Webinar

VIOLENCE ACROSS GENERATIONS: What we know and where do we go?

In partnership with SVRI, this special webinar will share and discuss the research findings on the intergenerational continuity of violence from a longitudinal, multi-generational, mixed methods study.

Through this webinar, the Interrupt_Violence project team will share emerging research findings on forms of violence and their intergenerational transmission, social determinants at individual- and family-levels and consequences, help seeking for survivors of violence, and possible areas of family-level intervention such as parenting.

Across organizations and roles, we will collectively brainstorm next steps for action to address risk factors and amplify the positive potential of protective factors for violence:

Interpersonal violence is a global health problem and second-leading cause of lost healthy life-years in South Africa. Interpersonal violence includes abuse of children by caregivers and other adult authority figures, peer violence and bullying in childhood and adolescence, intimate partner violence in adolescence and adulthood, and forms of violence such as sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, armed robbery and physical assault within a community across the life course. Twenty-four percent of women in the country experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, and nearly 70% of children experience violence before age 18.

The understanding of prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of interpersonal violence have grown substantially in the past two decades to affirm and at times challenge our assumptions of causes and solutions for violence. For example, while it is commonly believed that exposure to violence in childhood leads to later perpetration and victimization of violence, most children who experience violence may not use violence later in life, and financial and policy-focused social protection mechanisms may have a combination of positive and unintended negative consequences on experiences of violence. Thus, identifying the mechanisms and interrupters of violence transmission may illuminate pathways for developing or adapting solutions.

To understand the prevalence, mechanisms, and interrupters of intergenerational transmission of violence within communities and families, the Interrupt_Violence team conducted a ten-year follow-up study of previously interviewed adolescents in Mpumalanga, South Africa, alongside their children aged 6-17 and former caregivers. The study also convened advisory groups of adolescents and adults to seek local and youth perspectives on priority issues to address within the province. Effectively addressing interpersonal violence against adults and children and its root causes at scale in South Africa requires collaboration and partnership across a range of organizations and sectors and investment at national and local levels.

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Listen to the Webinar Recording

Webinar Date:

September 17, 2025

Region:

Africa, Global

Topics:

Intergenerational Violence

Parenting

Intergenerational violence cycling

Breaking patterns of violence

Resource Downloads

Violence Across Generations Webinar Presentation Slides

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External Resources

Reference 1: Norman R, Schneider M, Bradshaw D, Jewkes R, Abrahams N, Matzopoulos R, Vos T. Interpersonal violence: an important risk factor for disease and injury in South Africa. Population Health Metrics. 2010;8(1):32.

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Reference 2: Sardinha L, Maheu-Giroux M, Stöckl H, Meyer SR, García-Moreno C. Global, regional, and national prevalence estimates of physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence against women in 2018. The Lancet. 2022;399(10327):803-13.

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Reference 3: Meinck F, Cluver LD, Boyes ME, Loening-Voysey H. Physical, emotional and sexual adolescent abuse victimisation in South Africa: prevalence, incidence, perpetrators and locations. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2016;70(9):910.

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Reference 4: Widom CS, Wilson HW. Intergenerational Transmission of Violence. In: Lindert J, Levav I, editors. Violence and Mental Health: Its Manifold Faces. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2015. p. 27-45.

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Reference 5: Oliver JE. Intergenerational transmission of child abuse: rates, research, and clinical implications. Am J Psychiatry. 1993;150(9):1315-24.

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Reference 6: Cookson TP, Lorena F, and Bitterly J. Addressing gender-based violence through social protection: a scoping review. Development in Practice.1-16.

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Reference 7: Peterman A, Neijhoft A, Cook S, Palermo TM. Understanding the linkages between social safety nets and childhood violence: a review of the evidence from low- and middle-income countries. Health Policy and Planning. 2017;32(7):1049-71.

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Learning Objectives:

1.Understand which mechanisms underly the intergenerational continuity of violence in South Africa

2.Describe the linkages between violence against children and violence against women

3.Reflect and discuss how these findings can inform and shape evidence-based interventions and prevention strategies

4.Explore how research insights can translate into actionable recommendations for policy development, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration to address and interrupt cycles of violence across generations.

Presented By:

Franziska Meinck, PhD (UK/South Africa)

University of Edinburgh SOUTH AFRICA / UK

Franziska is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh, Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at University of the Witwatersrand and Extraordinary Professor at North-West University, South Africa. Her research is funded by an ERC Starting Grant and a GCRF Hub Grant investigating intergenerational violence transmission, its predictors, mechanisms and prevention in South Africa. Her research also focuses on prevalence, risk and protective factors of child maltreatment in vulnerable populations in Southern Africa, health outcomes of violence exposure in childhood, childhood violence prevention and on the development and testing of global child abuse measures.

Dr. Hannabeth Franchino-Olsen, PhD

The Ohio State University

Dr. HB Franchino-Olsen (she/her) received her PhD in public heath, specifically maternal and child health with an emphasis on population health. Her work focuses on issues of violence for maternal and child health and other marginalized populations. Her research primarily examines gender-based violence and violence against children using population-based methods to understand the risks, drivers and outcomes of violence in both high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries. She is particularly interested in investigating violence using the polyvictimization framework, as it recognizes that violent events are often not siloed but are interconnected and represent a cumulative burden of violence and harm carried by individuals who experience them.

Pamela Maluleke

Junior Researcher and Master of Public Health Candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand

Pamela Maluleke is a junior researcher and Master of Public Health candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, specialising in Social and Behavioural Change Communication. She holds other qualifications in Bioethics and Health Law, as well as Health System Sciences. Pamela has a strong background in qualitative research and has contributed to a range of public health projects. Her research interests centre on mother and child health, gender-based violence, and particularly violence against children. She has been involved in studies on maternal and child health, and the intergenerational transmission of violence. Pamela is passionate in research that will help build evidence that informs policies and interventions aimed at preventing and responding to violence against children, especially in under-resourced communities.

Nicola Christofides

Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand

Nicola Christofides is an associate professor in the School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand. She heads up the Division of Health and Society. Nicola’s research interests include intimate partner violence and the intersection between IPV and violence against children and evaluating social and behaviour change programmes. She is currently the principal investigator on a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of the Shayi’ndlela Intervention on intimate partner violence, mental health and attitudes and beliefs about transactional sex among adolescents in South Africa.

Dr. Nataly Woollett

Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa

Dr. Woollett is an interdisciplinary social scientist and therapist with training in psychology, art therapy, and play therapy. Her clinical practice has focused on trauma, bereavement, gender based violence and the associated mental health issues related to HIV. She also has an interest in intergenerational cycling of violence and understanding the mechanisms of this transmission over generations. Dr. Woollett’s research is strongly informed by her therapeutic practice, with a consequent emphasis on mental health and intervention research. She has experience in adapting and delivering interventions to address mental health, child and adolescent sexual abuse, adolescent pregnancy and intimate partner violence (IPV) in low resource settings, ensuring ethical and contextual relevance as well as increasing scale and access. Dr. Woollett is an honorary associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.