Strengthening Gender-Based Violence Prevention through Participatory Co-Creation with Religious and Traditional Leaders

 Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a pervasive public health, human rights, and social development challenge in Nigeria, with nearly 30% of women aged 15–49 having experienced physical or sexual violence. Addressing GBV requires prevention strategies that move beyond awareness to challenge the social and cultural norms that sustain it. This project applied Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) and Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations Theory to engage Religious and Traditional Leaders (RTLs) in co-designing culturally grounded GBV prevention strategies. Through a two-stage intervention, RTLs received capacity building on gender, GBV dynamics, healthy masculinity, and legal frameworks, followed by participatory workshops using problem and success trees and the APEASE framework to co-design preventive strategies, prioritizing dialogues with men and boys and sensitization through faith platforms.

Results show strong acceptability of the interventions, largely due to the credibility of RTLs. Their involvement reduced resistance and fostered recognition that GBV laws and human rights principles align with shared cultural and religious values. Participatory processes enabled open dialogue on patriarchal norms and peer-to-peer learning. Early outcomes include shifts in attitudes and perspectives among dialogue participants and, with many voluntarily committing as GBV champions, evidence of readiness for normative change.

Implications for the field highlight that locally led, culturally anchored GBV prevention approaches outperform traditional, top-down awareness models. Community dialogues with men and boys proved transformative, promoting introspection, accountability, and sustainable behaviour change. Embedding SBCC within trusted RTLs offers a scalable, community-owned model for long-term GBV prevention.