate partner violence (IPV). The purpose of this study was to explore how the government of Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 program, an unconditional cash transfer plus health insurance premium waiver targeted at pregnant women and women with young children, influenced IPV experiences. Existing program theory hypothesizes t…
Cash Transfers, Early Marriage, and Fertility in Malawi and Zambia
There is increasing interest in the ability of cash transfers to facilitate safe transitions to adulthood in low‐income settings; however, evidence from scaled‐up government programming demonstrating this potential is scarce. Using two experimental evaluations of unconditional cash transfers targeted to ultra‐poor and labor‐constrained households over approximately three years in Malawi and Zambia, we examine whether cash transfers delayed early …
Unconditional cash transfers and safe transitions to adulthood in Malawi
As national social safety nets are expanding in Africa and globally, evidence on the impact of programs on youth transitions can help guide future investment and program design decisions. This paper examines the effects of Malawi’s flagship cash transfer program on safe transitions to adulthood among youth living in households experiencing ultra-poverty. The evaluation was a cluster-randomized control trial implemented over three years using pane…
Unconditional government social cash transfer in Africa does not increase fertility
Government Antipoverty Programming and Intimate Partner Violence in Ghana
We examine whether a government cash transfer program paired with a health insurance premium waiver targeted to pregnant women and mothers of young children in Ghana reduced intimate partner violence (IPV). The evaluation took place in two northern regions and followed a 24-month longitudinal quasi-experimental design. Findings show significant decreases in the 12-month frequency of emotional, physical, and combined IPV (0.09–0.12 standard deviat…
Equality in the Home and in the Community
Exploring Impacts of Community-Based Legal Aid on Intrahousehold Gender Relations in Tanzania
Community-based legal aid (CBLA) has been promoted as a promising intervention to reach rural marginalized populations who face barriers to accessing formal legal services and is increasingly implemented with the specific goal of protecting women's rights. This study evaluates the impact of a twelve-month CBLA program in northwestern Tanzania on intrahousehold gender relations using a clustered-randomized control trial across 139 villages. Among …
Managing the Double Burden
Labor‐intensive work is often a way of life for women living in rural areas of developing countries. The physical exertion involved in such work may result in poor health outcomes for mothers and infants when continued through pregnancy. Using longitudinal data from China, Mexico, and Tanzania, we examine the relationship between pregnancy and four time‐use outcomes, measured as hours spent in the past week on: (1) housework, (2) caregiving, (3) …
Incontinence and trauma
Opening Up Pandora’s Box
Are Female Orphans at Risk for Early Marriage, Early Sexual Debut, and Teen Pregnancy? Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa
Female orphans are widely cited as being at risk for early marriage, early childbearing, and risky sexual behavior; however, to date no studies have examined these linkages using population‐level data across multiple countries. This study draws from recent Demographic and Health Surveys from ten sub‐Saharan African countries to examine the relationship between orphanhood status and measures of early marriage, early sexual debut, and teen pregnanc…
Incontinence and trauma
Understanding the Complexities Surrounding Gender Differences in Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria and Uganda
We investigate gender differences in agricultural productivity in Nigeria and Uganda. Results indicate persistent lower productivity on female-owned plots and among female-headed households, accounting for a range of socio-economic variables, agricultural inputs and crop choices using multivariate tobit models. Results are robust to inclusion of household-level unobservables and alternative specifications that account for decisions to plant crops…
Women's Property Rights and Gendered Policies
This paper evaluates effects of community-level women's property and inheritance rights on women's economic outcomes using a 13 year longitudinal panel from rural Tanzania. In the preferred model specification, inverse probability weighting is applied to a woman-level fixed effects model to control for individual-level time invariant heterogeneity and attrition. Results indicate that changes in women's property and inheritance rights are signific…
Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Objectives. We sought to provide data-based estimates of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and describe risk factors for such violence. Methods. We used nationally representative household survey data from 3436 women selected to answer the domestic violence module who took part in the 2007 DRC Demographic and Health Survey along with population estimates to estimate levels of sexual violence. We used multivariate logistic …
Peterman et al. Respond
Peterman et al. Respond
We thank Linos and Kawachi for drawing attention to the importance of community-level and other contextual factors in predicting violence against women. The variation by province in our study results do suggest upstream social determinants of violence,1 including but not limited to exposure to conflict, level of economic development, and access to services. Unfortunately, the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data did not collect cluster-level …
The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index
Cash, food, or vouchers? Evidence from a randomized experiment in northern Ecuador
The debate over whether to provide food-assistance and the form that this assistance should take has a long history in economics. Despite the ongoing debate, little rigorous evidence exists that compares food-assistance in the form of cash versus in-kind. This paper uses a randomized evaluation to assess the impacts and cost-effectiveness of cash, food vouchers, and food transfers. We find that all three modalities significantly improve the quant…
Managing the Double Burden
Labor‐intensive work is often a way of life for women living in rural areas of developing countries. The physical exertion involved in such work may result in poor health outcomes for mothers and infants when continued through pregnancy. Using longitudinal data from China, Mexico, and Tanzania, we examine the relationship between pregnancy and four time‐use outcomes, measured as hours spent in the past week on: (1) housework, (2) caregiving, (3) …
Gender in Agriculture
Tip of the Iceberg
Gender-based violence (GBV) is widespread globally and has myriad adverse health effects but is vastly underreported. Few studies address the extent of reporting bias in existing estimates. We provide bounds for underestimation of reporting of GBV to formal and informal sources conditional on having experienced GBV and characterize differences between women who report and those who do not. We analyzed Demographic and Health Survey data from 284,2…
Resettlement and Gender Dimensions of Land Rights in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda
Can Government-Allocated Land Contribute to Food Security? Intrahousehold Analysis of West Bengal’s Microplot Allocation Program
Gender inequalities in ownership and control of land in Africa
Lack of clarity behind measurement and interpretation of statistics on gender and land leads to an inability to clearly articulate a policy response to the potential inequalities faced by women and men. This article sets out to explore, conceptually and empirically, the levels and relative inequalities in land rights between women and men in African countries. The first section of the article engages in a conceptual discussion of how to measure g…
Impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on early pregnancy and marriage of adolescent girls
The Effect of Cash, Vouchers, and Food Transfers on Intimate Partner Violence
Using a randomized experiment in Ecuador, this study provides evidence on whether cash, vouchers, and food transfers targeted to women and intended to reduce poverty and food insecurity also affected intimate partner violence. Results indicate that transfers reduce controlling behaviors and physical and/or sexual violence by 6 to 7 percentage points. Impacts do not vary by transfer modality, which provides evidence that transfers not only have th…
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02526147 . Registered 24 August 2015
Unconditional government social cash transfer in Africa does not increase fertility
Understanding the linkages between social safety nets and childhood violence
As many as one billion children experience violence every year, and household- and community-level poverty are among the risk factors for child protection violations. Social safety nets (SSNs) are a main policy tool to address poverty and vulnerability, and there is substantial evidence demonstrating positive effects on children's health and human capital. This paper reviews evidence and develops a framework to understand linkages between non-con…
Cash for Women’s Empowerment? A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Government of Zambia’s Child Grant Program
The empowerment of women, broadly defined, is an often-cited objective and benefit of social cash transfer programs in developing countries. Despite the promise and potential of cash transfers to empower women, the evidence supporting this outcome is mixed. In addition, there is little evidence from programs at scale in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of the Government of Zambia's Child Grant Program, a poverty-targete…
Women’s Individual Asset Ownership and Experience of Intimate Partner Violence
Objectives. To assess the oft-perceived protective relationship between women’s asset ownership and experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the previous 12 months. Methods. We used international survey data from women aged 15 to 49 years from 28 Demographic and Health Surveys (2010–2014) to examine the association between owning assets and experience of recent IPV, matching on household wealth by using multivariate probit models. Matchin…
A Mixed-Method Review of Cash Transfers and Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
There is increasing evidence that cash transfer (CT) programs decrease intimate partner violence (IPV). However, little is known about how CTs achieve this impact. We conducted a mixed-method review of studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Fourteen quantitative and eight qualitative studies met our inclusion criteria, of which eleven and five, respectively, demonstrated evidence that CTs decrease IPV. We found little support for in…
Who perpetrates violence against children? A systematic analysis of age-specific and sex-specific data
OBJECTIVE: The epidemiology of violence against children is likely to differ substantially by sex and age of the victim and the perpetrator. Thus far, investment in effective prevention strategies has been hindered by lack of clarity in the burden of childhood violence across these dimensions. We produced the first age-specific and sex-specific prevalence estimates by perpetrator type for physical, sexual and emotional violence against children g…
Economics (36 obras) · Medicine (31 obras) · Environmental health (25 obras) · Economic growth (24 obras) · Political science (22 obras) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (22 obras) · Psychology (21 obras) · Sociology (20 obras) · Intimate Partner and Family Violence (18 obras) · Poison control (17 obras)