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    Violence Against Women and Girls: Effectiveness of Intervention Programs: Gender Equality, #3
    Violence Against Women and Girls: Effectiveness of Intervention Programs: Gender Equality, #3
    Violence Against Women and Girls: Effectiveness of Intervention Programs: Gender Equality, #3
    Ebook139 pages1 hour

    Violence Against Women and Girls: Effectiveness of Intervention Programs: Gender Equality, #3

    By Dr. Milos Kankaras

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    About this ebook

    The widespread prevalence of physical, sexual and psychological abuse and violence that affect many women and girls was a largely overlooked topic of policy interest for a long time. Fortunately, this has started to change over the last two decades after a consistent effort of women-rights and aligned non-governmental groups at local, national and international levels. 

    With the attention of policymakers on the issue now largely secured, what is needed is a collection of solid empirical evidence on the effectiveness of various intervention programs that aim to reduce, eliminate or prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG). Such empirical evidence would help inform and guide the formulation and implementation of effective support programs, policy actions and prevention strategies.

    Unfortunately, until recently, most empirical research on this topic was based on anecdotal accounts or exploratory studies administered on non-representative samples. However, the situation is gradually improving in recent years with the administration of a growing number of empirical studies on issues related to violence against women and girls (VAWG). Some of these studies have also evaluated their impact, offering clues about the effectiveness of various intervention approaches in preventing different forms of VAWG.

    This book aims to overview and synthesise existing empirical evidence from impact assessment studies that have evaluated intervention programs in the area of VAWG. Namely, this report tries to answer "what works" and "what doesn't work" in VAWG interventions, but also "what is still unknown" regarding the effectiveness of such interventions. The evidence is collected from both high-income and low- and middle-income countries and includes findings across different types of VAWG and intervention approaches.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDr. Milos Kankaras
    Release dateJul 25, 2022
    ISBN9781393777465
    Violence Against Women and Girls: Effectiveness of Intervention Programs: Gender Equality, #3
    Author

    Dr. Milos Kankaras

    Dr. Miloš Kankaraš is an experienced researcher, policy analyst, and author with a rich track record in providing an empirical foundation for evidence-based public policy in international settings. He worked in academia before moving to some of the leading international organisations, where he examined issues ranging from education, skill development, social policy, working conditions, gender equality, quality of life, etc. Miloš published extensively in a variety of policy and research areas. He has an undergraduate degree in Psychology, graduate degrees in educational psychology and international social policy, and a PhD in the area of cross-cultural research.

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      Violence Against Women and Girls - Dr. Milos Kankaras

      Executive summary

      Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a global health and wellbeing concern and a human rights violation. It is estimated that about one-third of women worldwide experience some form of VAWG at some point in their lives, with this proportion reaching two thirds in some countries (WHO, 2013). VAWG has severe detrimental consequences to its victims, including homicide, suicide, injuries, unintended pregnancies, mental health problems and other issues. VAWG also impacts the broader community, as affected women are less likely to participate in regular activities, have reduced capacity to care for themselves and their children, work, and use available economic opportunities (International Rescue Committee, 2012).

      VAWG is preventable. That is why there has been increasing policy attention to this issue in recent years, resulting in a growing number of VAWG intervention programmes implemented worldwide. These programmes are also increasingly informed by the emerging academic and policy research on the causes, related factors and consequences of VAWG. VAWG intervention programs aim to reduce the risks of various forms of VAWG occurring or repeating and provide support to VAWG victims. However, developing and implementing an effective VAWG prevention intervention is not easy. It requires a good understanding of the nature of the problem, the cultural and socio-economic context in which it occurs, and the underlying drivers, risks and mitigating factors that affect the likelihood of VAWG occurrence.

      The degree to which VAWG interventions achieve their aims is the question asked in impact evaluation studies empirically evaluating programme outcomes. They mostly do so by comparing target outcomes between the group that received the intervention and a control group using experimental and quasi-experimental methods. Impact evaluation studies are critical for gathering empirical evidence on what kind of interventions work, for whom, under which conditions, for which outcomes and through which mechanisms. Such empirical insights can then be used in future VAWG interventions to avoid inefficient approaches, build on identified positive aspects, fine-tune the methodological design and thus significantly improve chances for achieving desired positive change.

      In this report, we provide a general overview of the globally available empirical evidence on the effectiveness of VAWG intervention programs. First, we describe the types of conducted VAWG programmes, their prevalence and their main characteristics. We then examine findings concerning the effectiveness of these interventions, summarised across different intervention approaches and different forms of VAWG. Finally, we analyse the quality and quantity of the reviewed empirical evidence on VAWG programmes’ effectiveness and discuss some of the critical gaps identified in this evidence.

      The report primarily focuses on the findings presented in several systematic reviews that evaluated results from impact evaluation studies on various forms of VAWG. The reviewed evidence is gathered in high-income countries (HIC) and low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). It is based on studies implementing experimental or quasi-experimental designs and systematically measuring their target outcomes. The evidence comprises studies on harmful traditional practices, intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual assaults, trafficking, child sexual abuse, and peer violence. Reviewed studies implement various intervention approaches, including individual-level interventions, group-based training, economic empowerment, community mobilisation, system-wide multi-component strategies, etc.

      The main findings of our review are the following:

      Few VAWG interventions employ robust impact assessment

      Unfortunately, only a minority of VAWG programmes have incorporated robust systems to monitor and evaluate their impact, resulting in a relatively limited amount of available empirical evidence on their effectiveness. That might be due to many factors, such as the difficulty of obtaining reliable data, the complexity and context-specificity of VAWG interventions, and the political and social dynamics surrounding these issues. Nevertheless, by assessing impact and results, we have an opportunity to build a critical evidence base and to learn how change happens, contributing to overall efforts to prevent VAWG.

      The number of impact assessment studies in the VAWG field is rapidly growing

      One very encouraging development is that the evidence base has rapidly increased in recent years and is expected to expand further. That means that we can expect more solid evidence on what works and under which conditions over the coming decades.

      Positive change through VAWG interventions is possible

      Analysis of the effectiveness of VAWG interventions confirms that change is possible, i.e. occurring or reoccurring VAWG is preventable. However, the presented findings also point out that positive change is by no means guaranteed or even the most likely intervention outcome. In high-income countries, secondary interventions with the VAWG victims have often shown success in improving survivors’ physical and mental health. On the other hand, evidence of their effectiveness in reducing the rates of revictimization is still weak. Considerable research has also been done about interventions designed to address perpetrators, but the evidence of their effectiveness is limited. In the LMIC context, the main focus of VAWG interventions is the prevention of various forms of violence. Assessment of these programmes indicates that it is possible to reduce the prevalence of violence, with some interventions reaching substantial positive effects within the timeframe of the programmes.

      Most of the VAWG interventions have limited to no positive impact

      More robust evidence is dearly needed since the current evidence base is still relatively weak and inconclusive. The main, and probably most striking finding from this overview is that among selected VAWG interventions, more than two-thirds were found to have no effects on targeted outcomes (Figure 1). Half of the remaining interventions had mixed results. Only every tenth evaluated VAWG intervention had a significant positive impact! Furthermore, in 5% of cases, adverse effects of VAWG intervention are observed.

      Figure 1:  Impact assessment across selected studies by type of violence

      Source: Adjusted from Arango et al. (2014). Interventions to prevent or reduce violence against women and girls: A systematic review of reviews. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2545.6168

      Some VAWG interventions have negative consequences

      Unfortunately, findings suggest that some interventions have had unintended negative consequences on some outcomes. Although the proportion of such programmes was relatively small, such findings point out the need for careful planning of intervention programmes to minimise the risks of such events occurring. But they also indicate how important it is to conduct impact evaluations of all VAWG intervention programs to provide an opportunity for all practitioners and researchers in the VAWG field to learn what works and what doesn’t and to use such knowledge in the future interventions.

      The quality of available empirical evidence is generally poor

      Unfortunately, the existing evidence on the effectiveness of VAWG programmes has several serious flaws and limitations that affect its quality and, consequently, its usability. Reviewed studies are characterised by limited consistency, rigour, and quality of employed evaluation processes, measures and methodologies. They also often based their intervention on a poor general understanding of the mechanism of targeted change and involved risk factors and potential moderators of intervention effects. In addition, the impact assessment was often conducted with relatively small sample sizes, not using reliable outcome measures, and with a focus on various indirect measures of VAWG rather than its actual incidences in the target population. Furthermore, although there is an increasing effort to evaluate programmes’ impact, the teams conducting interventions often lack the skills, funding, and expertise to generate robust empirical evidence. As a result, obtained empirical results, even in cases where the impact was assessed as positive, have to be interpreted with caution and care, taking into account specific methodological constraints ingrained within each particular study design.

      Evidence gaps are many

      There are many critical gaps in existing empirical data on the effectiveness of VAWG interventions that severely limit the usability and generalisability of its findings. In the following paragraphs, we will outline some of the key evidence gaps in this area. 1) First of all, there is much less robust empirical research on

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