Evaluating the Psychological and Social Impact by Promoting Positive Masculinity Through the ‘Living Peace’ Program in DRC

Principal Investigator: Stefan Jansen, University of Rwanda

Purpose

The Living Peace intervention (LPint) in Eastern DRC works with men who are perceived as violent by their communities. Through a programme of 16 sessions, the men work around the concept of Positive Masculinity to reduce Gender Based Violence (GBV).

The primary aim of the proposed research is to measure the psychological and social impact of LPint. The project will look at GBV reduction and its consequences for the targeted men, their wives/partners, their children and their communities. A secondary aim assesses whether this change in behaviour (i.e. reduced GBV) is mediated or moderated by a reduction in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other psychopathological conditions.

Expected Outcomes

Through a Randomised Controlled Trial, the study will obtain hard empirical evidence on the impact of the Living Peace intervention (LPint) on reducing men's Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and its consequences in the context of a protracted violent humanitarian crisis as is happening in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The project will evaluate the impact on the men themselves, their families and the communities in which they live. This will allow an understanding of whether change in men's SGBV due to Living Peace intervention (LPint) is moderated or mediated by a reduction in symptoms of mental health conditions (i.e., PTSD, Depression, Alcohol abuse).