Impact of the RHANI Wives intervention on marital conflict and sexual coercion

Objective To assess the effects of the RHANI (Reducing HIV among Non‐Infected) Wives intervention on marital conflict and intimate partner violence (IPV) in urban India. Methods A 2‐armed cluster‐randomized controlled trial (7 intervention, 6 control clusters) of the RHANI Wives intervention was conducted with 220 women contending with a history of IPV and/or husband's drunken behavior. Participants were surveyed at baseline and 4.5‐month follow‐up. Outcome measures included marital conflict (arguments with husband in past 3 months), marital IPV (physical or sexual violence from husband in past 3 months), and marital sexual coercion (husband forcing sex at last sex). Intention‐to‐treat logistic generalized linear mixed models were used to determine intervention impact. Results One‐third (35.0%) of participants reported physical or sexual abuse from their husband in the past 3 months, and 58.6% reported that their husband was drunk in the past 30 days. Intention‐to‐treat analyses indicated time × treatment reductions in marital conflict (risk ratio [RR] 0.4; 90% confidence interval [CI], 0.1–0.9; P = 0.06) and marital sexual coercion (RR 0.2; 90% CI, 0.05–0.9; P = 0.08), but not IPV. Conclusion The findings suggest the potential utility of this intervention in reducing marital conflict and sexual coercion among women in urban India. ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT01592994 .