Empowering women facing gender-based violence amid COVID-19 through media campaigns

COVID-19 heightened women’s exposure to gender-based and intimate partner violence, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. This study, conducted by Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab affiliates Fotini Christia and Horacio Larreguy tested whether edutainment interventions shown to successfully combat gender-based and intimate partner violence when delivered in person can be effectively delivered using social (WhatsApp and Facebook) and traditional (TV) media. WhatsApp was found to be more effective in delivering the intervention than Facebook but no credible evidence of differences across outcomes between social media and TV dissemination. The findings show little credible evidence that these campaigns affected women’s attitudes towards gender or marital equality or on the justifiability of violence. However, the campaign did increase women’s knowledge, hypothetical use and reported use of available resources.