Sex, Power, and Adolescence: Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Behaviors

Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa experience some of the highest rates of intimate partner violence across the globe. This paper evaluates the impact of a randomized controlled trial that offers females a goal setting activity to improve their sexual and reproductive health outcomes and offers their male partners a soccer intervention, which educates and inspires young men to make better sexual and reproductive health choices. Both interventions reduce female reports of intimate partner violence, defined as behavior by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm. Impacts are larger among females who were already sexually active at baseline. The soccer intervention improves male attitudes around violence and risky sexual behaviors. Females in the goal setting arm take more control of their sexual and reproductive health by exiting violent relationships. Both mechanisms drive reductions in IPV.