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Background: Domestic abuse is a public health issue, and increasing evidence suggests that young women are more likely to suffer than older women, yet limited evidence exists in England about educational and intervention programmes for young women at risk. Study's objectives: To evaluate a gender-specific (women-only) programme aimed at educating young women aged 13-25 years about abuse and staying safe in one English city. Setting: A third sector (charitable) organisation, aiming to improve women's health in one English city delivered the programme over a 3-year period, funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Young women received both peer and one-to-one support, to educationally inform them, develop their skills and improve their capabilities in responding to abuse. Method: This qualitative evaluation captured the perspectives of young women accessing the programme (n = 33), exploring the positive difference that it made to their lives. We also captured the views of internal stakeholders in 2018 (n = 2), then followed up in 2020 (n = 3), and external stakeholders referring young women to the programme (n = 8). Results: The programme met its aims. Self-reported changes in young women's lives included increased knowledge about staying safe and being happier. Some young women gained or retained custody of their children, and others exited harmful relationships. Young women identified a range of mechanisms of success including a non-judgemental approach from workers, peer support and a trusted space in which to meet and learn. The programme increased young women's skills to stay safe while improving their mental wellbeing. Conclusion: The programme worked well for young women who accessed it. However, it could not reach all those in need, was only funded in the short-term and tended to individualise the responsibility for staying safe. Further research is needed in other community-based educational programmes to provide evidence of their effectiveness as well as transferrable models for workers in other contexts.

Health education has changed in many ways since "Health Education Journal" was first published, with developments moving the discipline forward in ways not envisaged 75 years ago. While there have been recent concerns about the decline in status of health promotion and linked worries about health education, the contemporary evidence base has grown to support the delivery of good quality health education and the development of capable and skilled practitioners. Pedagogy has further developed as well, and new technology now enables health education to have broader reach through online teaching and learning, social media and open-access publications. Global challenges remain, however, and the context in England is one in which both education and practice face major trials despite the contribution that health education has made by those educated and trained in this setting over a period of many years.

Background: Disadvantaged young women in England have been documented as having unmet needs. This has resulted in the growth of gender-specific intensive intervention programmes in which a more holistic women-centred service approach is implemented. Gender matters because structural inequalities (bias and disadvantaging societal conditions) that girls are born with influence health, their outcomes and associated inequalities. Aims and objectives: Policy-makers frequently call for the outcomes of intervention programmes to be quantified, and while this is important, it can miss opportunities for critical insights into the subjective experiences of participants as well as the context and circumstances within which change occurs. Methods: This paper reports on evaluation findings from a prototype project (The Way Forward) with a focus on holistic improvement using gender-specific methods and approaches to promote health for disadvantaged young women in a community setting. Findings: This paper documents the voices of young women within the project, illustrated through their creation of storyboards within focus group discussions and interview data from their support workers. Findings highlight the importance of the relational dimension of one-to-one support in achieving positive change in the lives of young women, as well as the complexity associated with efforts to improve their health.