What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women
and Girls in Conflict and Humanitarian Crises
EVIDENCE BRIEF: WHAT WORKS TO PREVENT AND RESPOND
TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS IN CONFLICT
AND HUMANITARIAN SETTINGS
8th September 2016
INTRODUCTION
 Succinct overview of the existing evidence
 Targeted summary of 7 recent systematic and literature reviews
 Population of interest – refugees, IDPs; conflict or natural disaster affected
 Types of VAWG: Any – functionally non-partner assault and IPV
 Focus on:
 Prevalence – 2 reviews (Vu et al, 2014 & Stark & Ager, 2011)
 Interventions – 5 reviews (Holmes & Bhuvanendra, 2014; Spangaro et al., 2013; Asgary et al., 2013; Tol et al.,
2013; Stravou et al., 2013)
QUALITY
Prevalence
 Sampling strategies were not generalizable
to the large population
 Sampling strategies were not large enough
to measure VAWG – in particular nonpartner assault
 Response rates not reported
 When response rates were reported –
they were low
 Definitions of VAWG and recall periods
varied
QUALITY
Interventions
 Many articles included only program descriptions rather than outcome/impact measurement
 One systematic review did not find any articles that matched their inclusion criteria
 Papers were: not about refugees or IDPs; did not have outcome measures; did not have baseline data for comparison,
etc.
 Of those that did measure outcomes, the quality of evidence was poor.
 E.g Spangaro et al. 14 of 20 studies that measured outcomes had low to medium-low “Weight of Evidence” scores
 In Tol et al. articles were assessed for quality using Down and Black’s checklist – and were found to have a mean score of
13.8 out of 27
PREVALENCE
Vu et al.
 Meta-analysis of sexual violence data
 Prevalence of sexual violence among
refugees and displaced persons in
complex humanitarian emergencies –
estimated at 21.4% (95% CI: 14.9-28.7)
PREVALENCE
Stark and Ager
 Wide range of prevalence data did not allow for firm conclusions to be drawn
 Difficulty in comparing studies– due to varying recall periods,VAWG definitions and sampling
methodologies
 There is some evidence that rates of VAWG increase during times of conflict – connection is primarily
seen between rates of non-partner assault and VAWG
 Overall, IPV is more prevalent than non-partner assault
PREVALENCE IN THE MENA REGION – SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Vu et al.
 3 studies
 Focus on sexual violence
 Displaced Lebanese in Lebanon; Palestinian refugees in Lebanon; and Sudanese refugees in Chad
 Primarily non-probability sampling strategies
 Small sample sizes
 Wide range of results
PREVALENCE IN THE MENA REGION – SEXUAL VIOLENCE
 Usta (2008) looked at displaced Lebanese women in Lebanon
 The study used a non-probability sampling strategy and had a small sample size. Of 310 women interviewed
only 5 (1.6%) reported experiencing sexual violence.
 Hammoury (2007) looked at Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
 The study used a non-probability sampling strategy but had an adequate sample size for the population; Of
392 women interviewed 92 (23.5%) reported experiencing sexual violence
 Hagon (2009) looked at Sudanese refugees in Chad
 The study used a probability sampling strategy. Of 559 women interviewed 39 (6.9%) reported
experiencing sexual violence.
PREVALENCE IN THE MENA REGION – PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
Stark and Ager
 2 studies on prevalence of physical IPV; 1study on
attitudes
 Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon
 Small sample sizes
 Rates between the two prevalence studies varied
considerably
 In both studies, men reported higher perpetration
rates compared to women’s reported experiences of
violence
 One additional study on acceptance of wife beating
among Palestinian refugees in Jordan; One Egyptian
Study
PREVALENCE IN THE MENA REGION – PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
 Khawaja and Tewtel-Salem (2004) compared reported rates of violence between married couples
(n=417 married couples) in Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon
 22% of women reported wife beating occurred at least once during married life; 9.1% in the past year
 29.5% of men reported wife beating occurred at least once; 10.4% in the past year
 Khawaja and Barazi (2005) interviewed Palestinian women (n=262) and men (n=133) in refugee
camps in Jordan
 42.5% of women reported experiencing physical violence in their lifetime; 17.4% in the past year
 48.9% of men reported ever perpetrating violence
PREVALENCE IN THE MENA REGION - PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
 Khawaja (2004) looked at acceptance of wife beating among Palestinian refugees in camps in
Jordan
 60.1% (CI 51.7-68.9) of men and 61.8% (CI 55.9-68.1) of women considered wife beating
to be acceptable
 The1995-1996 DHS survey of Egyptian women aged 15-49
 34% of women aged 15-49 in Egypt had been abused by their partner in the past 12 months
INTERVENTIONS
Effective
 Sufficient evidence was not available to classify any
intervention as “effective”
Promising
 Multi-component interventions
 Economic empowerment programmes coupled with conflict
management/communication programs
 Changing attitudes/social norms
 Firewood distribution for non-partner sexual assault
 Culturally appropriate individual and group counseling
sessions
 Combined community-based psychosocial support and
livelihoods
INTERVENTIONS
Conflicting
 Legal support for survivors - Weak
systems may lead to breaches in
confidentiality and re-traumization
 Sexual Exploitation and Abuse programs
- Limited reach and effectiveness
Ineffective
 Livelihoods interventions as stand alone
projects
INTERVENTIONS - IN THE MENA REGION
 Only 2 studies that measured outcomes included in the reviews – both relied only qualitative data collection
methods – rated as low or medium low weight of evidence
 Study 1 - Manneschmidt & Griese, 2009:

Focused on psychosocial support in post-conflict Afghanistan;

36% of respondents (affected by war and domestic violence) reported reduced distress after group couselling sessions;
 Study 2 - Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, 2006:

Focused on construction of fuel-alternative cook stoves in Sudan

After training 1/3 of women were capable of making fuel-efficient fuel stoves

This lead to reduced frequency of firewood collection – a risk factor for non-partner sexual assault
RECOMMENDATIONS
 Evidence base is weak and more rigorous
research and programme M&E is needed
 Linkages between VAWG and conflict are
unclear
 More focus on the effectiveness of
programs for adolescent girls
 More focus is needed on addressing IPV in
conflict and humanitarian settings
 Better coordination and standardization of
available data
 Conduct research in a safe and ethical
manner