Guidelines on producing statistics on violence against women: statistical surveys

Abstract

The Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women: Statistical Surveys have been prepared to assist countries in assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of violence against women. These Guidelines respond to the need to provide methodological advice regarding selection of topics, sources of data, relevant statistical classifications, outputs, wording of questions and all other issues relevant for national statistical offices to conduct statistical surveys on violence against women. The publication was requested by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its fortieth session, in 2009, to comply with United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/143 on the intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, which requested the Statistical Commission to develop a set of possible indicators to assist States in assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of violence against women. To assist in this work, the Friends of the Chair of the Statistical Commission on indicators on violence against women1 was established by the Statistical Commission at its thirty-ninth session, in 2008. In 2009, this group developed a list of core indicators for which data should be compiled through population-based surveys. These indicators reflect the complex nature of violence against women which can have psychological, physical, sexual and economic dimensions. The publication aims to provide national statistical offices with detailed guidance on how to collect, process, disseminate and analyse data on violence against women. It lays out the role of statistical surveys in meeting policy objectives related to violence against women, the essential features of these surveys, the steps required to plan, organize and execute these surveys, the concepts that are essential for ensuring the reliable, valid and consistent measurement of women’s experiences in accordance with core topics and a plan for data analysis and dissemination. These Guidelines should be used in conjunction with other manuals, such as the United Nations Statistics Division publications Designing Household Survey Samples: Practical Guidelines (United Nations 2008) and Household Sample Surveys in Developing and Transition Countries (United Nations 2005a) and Manual on victimization surveys (UNODC and UNECE 2010), and others as they are referenced in the text. The contribution of Ms. Holly Johnson, University of Ottawa, to the drafting of the Guidelines is gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is also extended to the members of the Friends of the Chair of the Statistical Commission on indicators on violence against women of the UN Statistical Commission, who conducted an in-depth technical review of proposed indicators for measuring violence against women, reviewed the draft Guidelines and provided valuable comments with respect to finalizing the publication. Lastly, gratitude is expressed to Henrica A.F.M. (Henriette) Jansen for her significant review of the final version of these Guidelines. The drafting of the Guidelines was partly financed by the World Bank.