Co-Authors:
Hannah Currie, Zoe Kusinitz

Advisor:
Dr. Beth Virnig

Educational Objectives:
Describe and evaluate the current domestic violence program implemented at the Jan Seva community centre to better adjust and adapt program outcomes with goals of reducing domestic violence incidence and enforcing self-empowerment and community support among the Jan Seva community members.

Keywords:
Domestic violence, Low resource

Abstract

The prevalence of reported domestic violence cases in West Bengal, India is 40.3% and is the 8th highest prevalence in states of India. The Jan Seva community centre located in Kolkata, India has implemented a domestic violence program since 2018 for mothers of the children enrolled at their school. Current programming includes in-home visits for domestic violence assessments, in-depth counseling, and a Swa-Shakti self-defense workshop. During an Applied Practice to the school in 2020, an assessment of the current program was completed, and logic model was created to evaluate for measurable short, medium, and long-term outcomes of the program. The program goals are to reduce the incidence of domestic violence among Jan Seva community mothers through evidence-based intervention for self-empowerment and defense through community support, collaboration, and connectedness. In 2019, 9 domestic violence cases were identified with an overall self-reported prevalence of 4% out of the total households enrolled at Jan Seva. An overview of current surveys used for surveillance, overview of domestic violence assessments and compliance with use, and participation in the Swa-Shakti self-defense workshop emphasized the need to further use evidence-based research to implement the most effective and safe programming to address domestic violence in a predominantly patriarchal community.

Support

School of Public Health / Pathways to Children