Violence Against Women & Girls -- Resource Guide

Potential partners and allies could include government ministries, civil society organizations, and other key organizations working on VAWG and gender/human rights in the country or region. Map the important projects they are executing and their areas of expertise.

These could include demographic health surveys and administrative statistics collected by police, hospitals, and judicial and social service agencies.

Identify evidence about the epidemiology of violence against women, including data on prevalence, types of violence, patterns, and consequences of violence against women. This data should be disaggregated by sex (of survivor and perpetrator).

Examine the procedures for enforcing the laws, and the reality of how those laws are applied and applied in practice. Laws on mandatory reporting of violence can greatly affect the health sector response, for example. This analysis should also include property and inheritance rights as well as customary laws.

For example, identify any results and lessons learned from projects that provide services to survivors of violence or train staff in gender issues and human rights. Pinpoint known barriers and challenges, or experiences collaborating with networks or other organizations. In absence of evidence-based or promising practices in the country, look for experiences from other contexts that may be appropriately adapted.  Look for organizational resources such as VAWG specialist or trained staff in this topic, manuals, studies/evaluations, evidence of interventions etc.

This analysis could include the proportion and roles of male and female workers in that sector, along with their training levels (including any VAWG training), and on the beneficiary side, women’s/men’s use of and capacity to benefit from the services provided by that sector, beneficiary preferences for male or female staff, and household decision-making patterns.¹  In countries with diverse populations data disaggregated by self-identified ethnicity is also recommended.

Become aware of current sectoral responses (health, education, justice, social, etc.) to VAWG along with any coordination mechanisms and existing budgets.

These can include medical, legal, psychological or social services for women. Assess the level of coordination between them.

The analysis should include women’s schedules and time availability, acceptability of certain income-generating activities and employment, their ability to travel to meeting locations and to meet with male officials/loan officers (for example).

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage, for example, are considered harmful traditional practices that expose girls and young women to serious physical and psychological harm.

with a view to securing economic independence and wellbeing (health, both mental and physical, and freedom from violence)?

Do the policies acknowledge in their design, and where necessary assist with, caregiving (childcare arrangements, time management)?

(legal and political literacy training)? For example, women’s rights literacy, including the right for a life free of violence.

For example, this might include involving men and boys in community-level discussions on the distribution of labor within the household, or other ways that help to secure one or more of the program objectives. For further details and guidance on this, please see the IDB Implementation Guidelines for the Operational Policy on Gender Equality in Development and the World Bank Gender and Development Policy Framework Guidance Note.

These can lead to greater inequalities between men and women in the access of resources, and the economic dependence of women on men, therefore increasing VAWG risk factors. Add to the project required actions to prevent or mitigate this risk.