Assessing the impact of CHARM2, a family planning program on gender attitudes, intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion, and marital quality in India

Bibliographic Data

ID19593298
AuthorsSangeeta Chatterji (0000-0001-5836-514X, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author), Nicole E Johns (0000-0003-4513-4582, University of California San Diego, corresponding author), Mohan Ghule (0000-0003-3403-4156, University of California San Diego, corresponding author), Shahina Begum (0000-0001-5590-2210, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, corresponding author), Sarah Averbach (0000-0002-1924-7770, University of California San Diego, corresponding author), Madhusudana Battala (Population Council Institute, corresponding author), Anita Raj (0000-0002-8127-5123, Tulane University, corresponding author)
EditorsAdriana Andrea Ewurabena Biney
Year2024
Volume4
Issue5
Pagese0003220
Publication date2024-05-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePLOS Global Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2767-3375 • E-ISSN: 2767-3375
PublisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1371/journal.pgph.0003220
PMID38771823
OpenAlexW4398161671
LanguageEN
References cited31

Using a two-armed cluster randomised controlled trial, CHARM2 (Counselling Husbands to Achieve Reproductive health and Marital equity), a 5-session gender equity and family planning intervention for couples in rural India, showed an impact on family planning outcomes in primary trial analyses. This study examines its effects on gender-equitable attitudes, intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion, and marital quality. We used multilevel mixed-effects models to assess the intervention impact on each outcome. Both male (aIRR at 9 months: 0.64, C.I.: 0.45,0.90; aIRR at 18 months: 0.25, C.I.: 0.18,0.39) and female (aIRR at 9 months: 0.57, C.I.: 0.46,0.71; aIRR at 18 months: 0.38, C.I.: 0.23,0.61) intervention participants were less likely than corresponding control participants to endorse attitudes accepting physical IPV at 9- and 18-month follow-ups. Men in the intervention, compared to those in the control condition, reported more gender-equitable attitudes at 9- and 18 months (ß at 9 months: 0.13, C.I.: 0.06,0.20; ß at 18 months: 0.26, C.I.: 0.19,0.34) and higher marital quality at the 18-month follow-up (ß: 0.03, C.I.: 0.01,0.05). However, we found no effects on women’s experiences of IPV, reproductive coercion, or marital quality. CHARM2 shows promise in improving men’s and women’s attitudes towards gender equality and male perceptions of marital quality. Still, IPV and reproductive coercion reductions may require more intensive programming than that provided within this 5-session model focused on family planning

Domestic violence · Environmental health · Intimate partner · Poison control · Sexual coercion · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Global Maternal and Child Health · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology