Data Collection, Analysis and Research

In September 2009, UNAIDS helped launch and lead a new initiative to prevent sexual violence against girls, which unites the work of five UN agencies with the Clinton Global Initiative and the US Centers for Disease Control, with a particular emphasis on AIDS affected countries. Six countries have begun data collection and programmatic action to strengthen legal and judicial policies as well as health, child protection and community responses to reduce sexual violence. Hide

A meeting of the Friends of the Chair group, organized by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía of Mexico and UNSD, took place in Mexico, in December 2009, on statistical indicators on violence against women. The meeting focused on the content of the recommended set of indicators, irrespective of the source of statistics; the list of indicators for statistical surveys on violence against women; and the future development of international statistical guidelines to conduct statistical surveys on violence against women. The Friends of the Chair concluded that the interim set of indicators adopted by the Statistical Commission needed to be expanded and constituted as a core set of nine statistical indicators for measuring violence against women. The full report of the meeting is available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/vaw/default.htm Hide

The Secretary-General’s database on violence against women was launched by the Deputy Secretary-General at an event convened by DAW, now part of UN Women, on 5 March 2009. The database provides the first “one-stop site” for information on measures undertaken by Member States to address violence against women, including their: legal frameworks; plans, strategies and policies; institutional mechanisms; preventative measures, including awareness-raising, and training; and services for victims/survivors. Hide

UNICEF undertook in-depth research into the social dynamics of abandonment of harmful practices and social norms, in collaboration with partners. This research provided new insights and increased the understanding of social norms in perpetuating different forms of harmful traditional practices, including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), child marriage, household violence and other forms of violence, such as sexual exploitation and trafficking. Hide

In Romania, UNFPA and the National Agency for Family Protection (NAFP) assisted the East European Institute for Reproductive Health (EEIRH) to develop centralized data collection – the Integrated Information System (IIS) - which allows confidential access to gender-based violence services for survivors. Hide

The research study supported by UNFPA and conducted by the International Center for Research on Women on “Costing Intimate Partner Violence in 3 identified countries” was finalized and a colloquium was organised in Washington DC, in May 2009, at the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) to make the findings of the study public. Hide

Analysis and publications have been completed on the basis of the WHO Multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence, such as on risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence across 15 settings, partner violence and reproductive health (associations with abortion, miscarriage and unintended pregnancy). Local teams in Kiribati and Solomon Islands, supported by AUSAID and others, completed surveys, using WHO methods and support, and they are using the results for policy and programmatic responses. Hide

In Ethiopia and Djibouti, HIV/AIDS vulnerability assessments by UNHCR were conducted for high risk groups in refugee camps. The assessments substantiated that survival sex takes place in the refugee camps. The recommendations included immediate protection measures for children who have been sexually exploited and abused, as well as setting up peer led systems, HIV/AIDS and health education to targeted groups. Hide

UNESCO’s Regional Office in Santiago was involved in the development of the baseline assessment conducted in Chile as part of the UN joint programming pilot initiative. Hide

UNESCO is involved in several research projects related to violence against women as a member of UNAIDS, including a research project to consolidate existing evidence from the peer-reviewed literature on the intersections between gender-based violence and AIDS epidemic (led by UNFPA in cooperation with the Harvard School of Public Health); and a research project, led by WHO, which focuses on the relation between HIV and intimate partner violence, as well as sexual violence against women. Hide