Data Collection and Research

As part of the African Gender and Development Index, Phase II, the ECA is supporting 17 countries (Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cote d’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, The Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Zambia) to collect data on domestic violence, harmful practices, rape, sexual harassment and trafficking in women.

WHO supported Mahidol University in Thailand to develop and implement a regional adaptation of a one-week training course based on the manual “Researching violence against women-A practical guide for researchers and activists”. The course addresses the conduct of quantitative and qualitative research and the use of research findings for advocacy and programme development.

A dedicated website for the Gender-Based Violence Information Management Sytem (GBVIMS) was launched (www.gbvims.org) and a Training of Trainers curriculum was developed to expand the roll-out process. Lessons learned on ethical data collection through the GBVIMS are particularly relevant to inform the implementation of the Monitoring Analyses and Reporting Arrangements (MARA, SCR 1960).

ESCWA has implemented the project on "Enhancing Capacities to Eradicate Violence against Women (VAW) through Networking of Local Knowledge Communities” in coordination with all other United Nations Regional Commissions, the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) and the former United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW) (now UN Women). This project addresses the need to strengthen the capacity of the countries to regularly and appropriately measure violence against women in respective regions.

The ECA Series of Meetings on Gender Statistics held in Ghana in November 2011 followed the workshop and included a session on the role of statistical data and indicators to inform policy and actions to prevent, sanction and eradicate violence against women.

WHO also, with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has been calculating global and regional prevalence estimates of intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, and childhood sexual abuse for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Final prevalence estimates will be released in 2012. Likewise, systematic reviews have been completed on the associations between violence against women and a range of health effects related to mental health, sexual and reproductive health, injuries and death to be included as risk factors in the Global Burden of Disease Study.

WHO provided technical support to an interagency convened process led by UN Women, PEPFAR and MEASURE Evaluation to identify one global indicator on gender equality for inclusion in the revised UNGASS list of core indicators. Based on the evidence, technical inputs and advocacy, the indicator "Prevalence of recent intimate partner violence among ever partnered women 15-49" was included. This will require 193 Member States to report data on prevalence of intimate partner violence to UNAIDS as part of Global AIDS Progress Reporting.

The UNAIDS Secretariat, together with UN, development partners and civil society, worked to develop a global indicator on “prevalence of recent intimate partner violence”, to raise the political awareness accordingly. The indicator has been included in the Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting for 2012 to enable national reporting on violence in the context of HIV.

UN Women has expanded the resources available through the Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) to End Violence against Women to include a database of 800 tools in 60 languages, including in-depth programming modules on campaigns, health, justice and security sectors.

UN Women continued to maintain and update the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women. As of 31 January 2012, a total of 119 responses to the questionnaire on violence against women were received and uploaded into the database. In March 2011, UN Women gave a presentation, as a side event during the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, on how to use the Secretary-VCGeneral’s database on violence against women and the Virtual Knowledge Center to End Violence Against Women and Girls.