Long-Term Impacts of the Bandebereho Programme on Violence against Women and Children, Maternal Health Seeking, and Couple Relations in Rwanda: A Six-Year Follow-up of a Randomised Controlled Trial

Jean Paul TUYISINGIZE, RWAMREC
Emmanuel KARAMAGE, RWAMREC
Shamsi Kazimbaya, Equimundo
Doyle KATE, Equimundo

Programs engaging parents to improve couple relationships and parenting skills, with a focus on challenging gender norms, show promise in reducing violence against women and children. Despite limited evidence of long-term impact, Rwanda's Bandebereho program, targeting expectant and current parents of young children, demonstrated positive effects on intimate partner violence (IPV), child punishment, maternal health, and couple relations at 21 months. A recent six-year follow-up with 575 intervention and 624 control couples revealed sustained benefits. Compared to the control group: intervention reported less pat-year physical (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.34–0.60 p < 0.001), sexual (OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.37–0.67, p < 0.001), economic (OR = 0.47 95% CI 0.34–0.64, p < 0.001), and moderate or severe emotional (OR = 0.40 95% CI 0.29–0.56, p < 0.001) IPV. Intervention also reported less child physical punishment, fewer depressive symptoms, less harmful alcohol use, and improved maternal health-seeking, father engagement, and division of household labour and decision-making.