This project is aimed at increasing women’s agency to consistently and safely use microbicides and mitigate intimate partner violence (IPV) through three specific aims:
- To identify improved approaches to measure and address the beneficial impacts and harmful social effects, particularly IPV, of microbicide use.
- To develop and pilot test the Community Health clinic model for Agency in Relationships and Safer Microbicide Adherence (CHARISMA) intervention, which has clinic and community-based components.
- To disseminate knowledge generated and promote uptake of promising practices for future microbicide and multipurpose prevention technology implementation projects.
Thus, in the next five years, as microbicides move from proof of concept to delivery, an important opportunity exists to intervene to minimise the harmful influences of male partners and harness their beneficial influences constructively, thereby serving to tip the balance of the continuum of male partner involvement in microbicide use toward the positive. In the proposed project, we aim to develop and test an intervention using new measurement tools and strategies, informed by our secondary analysis and new data from women participating in microbicide studies, to optimise male partner influence and preserve women’s agency to safely and consistently use microbicides.
