Community interventions to prevent violence against women and girls in informal settlements in Mumbai: the SNEHA-TARA trial
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN84502355 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN84502355 |
| Protocol serial number | CTRI/2018/02/012047, Wellcome 206417/Z/17/Z |
| Sponsor | UCL Institute for Global Health |
| Funder | Wellcome Trust |
- Submission date
- 19/02/2018
- Registration date
- 22/02/2018
- Last edited
- 18/11/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
One in three women in India have survived physical or sexual violence, making it a major public health burden. Reviews recommend community mobilisation to address violence, but evidence is limited. The aim of this study is to test the effects of community mobilisation through groups and individual volunteers on the prevalence of violence against women and girls in informal settlements in Mumbai.
Who can participate?
Residents of informal settlements in Mumbai
What does the study involve?
Participating areas are randomly allocated to the control group or the intervention group. Residents in control group areas receive unrestricted access to services provided by the implementing organisation: crisis intervention, counselling, police liaison, medical attention, mental health intervention, family interventions, and legal recourse. Residents in intervention group areas receive the same services as the control group, with the addition of community mobilisation activities with groups of women, men, and adolescents, and with individual women volunteers. A salaried community mobiliser convenes three women’s groups, one men’s group, and one mixed-sex adolescent group monthly, following manuals over three years. Community mobilisers and group members organise local campaigns and events. Group members who show leadership are trained and supported to undertake identification of survivors of violence, crisis intervention and preliminary counseling, referral, and collective community campaigns. These community mobilisation activities are assessed through a follow-up survey after three years. Prevalence of domestic physical or sexual violence, and prevalence of domestic emotional or economic violence, control or neglect, are both measured by survey interview at 3 years after the start of intervention, along with disclosure of violence to support services, community attitudes to violence, bystander intervention, gender equality, common mental disorders, and prevalence of non-partner sexual violence.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Benefits to participants in interviews include information on support services, confidential disclosure, and access to crisis counselling and support services, including medical care, police intervention, and legal support. Participants in community activities have access to the same services, and benefit from joining support groups of women and men. Minimised by confidentiality procedures and response protocols, a woman’s disclosure of violence may lead to family tensions and possible escalation, or denial of access to support services. There is a small possibility of resistance from community members. Protocols are in place for response to disclosure, crisis, and threat.
Where is the study run from?
1. UCL Institute for Global Health (UK)
2. SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) (India)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
July 2017 to March 2024
Who is funding the study?
Wellcome Trust (UK)
Who is the main contact?
1. Prof. David Osrin
d.osrin@ucl.ac.uk
2. Dr Nayreen Daruwalla
nayreen@snehamumbai.org
Contact information
Scientific
Institute for Global Health
30 Guilford Street
London
WC1N 1EH
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-9691-9684 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)2079052122 |
| d.osrin@ucl.ac.uk |
Scientific
SNEHA, Urban Health Centre
Room 310, 60 Feet Road, Dharavi
Mumbai
400017
India
| ORCID ID |
0000-0002-5716-1281 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +91 (0)224040045 |
| nayreen@snehamumbai.org |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Single-centre parallel-group phased analyst-masked cluster randomised controlled superiority trial |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Scientific title | Community interventions to prevent violence against women and girls in informal settlements in Mumbai: the SNEHA-TARA pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial |
| Study acronym | SNEHA-TARA |
| Study objectives | Over and above a package of crisis intervention, counselling, and support services, a community mobilisation intervention delivered in informal settlements for three years and involving groups and volunteers will reduce the reported prevalence of domestic physical or sexual violence, and of domestic emotional or economic violence, control or neglect. |
| Ethics approval(s) | 1. UCL Research Ethics Committee, 27/09/2017, ref: 3546/003 2. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action, and Research) Institutional Ethics Committee, 25/12/2017 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Violence against women and girls |
| Intervention | Computer pseudorandomised 1:1 allocation of 48 clusters blocked in 4 phases of 12 each. 24 areas receive support services, community group, and volunteer activities, and 24 areas receive support services only. Intervention: as control, with the addition of community mobilisation activities with groups of women, men, and adolescents, and with individual women volunteers. 1. In each cluster, a salaried community mobiliser will convene three women’s groups, one men’s group, and one mixed-sex adolescent group monthly, following manuals over three years. 2. Community mobilisers and group members will organise local campaigns and events. 3. Group members who show leadership will be trained and supported to undertake identification of survivors of violence, crisis intervention and preliminary counseling, referral, and collective community campaigns. Control: unrestricted access to services provided by the implementing organisation: crisis intervention, counselling, police liaison, medical attention, mental health intervention, family interventions, and legal recourse. These community mobilisation activities will be evaluated through a follow-up survey after three years. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
Measured by survey interview at 3 years after the start of intervention: |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
Measured by survey interview at 3 years after the start of intervention: |
| Completion date | 31/03/2024 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | All |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 65 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 9600 |
| Total final enrolment | 9600 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Any resident of an intervention cluster may participate in the intervention Survey 1 after 3 years of intervention: 200 women aged 18-49 in each of 48 clusters of 500 households will be asked about their health, wellbeing, common mental disorder, household decision-making, household power and control, neglect, experience of economic, emotional, physical, and sexual violence, disclosure and support (9600 participants) Survey 2 after 3 years of intervention: 100 women and men aged 18-65 in each of 48 clusters, in different households from respondents to Survey 1, will be asked about gender roles, gender equality, ambivalent sexism, violence in their locality, attitudes to and justifiability of violence against women, bystander intervention, and potential sources of support (4800 participants) |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Aged under 18 or over 65 2. Unwilling to give consent for interview |
| Date of first enrolment | 05/03/2018 |
| Date of final enrolment | 31/03/2024 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United Kingdom
- England
- India
Study participating centres
London
WC1N 1EH
England
Mumbai
400017
India
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in repository |
| IPD sharing plan | The data and software outputs the research will generate and/or re-use: 1. Datasets from cross-sectional surveys on domestic violence survivorship and associated community attitudes: pre-intervention, midpoint, and post-intervention. 2. Qualitative data collected during process evaluation: interviews with key informants and beneficiaries. 3. The metadata and documentation that will accompany the outputs 3.1. Data will be discoverable through MeSH terms and keywords applied to open access publications 3.2. Codebooks for datasets 3.3. Indices and descriptions of qualitative data Data will be available at the time of publication. Supporting data will be available on acceptance of each research paper, in sets that enable replication of published analyses. For example, unlinked data will accompany publications describing the prevalence of domestic violence from the pre-intervention survey. Where the data and software will be made available: Open Science Framework (OSF) How the data and software will be accessible to others: 1. Unlinked data will be available after being made public and registered in the Open Science Framework 2. Datasets will be discoverable through articles published with CC BY licences and DOIs Whether limits to data and software sharing are required: Participants will give written consent for sharing of unlinked data. No data will include identifiers of an individual or geographic nature. There will be no restrictions to access under CC BY licences. How datasets and software will be preserved: Data will be preserved for a minimum of 10 years, initially on Open Science Framework and subsequently with the UCL Research Data Storage Service (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/services/research-it/research-data-storage-service) |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | cross-sectional survey results | 16/12/2020 | 18/12/2020 | Yes | No |
| Results article | 18/11/2025 | Yes | No | ||
| Protocol article | 17/12/2019 | 19/12/2019 | Yes | No | |
| Statistical Analysis Plan | version 9 | 13/12/2022 | 04/01/2023 | No | No |
| Study website | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
Additional files
- 40394 TARA_SAP_v9 13Dec2022.pdf
- Statistical Analysis Plan
Editorial Notes
18/11/2025: Publication reference added.
12/12/2023: The following changes have been made:
1. The overall study end date was changed from 30/12/2023 to 31/03/2024.
2. The total final enrolment was added.
3. The recruitment end date was changed from 28/02/2023 to 31/03/2024.
16/06/2023: The following changes have been made and the plain English summary updated accordingly:
1. The overall end date was changed from 30/06/2023 to 31/12/2023.
2. The intention to publish date was changed from 31/12/2023 to 30/06/2024.
15/02/2023: The intention to publish date was changed from 31/12/2022 to 31/12/2023.
04/01/2023: The statistical analysis plan was uploaded as an additional file.
14/03/2022: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The overall end date was changed from 30/06/2022 to 30/06/2023.
2. The recruitment end date was changed from 04/03/2022 to 28/02/2023.
3. The trial website was added.
4. The plain English summary was updated to reflect these changes.
11/02/2021: Recruitment to this study is no longer paused. Publication and dissemination plan updated, IPD sharing statement added.
18/12/2020: Publication reference added.
23/04/2020: Due to current public health guidance, recruitment for this study has been paused.
19/12/2019: The following changes have been made:
1. Publication reference added.
2. Controlled Trials Registry of India number added from the reference
18/07/2019: Internal review.
