Understanding Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence: Prevalence and Prevention in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings
Open Access DepositedBackground: Violence, whether physical, sexual, psychological, or economic, can be utilized to express power over another person including to exercise control, punish, or gain advantage. Gender-based violence (GBV) includes violence against women and girls (VAWG) and violence against other population groups when this violence is based on power differentials. While GBV is a global problem, affecting at least one-in-three women during their lifetimes, it has received particular attention during humanitarian crises (WHO, 2021). Armed conflict can create “shocks” that may affect normal societal functioning and influence rates of GBV (Murphy et al., 2023; Stark et al., 2020). Given the potential for higher rates of GBV in conflict and crisis-affected settings, GBV prevention initiatives are of particular importance and new programming approaches that seek to prevent GBV are being rolled out around the globe. Methods: The first study aims to contribute to the understanding of GBV in conflict-affected settings through a systematic review and meta-analysis to document the available evidence on the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) during periods of armed conflict and after the conflict ends. A total of 45 studies were included in the review. Inclusion criteria were: population-based, observational studies that collected quantitative data with women (aged 15 years or older), included prevalence data on IPV or sexual violence, included data that was collected in a conflict-affected context (active conflict or within 10 years post-conflict) and was self-reported by women themselves. The second study is the results of a quasi-experimental, impact evaluation of a community-mobilization focused GBV prevention program implemented in crisis-affected Haiti. The overall objective of this evaluation was to understand the impact of this program on key violence and gender attitudes and norms indicators among women and girls aged 15-64. Quantitative analysis was conducted using a difference-in-difference analysis, while thematic analysis was undertaken for qualitative data. Results: In study 1, the results of the meta-analysis show that 39% of women and girls in conflict-affected settings had experienced physical or lifetime IPV, while 24% reported this violence in the past 12 months. For non-partner perpetrated violence, an estimated 21% of women and girls had experienced this violence in their lifetime and 11% reported having this experience during a period of conflict. When looking at sexual violence overall from any perpetrator, an estimated 21% also experienced this violence, though there was considerable heterogeneity depending on the source of this data. In study 2, results of the evaluation showed promising reductions in IPV. At endline, respondents in the intervention areas had 41% reduced odds (aOR: 0.59) of reporting past year physical or sexual IPV when compared to women and girls in the control sites. When examining experiences of physical or sexual IPV separately, odds of experiencing both forms of violence decreased in the intervention sites compared to the control areas (physical – aOR: 0.59; sexual – aOR: 0.62). Changes in gender equitable attitudes and acceptance of violence were also documented by quantitative and qualitative means. Discussion: This dissertation makes novel contributions in understanding patterns of GBV in conflict-affected settings. It highlights the high prevalence of this violence in these contexts and demonstrates that multiple forms of GBV affect women and girls during crisis. It also shows that it is possible to reduce violence – particularly IPV - with interventions that focus on re-balancing power and changing gender norms throughout communities. Together these findings highlight the magnitude of the challenge of GBV during times of crisis but also suggest that action is possible to reduce this violence.
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