Gender-based violence: A qualitative exploration of norms, experiences and positive deviance

The Population Council confronts critical health and development issues—from stopping the spread of HIV to improving reproductive health and ensuring that young people lead full and productive lives. Through biomedical, social science, and public health research in 50 countries, we work with our partners to deliver solutions that lead to more effective policies, programmes, and technologies that improve lives around the world. Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York, the Council is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organisation governed by an international board of trustees. The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), India is a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) with the mission to mobilize women and girls to achieve gender equality. Since 1987, CEDPA in India has been working to improve the lives of girls and women in the country through technical assistance, community-based reproductive and child health programmes and innovative youth programmes. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice. UK aid is currently supporting a Research and Evaluation Partnership, comprising the Population Council, CEPDA India and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, to develop and evaluate state-of–the-art interventions for the prevention of violence against women and girls and supporting women in distress in Bihar. The study described in this report was conducted by the Population Council during the inception phase of the programme to inform the selection and design of the interventions. The study has been funded by UK aid from the UK Government; however the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK Government's official policies.