"This paper outlines our current knowledge base regarding VAWG and identifies where the evidence base needs to be expanded in order to deliver the most sophisticated interventions and make a real impact on the prevalence of VAWG globally. We highlight the implications of this knowledge for prevention interventions and hope this information can be used to drive current policies and programmes as well as future research endeavours.
This paper focuses on physical and sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence and child abuse, as the most common forms of violence against women and girls globally, and the focus of the DFID “What Works” Component 1. The paper aims to:
- Summarize the existing literature on the scale, scope and nature of intimate partner violence, non-partner rape and child abuse;
- Summarize the existing literature on the links between structural, economic, political, community, relationship and individual factors and the prevalence of partner violence, non-partner rape and child abuse;
- Identify the gaps in understanding related to the factors that influence prevalence of violence against women and girls;
- Discuss the implications for primary prevention interventions; and
- Outline a suggested research agenda and propose a set of analyses to be incorporated into the research plan of Component 1 of What Works.
This paper is not a systematic review but represents a collective consensus of the state of the field based on state of the art reviews including DFID’s ‘What works to prevent partner violence: An evidence overview’, WHO’s ‘Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women’, findings from the UN Multi-country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific, and the South African MRC’s ‘Rape Perpetration: A review’." (from the introduction).
There is also a 3 page summary of this evidence (Annex E) - follow the link. Also published as Global Evidence Review: Paper1, 2015 (What Works version