Data collection on Violence against Women at national level: The first steps

1. Dr Henrica A. F. M. Jansen UNECE Workshop on Gender Statistics Geneva, 9 October 2008 Data collection on Violence against Women at national level: The first steps

2. To whom do woman talk about physical partner violence? % • Many women never tell anyone about partner violence • Very few women talk to a formal agency or person in authority.

3. Many countries doing domestic Violence surveys

4. Countries part of WHO multi-country or that used WHO methodology TURKEY Serbia Japan Thailand Vanuatu Solomon Isl Kiribati Tonga Bangladesh Vietnam Ethiopia Equatorial Guinea Samoa United Republic of Tanzania Peru Namibia Chili Brazil Maldives New Zealand Countries with two study sites Countries with one study site

5. No expertise No money Hidden agendas Competition Other work priorities Importance of data quality!! Where do you start??

6. Look at existing sources of data • Find allies, interested parties (national, international) • Find out about existing methods and expertise • Get your objectives clear • Explore funding • Set up advisory committee of interested parties • Work on proposal • Get ethical approval Suggestions on how to

7. Qualitative research?? • How about men? • Sample size? Regional or national sample? • What types of violence? • Long/short questionnaire, module ? • Who trains the interviewers? • Ethics!!!!!! • Develop a very good proposal • Do a thorough pre-test of methods: feasibility, confidence, issues, respondents reactions Other decisions

8. UN EU Bilateral funders CIDA, SIDA, DFID… Funder with interest in women ?? Possible sources of funding

9. WHO (20+ languages, including Arab) • IVAWS • National surveys other countries • DHS, CDC (short modules) • DRAW ON EXISTING EXPERTISE!!! • Work is currently ongoing on developing a common short module Example of existing methods

10. Ethical and safety issues • Selection and training of interviewers: very important!! • Psychological support for interviewers and respondents • Survey as awareness building among respondents • Survey as transforming for interviewers and researchers • It is an intervention in itself REALIZE that this is different from other routine surveys

11. Many women start thinking about what is happening to them… My husband slaps me, has sex with me against my will and I have to conform. Before being interviewed I didn't really think about this. I thought this is only natural. This is the way a husband behaves. Woman interviewed in Bangladesh

12. "Somehow it made me feel good, because it was something that I had never told anyone before. Now I’ve told someone". • --Respondent, Brazil

13. “I learned a lot from the beginning of the training, till the end of the survey. The survey opened wounds, but I had to learn to face it and cope with it. The respondents really needed and enjoyed this experience… My career path changed, … because I could do something which can make a difference…” Interviewer from Namibia

14. Points to take home • A population based survey on violence against women should be and can be done ethically and safely • Women are willing to share experiences with trained and empathetic interviewers

15. If you have a good proposal and the right people, it can be done Ensure buy-in from stake-holders, build partnerships from the beginning Get technical advice, tools, manuals, support There should be a first time!! And do not forget during your preparations...

16. Methodological and ethical aspects

17. WHO multi-country study objectives • Estimates of prevalence of violence against women • Associations between partner violence and health outcomes • Risk and protective factors for partner violence • Strategies used by women who experience partner violence (who do they talk to, where do they seek help, what response do they get)

18. Additional Objectives • Develop and test new instruments for measuring violence cross-culturally • Increase national capacity amongst researchers and women’s organizations working on violence • Increase sensitivity to violence among researchers, policy-makers and health providers • Promote ethically sound research

19. Factors that affect disclosure • How the questions are phrased • Number of opportunities to disclose • Context in which questions are asked • Characteristics and skill of interviewers • Social stigma attached to issue

20. WHO Multi-country Study - design • Formative qualitative research, consultations, etc • Quantitative household survey women 15-49y • 1 or 2 sites per country: appr. 1500 women/site • Standardized questionnaire • Standardized 3 week training • All respondents provided with information about sources of support; follow up support offered • One data entry system, double entry • Standardized quality control measures

21. Types of domestic violence in WHO study Domestic • Partner violence: physical, sexual, emotional, controlling behaviours • Violence in pregnancy • Violence resulting in injuries By others • Physical violence by others (>15) • Sexual violence by others (>15) • Childhood sexual abuse (<15) • Forced first sex

22. Section 1: Respondent and her community Section 2: General Health Section 3: Reproductive health Section 4: Children Section 5: Current or most recent partner Section 6: Attitudes towardgender roles Section 7: Respondent and her partner Section 8: Injuries Section 9: Impact and coping Section 10: Other experiences Section 11: Financial autonomy Section 12: Completion of the interview Women’s Health and Life Experiences- Questionnaire

23. Study population in WHO VAW study

24. Measurement of physical violence by partner Has your partner ever..... • Slapped or threw something at that could hurt you? • Pushed or shoved you or pulled your hair? • Hit with his fist or with something else that could hurt you? • Kicked, dragged or beat you up? • Choked or burnt you on purpose? • Threatened to use or actually used a gun, knife or other weapon against you? Moderate Severe (in the last 12 months; has this happened once, a few times, many times?)

25. Measurement of sexual violence by partner • Were you ever physically forced to have sexual intercourse when you did not want to? • Did you ever have sexual intercourse you did not want because you were afraid of what he might do? • Ever force you to do something sexual that you found degrading or humiliating?

26. Measurement of emotionalabuse: Has your partner ever…. • Insulted you or made you feel bad about yourself? • Belittled or humiliated you in front of other people? • Done things to scare or intimidate you on purpose (e.g. by the way he looked at you, by yelling and smashing things)? • Threatened to hurt you or someone you care about?

27. Measurement of child sexual abuse • Before the age of 15, do you remember if any one in your family ever touched you sexually or made you do something sexual that you didn’t want to? • If yes, who did this to you? • How old were you when it happened for the first time? • How old was this person? • How many times did this happen? Once/twice; few, many? • Probes: school, friend or family, neighbor; stranger or anyone else?

28. Anonymous reporting of sexual abuse before age 15

29. Comparison of methods of measuring sexual abuse before age 15

30. Putting women’s safety first • 1. Safety of respondents and research team • 2. Studies need to be methodologically sound • 3. Confidentiality for safety and data quality • 4. Selection and training of team members • 5. Actions to reducing distress to respondents • 6. Possibilities of referral, support mechanisms • 7. Proper interpretation and use of study results • 8. Violence questions in other surveys

31. Interviewer training • Training should include introduction on gender and violence • Training as opportunity for researchers and interviewers to come to terms with own experiences • Addressing emotional needs of team members • Role of interviewers: Not counselling, not trying to "save" respondents

32. Evidence of the value of training Serbia 2003 • 13 inexperienced, carefully selected interviewers, trainedduring 3 weeks • 21 professional interviewers, selected because of their interest in the topic, trained during one day

33. Special training vs professional interviewers

34. The example of Turkey: National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey2008 Hacettepe Üniversitesi Nüfus Etütleri Enstitüsü Hacettepe Üniversitesi Nüfus Etütleri Enstitüsü

35. Turkey

36. Turkey DVAW Study Objectives • To develop national level data on violence against women that will enable the formulation of targeted policies and programmes in order to combat violence against women more effectively • These data will be collected through qualitative and quantitative research

37. Study design • Formative qualitative research: In-depth interviews in 3 cities and focus groups • Quantitative household survey: Sample size of 24000 households, representing 12 NUTS-1 areas (One woman 15-59 years old per household)

38. CFCU: The Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) on behalf of the Government of Turkeyas Contracting Authority. KSGM: The General Directorate on the Status of Women is the beneficiary . ECD: provided the funding (2.5 million EURO). Project structure (1)

39. The Consortium: • ICON-INSTITUT Public Sector GmbH (Germany) – providing international expertise and project and contract management. • Institute of Population Studies, Hacettepe University (Turkey) – providing local expertise for project implementation, including data collection, analysis, report writing, dissemination, etc. • BNB Consulting (Turkey) – providing organizational support, including logistics. Project structure (2) Hacettepe Üniversitesi Nüfus Etütleri Enstitüsü

40. Questionnaire length to ensure interviews of on average 30 minutes duration, 5-8 households per interviewer per day Sampling density: 36-48 hh in a cluster: 1 in every 2 or 3 hh in a sampling block (appr 100 hh) On cluster per team per day, 2.5 months in field 15 teams of each 10 persons Using new system of address list from the National Statistical Office implications of a sample size of 24000

41. Household selection sheet different (adapted from DHS) All domains (as in WHO questionnaire) are included, but reduced number of questions on social capital, health, children, attitudes Violence questions the same as WHO and will allow international comparability Comparing with WHO method

42. Questionnaire and manuals • 33000 household questionnaires • 25000 women questionnaires • 250 interviewer manuals • 20 supervisor and field editor manuals • Field monitoring forms: cluster forms, supervisor forms and address listing forms

43. Two-week training period: plenary and 6 class rooms 143 women and 46 men trained After training 155 (including 4 institute staff) were retained for fieldwork Training of field workers, 14-27 July

44. Pilot test - preparations

45. Pilot test - field

46. 51 sampled provinces, 542 clusters

47. Field work

48. Coordinating questionnaire flow

49. 2 shifts of 10 data enterers Interactive error checking 100 % double entry Data entry

50. In-depth interviews