Data Collection, Analysis and Research

UN Women continues to lead a global knowledge management initiative to address violence against women and girls, reaching 1,428,563 visitors from 232 countries and territories in four years. By the end of 2013, the Virtual Knowledge Centre (http://www.endvawnow.org) provided 11 programming modules in English, French and Spanish covering various sectors (Health, Justice and Security); settings (Safe Cities and Conflict/Post-conflict/Emergency); and interventions (Shelter, Legislative Development and Reform; Working with Men and Boys; Monitoring and Evaluation), with a tools database of over 950 tools in more than 65 languages. Hide

UNICEF published a data-driven report ‘Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Overview and Exploration of the Dynamics of Change’, the most comprehensive and up-to-date publication on trends in FGM/C practice in the 29 countries where the practice is concentrated. The publication also includes, for the first time, estimates of data for daughters aged 0-15. Hide

UNFPA continued to document evidence-based practices to EVAW, including through the development of advocacy briefs such as “Addressing Gender-Based Violence” and “The Role of Data in Addressing Violence against Women and Girls” during the 2013 Commission for the Status of Women. Moreover, UNFPA and the Men Engage Alliance published global advocacy briefs on the role of men and boys in addressing GBV in conflict and on social norms, respectively. In the area of pre-natal sex selection, UNFPA supported the International Center for Research on Women to produce the research study on “Masculinity, Son Preference and Intimate Partner Violence in India” as well as the Research Institute for Development to produce a study entitled “Sex Imbalances at Birth in Armenia: Demographic Evidence and Analysis “on sex-at-birth (SRB) imbalances in Armenia. Hide

UNFPA collaborated with UNFPA, ILO, UNICEF, UN-Women and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children on a joint study on violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women, entitled “Breaking the Silence on Violence against Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and Young Women: A call to action based on an overview of existing evidence from Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America”. Hide

OHCHR has initiated a study on sorcery- related violence with a focus on PNG, the findings of which will be available in 2014. Hide

UNODC expanded its online Human Trafficking Case Law Database (www.unodc/cld), which provides legal professionals with qualitative information and increases knowledge and visibility of cases of trafficking in women and girls. The Office provided specialized training, including on indicators to identify trafficking in women, to more than 800 criminal justice practitioners worldwide. Hide

UNODC continues its research on the patterns and flows of trafficking in persons worldwide. The biennial Global Report on Trafficking in Persons presents gender-disaggregated data on trafficking victims and offenders. It also analyzes female involvement in trafficking in persons, and regional differences in terms of detections of victims and forms of exploitation. Hide

WHO, in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Medical Research Council in South Africa, launched the first ever global and regional estimates of the prevalence and the health burden of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence against women. The report was widely covered by the media and underscored the need for addressing violence against women as a women’s health and public health problem, as well as a human rights and development concern. WHO is also conducting a randomized controlled trial of a counseling-empowerment intervention in antenatal care in South Africa. Hide

WHO participated as the Chair of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative Conference in Bangkok that is held every 2 years which also examined research related to intimate partner violence. Hide

UNRWA continued working on its GBV referral system as well as its associated database and tracking system across its five fields of operation. A computerized database was piloted in Lebanon, while Jordan continues to explore the development of a module for GBV survivors in the Palestine Refugees Registration Information System. In the West Bank and Gaza, there was a significant improvement in data collection during the reporting period, with the majority of the referral system’s frontline staff accessing and updating the database. This data provides crucial information on the types of violence to which survivors have been subjected, and their resultant needs, thereby allowing continuous improvements in the response the Agency provides to its beneficiaries. Hide