Still a leap of faith: Microfinance for prevention of violence against women and girls in low- and middle-income settings

Abstract

Economic strengthening interventions, including microfinance initiatives have been proposed as promising strategies to reduce interpersonal violence in low-income and middle-income settings. Despite these recommendations, there is little rigorous empirical evidence that microfinance alone or synergistically with gender norms or equity training can reduce violence against children or intimate partner violence.

We call for further investments in evidence generation around economic strengthening before scaling-up potentially ineffective interventions