The National Institutes of Health through its National Institute of Mental Health has awarded $177,147 to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation to reduce “intimate partner violence” among South African youth.
The grant proposes an intervention that will increase social support for girls; question male norms of superiority, sexual entitlement, and control of girls; reduce alcohol and drug use; and improve communication to reduce the use of violence in resolving relationship conflicts.
The project involves adapting a school-based program called Safe Dates, which has already been implemented in the United States and has been show to “significantly” reduce intimate partner violence among 8th and 9th grade students in the southeastern U.S.