In the first 12 months, students, teachers, parents, health workers and police officers in six
different schools communities will be involved in a formative study where the development of
intervention components are systematically addressed. During the next 12 months, a small
scale intervention involving only three schools will be carried out, in order to test the
feasibility of the intervention that has been developed during the first year of the study, and
further improve its delivery. There will be continuous exchange of information with the other
sites in order to also utilize experiences from the formative phases of their project. The
relevance of these experiences for the Cape Town intervention will be carefully examined.
During the third year of the study, a broad “best practice” intervention will be administered in
Cape Town and evaluated in 30 high schools using a cluster randomized controlled trial. One
main intervention will be administered during a period of not more than four months, with a
series of booster activities less than half a year later. The intervention will consist of
components developed and piloted during the first and second years of the study.
The specific aims for this study on intimate partner violence and HIV in Cape Town are to:
1. Conduct a formative study to investigate the factors contributing to and mitigating
violence and intimate partner violence and HIV risk behavior among adolescents;
2. Develop an intervention module aimed at reducing intimate partner violence, other
forms of violence and sexual risk behavior;
3. Assess the impact of the intervention on a range of behavioral and outcome variables
with respect to the main project aim, promoting healthy sexual practices.