Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing

https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3070&context=lhapapers

From work with men and boys to changes of social norms and reduction of inequities in gender relations: a conceptual shift in prevention of violence against women and girls.

Accelerate progress—sexual and reproductive health and rights for all: report of the Guttmacher–Lancet Commission

http://preventgbvafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Lancet-2014-Addressing-violence-against-women-a-call-to-action.pdf

Addressing violence against women: a call to action

Times of economic uncertainty, civil unrest and disaster are linked to a myriad of risk factors for increased violence against women and children (VAW/C). Pandemics are no exception. In fact, the regional or global nature and associated fear and uncertainty associated with pandemics provide an enabling environment that may exacerbate or spark diverse forms of violence. Understanding mechanisms underlying these dynamics are important for crafting policy and program responses to mitigate adverse effects. Based on existing published and grey literature, we document nine main (direct and indirect) pathways linking pandemics and VAW/C, through effects of (on):(1) economic insecurity and poverty-related stress, (2) quarantines and social isolation, (3) disaster and conflict-related unrest and instability, (4) exposure to exploitative relationships due to changing demographics, (5) reduced health service availability and access to first responders, (6) inability of women to temporarily escape abusive partners, (7) virus-specific sources of violence, (8) exposure to violence and coercion in response efforts, and (9) violence perpetrated against health care workers. We also suggest additional pathways with limited or anecdotal evidence likely to effect smaller sub-groups. Based on these mechanisms, we suggest eight policy and program responses for action by governments, civil society, international and community-based organizations. Finally, as research linking pandemics directly to diverse forms of VAW/C is scarce, we lay out a research agenda comprising three main streams, to better (1) understand the magnitude of the problem, (2) elucidate mechanisms and linkages with other social and economic factors and (3) inform intervention and response options. We hope this paper can be used by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to help inform further evidence generation and policy action while situating VAW/C within the broader need for intersectional gender- and feminist-informed pandemic response.

Pandemics and Violence Against Women and Children

http://sanacws.org.za/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Lancet-Prevention-of-VAWG-What-does-the-evidence-say.pdf

Prevention of violence against women and girls: what does the evidence say?

Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) is a pervasive global problem. It is a violation of basic human rights and a drag on development. Much of the research to-date on the topic-including a major recent World Health Organization study to produce global prevalence rates has focused on better understanding the scale and nature of the problem. The present study builds on this body or research while shifting focus to synthesizing global evidence on potential solutions. This paper, a systematic review of reviews, breaks new ground by synthesizing evidence on the effects of VAWG prevention interventions. It examines the diversity of geographical context, the types of violence addressed, and the numerous approaches that have been used to combat VAWG. Additionally the review summarizes the quality of evidence on efficacy and effectiveness in order to highlight strengths and gaps of interventions on a global scale and could serve as a point of reference for those intending to undertake future design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions. This paper finds that knowledge of intervention impacts on VAWG prevention is growing, but is still highly limited. Nonetheless, a small but growing body of rigorously tested interventions demonstrates that preventing VAWG is possible and can achieve large effect sizes. The interventions with the most positive findings used multiple, well-integrated approaches and engaged with multiple stakeholders over time. They also addressed underlying risk factors for violence, including social norms regarding gender dynamics and the acceptability of violence. These examples point to the imperative of greatly increasing investment both in innovative programming in primary prevention, as well as in high-quality experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations to guide international efforts to end VAWG.

https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Gender/Arango%20et%20al%202014.%20Interventions%20to%20Prevent%20or%20Reduce%20VAWG%20-%20A%20Systematic%20Review%20of%20Reviews.pdf

Interventions to prevent or reduce violence against women and girls: a systematic review of reviews

OBJECTIVE: To develop a Caribbean regional profile of youth sexual behaviour associated with risk of HIV. DESIGN AND METHODS: A review of sexual behaviour surveys with youth aged 15-24 years was conducted as part of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) HIV Caribbean Offices Review and Gender Analysis of Caribbean HIV Behavioural and Seroprevalence Studies. Studies with internationally recommended indicators were prioritized. Studies were sought via database searches and contact with researchers and National AIDS Programmes. RESULTS: Inter-country comparisons and longitudinal analyses were limited by lack of uniformity in study age groups and indicators. Data were sufficient to identify the following among 15-24-year olds: .More males than females report sexual intercourse before the age of 15 years. .More than half of sexually active youth report sex before age 16 years. .First sexual encounter is usually with someone older with age differences larger for females. .More males than females report multiple partnerships with 20%-76% of males reporting this in the past year. .Condom use varies widely with no clear pattern by gender. CONCLUSION: There are substantial levels of early sexual initiation intergenerational sex among females and multiple partnerships among males while condom use is inconsistent. Efforts to promote delay in sexual initiation partner reduction and consistent condom use should be supplemented with initiatives against harmful gender norms child abuse and transactional sex and skills to negotiate safe sex. Standardization of survey methods to facilitate cross-study comparisons should continue and encompass additional risk factors such as transactional sex gender-based violence drug use and HIV treatment adherence.

/pdf/evidence-on-delay-in-sexual-initiation-multiple-partnerships-4919za8z1t.pdf

Evidence on delay in sexual initiation multiple partnerships and condom use among young people: review of Caribbean HIV behavioural studies.

Violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC) are public health issues of global concern. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a commonly occurring form of VAW and there is evidence to suggest that IPV and VAC frequently co-occur within the same families. This systematic literature review searched for studies published in any language between 1st January 2000 to 16th February 2021 and identified 33 studies that provided findings for co-occurring IPV and VAC in 24 low- and middle-income countries (PROSPERO: CRD42020180179). These studies were split into subgroups based on the types of co-occurring violence they present and meta-analyses were conducted to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) within these subgroups. Our results indicate a significant association between IPV and VAC, with all pooled ORs showing a significant positive association between the two. Almost half of the studies focused exclusively on co-occurrence between male-to-female IPV and female caregiver-to-child VAC; few authors reported on male caregiver-to-child violence. Only three studies identified risk factors for co-occurring IPV and VAC, and those that did suggested conflicting findings on the risks associated with maternal age, alcohol and drug use, and parental education level. We also found incongruity in the violence definitions and measurements used across studies. Future research should aim to develop more consistent definitions and measurements for co-occurrence and move beyond solely examining dyadic and unidirectional violence occurrence in families; this will allow us to better understand the interrelationships between these different forms of abuse.

The Co-Occurrence of Intimate Partner Violence and Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review on Associated Factors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Floriza Gennari

Papers

Prevention of violence against women and girls: what does the evidence say?

Interventions to prevent or reduce violence against women and girls: a systematic review of reviews

Evidence on delay in sexual initiation multiple partnerships and condom use among young people: review of Caribbean HIV behavioural studies.

The Co-Occurrence of Intimate Partner Violence and Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review on Associated Factors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Violence Against Women and Girls : Finance and Enterprise Development Brief