Learners’ viewpoints on the possibilities and limitations imposed by social contexts on online group-based participatory interventions to address violence

ABSTRACT

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health concern amongst young people. Consequently, prevention efforts in the form of participatory interventions have been implemented, mainly in face-to-face settings. However, in recent years, there has been a growing interest to deliver participatory IPV prevention interventions online, and this has been exacerbated by COVID-19 imposed limitations. There remain concerns, however, about the impact social contexts may have on transformative communication in participatory interventions online. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 learners (14–19 years) from Eastern Cape province, South Africa, to understand the possibilities and limitations that social contexts impose on online participatory IPV prevention interventions. Access to devices, reliable internet, and privacy in homes provided opportunities for online IPV prevention interventions, while limited privacy, safety, concentration, and familiarity with some apps online challenged young people’s interest in online IPV prevention interventions. We also found that young people’s greatest concern was around achieving trust, privacy and safety online. More evidence is needed on how trust, privacy, and safety, supportive of transformative communication, can be achieved online. Further, young people are active and strategic in their engagements online and their potential to generate creative relevant solutions to address these challenges is highlighted.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• IPV
• participatory interventions
• prevention
• transformative communication

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to all the participants for sharing their data with us. JN designed and conducted the original study and wrote the protocol. JN developed the analysis plan for this paper. JN undertook the analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. AG and MN supervised the analysis. All authors reviewed the manuscript and provided critical insight into the paper. All authors have approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

JN was funded by Nelson Mandela University Post Graduate Research Scholarship and the South African National Research Foundation [grant number UID 113404]. AG is funded by the South African Medical Research Council.