Pilot Study of the Ntombi Vimbela Sexual Violence Intervention Among Female Tertiary Students in South Africa
Pilot Study of the Ntombi Vimbela Sexual Violence Intervention Among Female Tertiary Students in South Africa
The pilot study aims to test the acceptability of content, feasibility of delivery methods
 and preliminary assessment of outcomes from the implementation of the Ntombi Vimbela
 intervention with volunteer groups of female first year students at eight South African
 higher education campuses. Data to inform the different objectives will be collected from
 participants at different time points. A baseline questionnaire was administered at the
 beginning of the Ntombi Vimbela workshops. Qualitative data to provide evidence about the
 workshop content and relevance was collected using participant end of workshop evaluation
 forms and end of intervention delivery focus group discussions.Feasibility data was collected
 through research team observations, facilitator debriefings and end of intervention delivery
 workshop One year post-implementation data which provides evidence of preliminary impact has
 commenced which includes a survey and in-depth interviews with participants.
Facilitator recruitment and training: The intervention piloting will be conducted in eight
 selected campuses. In each campus, three facilitators will be recruited through a process
 involving advertisements, applications, screening and interview. This makes a total of nine
 facilitators. The criteria for facilitators will be full time female students, between the
 ages of 25 and 30 years of age, enrolled at the institution for at least one year.
 Facilitators will be trained by the lead researchers to recruit participants and run
 intervention with groups of participants. The facilitator training will be conducted by the
 lead researchers over a duration of seven days. The training will cover the intervention
 content, participatory delivery protocol, group facilitation techniques, dynamics of
 co-facilitation and problem-solving techniques.

 Project marketing and participant recruitment: First posters about the study will be put up
 in lecture rooms, residences and central meeting points at selected campuses. Posters will
 have information which will include the study aims, participation criteria and contact
 details of the project managers. Facilitators will also approach students, share the study
 information and invite them to participate. The Student Support managers will also assist in
 publicising the project as they conduct their normal duties. In each institution, 20 students
 will be recruited to participate in the intervention. To be eligible to participate, a
 student has to be female, aged 18-30 years and a full-time student at the college. At the
 final stage of recruitment, participants will receive the written project information leaflet
 and will be required to give written consent prior to participation. Participants will also
 be required to provide their contact details which will be used to communicate project
 activities.

 Participant assessments and feedback: Prior to participating in the programme, participants
 will be required to complete a short baseline questionnaire that includes measures of their
 background data, gender attitudes, perceptions of sexual violence, violence exposures,
 knowledge or use of campus support services or other forms of support (informal and formal).
 The same tool used at baseline will be used at 1 year post-implementation of workshops to
 assess any changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. In compliance to the COVID-19
 regulations the researchers will contact participants and invite them to participate
 remotely. A survey link will be sent to them which they will use to complete the
 questionnaire. For the qualitative follow up component, researchers will systemically sample
 half of the participants at each site and invite them to participate in telephonic in-depth
 interviews. On agreed days and times, researchers will conduct the telephonic interview using
 a structured guide. All interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and
 translated into English in preparation for analysis. The assessments are solely for the
 purpose of assessing the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention and impact
 evaluation.

 Facilitator support, debriefing and feedback: During the implementation of the programme,
 facilitators will be expected to fill attendance records, collect filled participant
 evaluation forms and compile session reports. Attendance record will allow us to ascertain
 whether workshop attendance gets sustained throughout the four sessions. Facilitators will
 use session reports to document challenges encountered and how those were resolved; which
 exercises worked well and which did not; what do they think could be done to make the
 exercises work better. Each facilitator will be expected to attend a weekly two-hour face to
 face debriefing and planning meeting chaired by the lead researchers. The debriefing sessions
 will be used to engage with the participant evaluations and as a means of getting facilitator
 feedback relating to intervention delivery. Facilitators will also be expected to request the
 inputs of the project manager when dealing with any challenges in implementation. In closing
 the implementation, in-depth one-on-one interviews will be conducted with facilitators on
 their experiences of delivering the intervention, reflecting on similar issues as are
 observed for participants. A focus group discussion will also be conducted with all
 facilitators to allow them to discuss in detail amongst themselves the challenges, successes
 and suggest improvements to the intervention.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Female students,

 -  Ages 18-30 years

 -  First year students

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Female students Ages 31+

 -  Post graduate students

 -  Students enrolled for at institution for more than 1 year