In collaboration with The Institute for Security Studies (ISS), SAPPIN has spent over 18 months developing a novel family violence prevention programme for delivery in the workplace. The novelty is threefold:
We have recently successfully completed delivering the first, prototyping round of the new programme at the research site: a private, family-owned, agri-processing business.
The ISS and the Seven Passes Initiative (both members of the Violence Prevention Forum ) have partnered to facilitate and implement this programme in order to co-create/develop a sustainable model for scale up. The idea is for the programme to be handed over to a network of implementers, the SA Parenting Programme Implementers Network (SAPPIN) whereby this network of NGO’s become purveyors of the programme across South Africa.
The aim of the first prototyping round was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of delivering an intervention at a workplace, but also to figure out the logistics of such a delivery and how to best situate it in a busy production line. The prototype round was also an opportunity to upskill/train facilitators in the delivery of the programme, and to bring them along on the journey as co-creators of the content and of the implementation process.
Through this first round we have learned a lot about timing and frequency (dose), reach of the programme and about the actual session content. We are now undertaking a design research phase to adapt and refine the curriculum for another prototyping round. Using this iterative, design thinking approach we are able to design and test the programme simultaneously. This approach further ensures that we include the voices of recipients in the programme as well as implementers of the programme in the design of the content and the implementation of the programme. Hearing these voices is important as facilitators are often community members in the marginalised communities in which the NGO’s operate. They have expertise in the context and lived experiences and needs of community members.
The second prototyping round happened in October 2021. During this round we got feedback from participants on the programme immediately following each session as advised by experienced researchers in design research (The Prevention Collaborative).
The plan for the next year is to continue to adapt the programme based on feedback and to pilot it in October 2022. We foresee a process of implementation research to test how the programme is delivered and received in various settings and with various populations through the SAPPIN member organisations.
We are also working with an international collaboration, the Prevention Collaborative, to examine how to design optimal curriculum content that addresses the needs of both GBV and VAC programming in LMICs.
The new Family and Gender Based Violence Prevention Programme is a 12-week programme focusing in the first six sessions on the awareness of factors that might lead to family and intimate partner violence and in the last six sessions on skills to minimize violence against children. The sessions are interactive and participants are facilitated and encouraged to become aware and work on aspects to prevent violence. Each participant set goals and work actively toward achieving the goals.
Sessions focus on the following aspects:
Session 1 – Introduction and goal setting
Session 2 – Self-care
Session 3 – Communication
Session 4 – Conflict resolution
Session 5 – Gender norms and power
Session 6 – Violence in relationships
Session 7 – Spending special time
Session 8 – Praise and reward
Session 9 – Instructions, House rules and routines
Session 10 – Control difficult behaviour with your child
Session 11 – Reflection and the way forward
Session 12 – Celebration and certificate ceremony