Publication: Preventing and Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
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2022-02
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2023-01-18
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is widely recognized as an impediment to the social and economic development of communities and States and the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Experiencing violence precludes women from contributing to and benefiting from development initiatives by limiting their agency, that is, their choices and ability to act. The deprivation of women resulting from VAWG should be of central concern to governments as an intrinsic human rights issue and due to its impact on economic growth and poverty reduction. Child marriage - a form of violence against women - epitomizes a profound lack of voice and agency and affects multiple areas of a girl’s life by lowering her education, increasing her fertility, reducing her labor force participation, and curtailing her future earnings prospects. Addressing violence against women and girls requires a comprehensive combination of prevention and protection measures involving a multi-level, multi-stakeholder approach, and sustained engagement leveraging various sector entries. The most effective initiatives address underlying risk factors for violence, including social norms regarding gender roles and the acceptability of violence. A 2020 meta-analysis of 104 rigorous impact evaluations of interventions to prevent women’s experience and men’s perpetration of physical and or sexual intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence shows that nine categories of interventions were effective in reducing VAWG, including cash transfers or economic empowerment programs for women when combined with group discussions on VAWG and gender transformative programming, couples’ interventions, parenting programs to prevent domestic violence and child maltreatment, community activism to shift harmful gender norms, and school-based intervention to prevent dating violence. In Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), the World Bank has engaged with countries and partners to support the integration of VAWG components in sector-specific projects in areas such as transport, education, social protection, and forced displacement. Projects have integrated measures to prevent and respond to VAWG through improved access to justice and services, implementation of communications campaigns, training, safeguards, and enhanced national data systems.
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“World Bank. 2022. Preventing and Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38501 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Interventions to Prevent or Reduce Violence Against Women and Girls : A Systematic Review of Reviews(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014)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.Publication Violence Against Women and Girls : Social Protection Brief(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-12)The definition of social protection (SP) programs varies widely, as do the types of interventions included and the specific outcomes sought. These programs can be implemented through public and/or private sectors, with the involvement of single or multiple government sectors, or by some combination of these actors. This brief will specifically focus on four types of social protection interventions: social assistance, social insurance, labor market programs, and early childhood development. It will offer suggestions for integrating violence against women and girls (VAWG) prevention efforts within these interventions. These areas of focus are meant to be illustrative of different social protection programs, rather than to reflect the full breadth of SP programs. In general, SP programs are public interventions that support the poorest populations and assist individuals, households, and communities to better overcome social and economic risks. Examples of programs include: a) social assistance (social safety nets): cash transfers, school feeding, and targeted food assistance; b) social insurance: old-age and disability pensions and unemployment insurance; c) labor market programs: skills-building programs, job-search and matching programs, and improved labor regulations; and d) early childhood development. Other program interventions, which fall under what is referred to as social protection, aim to strengthen families abilities to respond to hardships by promoting gender equality. Examples include early childhood development, projects that focus on at-risk youth, or targeted poverty alleviation programs.Publication Violence Against Women and Girls : Health Sector Brief(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-04)Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has negative impacts on physical and mental health. Health care settings provide a unique opportunity to identify VAWG survivors, provide critical support services, and prevent future harm. VAWG has intergenerational effects: boys who witness intimate partner violence (IPV) at home are more likely to grow up to perpetrate violence themselves. And girls with childhood exposure to IPV are more likely to experience violence in later relationships. The health sector can play a role in educating clients and the broader community about VAWG as a human rights violation and major public health issue.Publication Violence Against Women and Girls : Citizen Security, Law, and Justice Brief(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-04)For every three years a country is affected by major violence (defined as deaths due to war or excess homicides comparable to a major war), economic growth lags behind by 2.7 percentage points. Citizen security issues impact women and men differently. For example, women are more likely to be assaulted or murdered by someone they know - in fact, worldwide the share of homicides by an intimate partner was six times higher for female victims compared with male victims (39 percent versus 6 percent, respectively). Boys who witness intimate partner violence (IPV) during childhood are more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior and to perpetrate IPV in adulthood. And girls who witness violence are more likely to experience IPV in adulthood.Publication Violence Against Women and Girls : Finance and Enterprise Development Brief(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-04)Violence against women and girls (VAWG) affects survivorsapos; ability to achieve individual potential and contribute to the economy. Unequal gender norms within a household can limit a woman s control over and access to economic resources. Restraining womenapos;s ability to access economic resources is a form of intimidation and coercion. Although microfinance projects can reduce household vulnerability, merely offering resources to women does not enable and empower them to exert control over those resources or make decisions about their lives. Providing women with an income can contribute to disrupting household and gender dynamics, potentially contributing to VAWG.
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While challenging, climate action also presents Mongolia with opportunities to achieve important development benefits. The effects of climate risks and the shift away from coal will have diverse impacts across different regions, communities, and socioeconomic levels. The report assesses the critical interconnections between Mongolia’s development ambitions and climate change action and identifies ways to transition to a more economically diversified, inclusive, and resilient development path. It highlights key climate and transition risks affecting Mongolia’s future development and presents a pathway to enhance climate mitigation and adaptation. The report also makes a case for strengthening policies to enhance resilience to climate change and ensure a just transition, particularly for the most vulnerable. The report is structured as follows: section 1 gives introduction. 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