Intervention and data collection
EVENTS, RECRUITMENT
SS/CF is a community-based intervention originally designed to reduce IPV (although it has components that target mental health). The Stepping Stones component is focused on gender transformation and consists of 10 three-hour sessions (30 hours total), administered by trained peer facilitators to single-sex groups of 14 to 20 people, which was conducted over a period of 6 to 8 weeks. It employed participatory learning methods, such as critical thinking and incorporated the participants’ daily lives into the exercises. Among other topics covered, they targeted at improving social connections, this being the context in which actions occur while engaging with others. Creating Futures is focused on economic empowerment that consists of 11 three-hour sessions (33 hours in total) administered to the same single-sex groups as Stepping Stones. Setting livelihood priorities, dealing with crises, investing and saving, finding and maintaining jobs and balancing work aspirations were among the topics discussed, as reported elsewhere (At the time of recruitment and informed consent, individuals were not blinded to the study arm. Despite the possibility of recruitment bias, participant welfare and project staff security were more at risk due to previous events of being promised support but not getting it and high levels of mistrust surrounding research, which are frequently found in marginalized communities.