None in Three Newsletter Issue #7

The aim of our work at None in Three is to facilitate meaningful change in attitudes towards gender-based violence (GBV) among young people. The main tools we use to bring about this change are our prosocial computer games. These are developed based on culturally relevant, country-specific research which aims to understand both the nature and the extent of specific forms of GBV within each of our study countries. Our country research teams have conducted face-to-face individual and group interviews with both survivors and perpetrators of GBV. The aim of this research is to gain a deeper, culturally contextualised understanding of the GBV issue, which then feeds into the design of our prosocial games.

However, having research driven game design is only one aspect of ensuring we create effective interventions to help change young people’s attitudes towards GBV. It is equally important that we undertake thorough testing of our games once developed, to ensure they achieve their desired aims. This means allowing the games to be played by their target audience of young people and gathering feedback on their effectiveness.

These game trials take place in schools with classroom-based support from our research teams. The global crisis of Covid-19, however, has presented significant obstacles to delivering these sessions within schools. These have included national restrictions, school policies and, of course, concern for our own researchers. This has necessitated some review of and adaptations to research methodology, to make trials practically achievable.

Having completed RCTs in Barbados and Grenada in our previous project, we have so far completed trials for the current GCRF-funded four country project in Uganda only, although we are about to embark on UK trials as this newsletter goes ‘to press’ (virtually!). More on this below.

In Uganda, our team were able to conduct trials in four schools in the Kampala and Wakiso district between April 26^th and May 21^st of this year. They conducted trials involving a total of 304 children aged 14-17 years, who were given a chance to play ‘Peace’, the Ugandan game, and to provide feedback on their experience.

We were delighted with the feedback we received from the young people who played the game:

“The game was enjoyable because the characters were real and it was easy to navigate.”

“The game was so interesting, so, so, so interesting because I have learnt that impregnating young girls is so bad, and the perpetrators should be arrested and imprisoned. This is because young girls can easily get sexually transmitted infections. I have learnt this while playing the game but also reflecting on what is happening in the society nowadays.”

 “I have learnt that both boys and girls have equal rights according to what they do, for example if it is going to school, they should all go together, to avoid early marriages.”

Analysis of trial data, gathered through surveys of young people both in the game playing and control groups in each school, before and after trials, is ongoing. We look forward to sharing in due course the results on the effectiveness of our Ni3 Uganda game in positively influencing young people’s attitudes.

For more detail on the development of Peace and on the games trials for Uganda, please see the recording below of a session delivered by Dr Esther Nanfuka, Research Fellow for None in Three Uganda, at our recent Play. Talk. Change. conference.