How parenting programmes can reduce violence against children and women
UNICEF, Prevention Collaborative and Equimundo launch three new evidence briefs
Parent and caregiver support programmes are in a unique position to reduce family violence — specifically, violent discipline by parents or caregivers and intimate partner violence (IPV), the most common forms of violence experienced by children and women, respectively. Both types of violence often co-occur and have long-term consequences for children’s and women’s health and well-being, as well as child development.
Emerging evidence demonstrates that parenting programmes can reduce both violence against children and violence against women simultaneously. Effective programmes often take a gender-transformative approach, working with women and men to challenge unequal gender norms and power dynamics and to build relationships and parenting skills that support more equitable, caring, and nonviolent family dynamics. Yet, few parenting programmes seek to reduce both types of violence – a missed opportunity.
This series was developed by UNICEF, Prevention Collaborative, and Equimundo to support parenting practitioners to integrate the prevention of violence against children and women and gender equality promotion within parenting programmes. The briefs distill the evidence on how these two types of violence intersect and what effective programmes look like. Concrete guidance is given for how to adapt parenting programmes to integrate violence prevention and gender equality and how to monitor and evaluate them.
We invite you to explore all four briefs in this series:
- Brief 1: Parenting programmes to reduce violence against children and women: Why it is important
- Brief 2: Parenting programmes to reduce violence against children and women: What gender-transformative programmes look like
- Brief 3: Parenting programmes to reduce violence against children and women: How to adapt programmes to address both types of violence
- Brief 4: Parenting programmes to reduce violence against children and women: How to measure change (forthcoming).
