Children
Child rights action with informed and engaged societies
Children

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 13 years ago
Last updated 3 years ago
Read so far

HIV/AIDS risk reduction and domestic violence prevention intervention for South African men

0 comments

Kalichman, S. C., L. C. Simbayi, et al. (2008). "HIV/AIDS risk reduction and domestic violence prevention intervention for South African men." International Journal of Men's Health 7(3): 255-273.

Objective: South Africa has among the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world, and HIV/AIDS is closely associated with adversarial attitudes toward women and with domestic violence. This article reports the development of a social-cognitive and social-constructionist, gender-based intervention for working with HIV/AIDS patients and preventing domestic violence (e.g., sexual violence).

Methods: Five 3-h group sessions were tailored to and targeted African men. They included elements of reframing gender relations and teaching skills to reduce HIV risk and change social norms. The intervention was also network-based. Group members were recruited by former group members using techniques derived from respondent-driven sampling and network-based HIV prevention efforts.

Results: A test of the intervention with 99 men living in a Cape Town township in 2004 and 2005 demonstrated its feasibility and provided evidence that it increased knowledge about AIDS, improved understanding of stigma associated with the illness, and led to behavioural changes in self-efficacy. The intervention shows promise for understanding the relationship between HIV/AIDS and domestic violence prevention among South African men.