From measuring violence against women to assessing state responses: Developing global indicators Prof Liz Kelly Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit London Metropolitan University ECE/CES/GE.30/2006/29

Themes u Special Rapporteur’s project u Special Rapporteur’s on VAW its Causes and Consequences project u Defining terms u Challenges in terms of responses from states, UN agencies, academics and NGOs u Issues and Promising directions

Calls for indicators u Beijing+10 u Special Rapporteur u Measuring VAW u Assessing state progress u Secretary General’s report on VAW u Link to MDGs u EU u Begun in 1998, various presidencies

Current project u Proposal by SR in 2003 to develop two sets of indicators u Commission on HR’s resolution on VAW in 2004 (2004/46), para 25, need to develop, with international consensus on ways to measure and measures taken to eliminate u Tasks u Review current research literature on measuring Vaw and indicators u Consult with states, UN agencies, academics and NGOs u Produce a technical report with recommendations

Defining terms - VAW u Claims to cover VAW, but often limited to domestic or intimate partner violence u Sometimes as few as 5 or 7 items u Sexual violence, 0-3 items, some or all of which include ‘force’ u EC v Bulgaria, International Criminal Court u African research on sexual initiation u Limited attention to sexual harassment, FGM/C, sexual exploitation, stalking, crimes in the name of honour – and have lost notion of women’s safety u Seriousness and frequency only an issue for some forms – some are serious and have consequences by definition – FGM/C, forced/child marriage, acid attacks

Defining terms - indicators “Robust, valid and reliable” (Walby, 2005) “Robust, valid and reliable” (Walby, 2005) A number, proportion, percentage, rate, trend A number, proportion, percentage, rate, trend Summarise complex data Summarise complex data Link to quantitative data Link to quantitative data Unambiguous Unambiguous Basis to assess change Basis to assess change Relevant to multiple audiences Relevant to multiple audiences Available at regular intervals Available at regular intervals Comparable across social groups and states Comparable across social groups and states

Challenges u States and other parties not on board with the VAW agenda u Research and PoA’s limited to DV/IPV but report as VAW u Do not understand technical issues about measuring violence, prevalence etc u Have dragged their feet about gender disaggregation of statistics u Vested interests in own definitions/research tools u Impossible to have common definitions that connect to local law u Number of indicators u Over/under inclusive u Resources and capacities of states

Current EU recommendations u VAW (IPV) u No of female victims u Types of victim support u Prevention measures u Sexual harassment u Percentage of employees reporting u Percentage of public/private bodies with policy u Percentage of public/private bodies with procedures to sanction perpetrators

Promising directions 1: Femicide index u Intimate partner violence u Men killing women u Women killing abusive men u Sexual murder u ‘Honour’ killings u Women in prostitution u Local issues – Cuidad Juarez u Could adapt to include other issues – dowry, female infanticide where locally relevant

Promising directions 2: Attrition u The proportion of reported cases that fail to result in prosecution and conviction u Increased reporting as indicator of decreased tolerance and increased confidence in the justice system u Rates of investigation, prosecution and conviction indicators of extent to which systems have engaged with VAW

Attrition in rape cases: England and Wales

Attrition in rape cases: Germany

Attrition in rape cases: Hungary

Attrition in IPV u Marianne Hester et al u North of England, developing record keeping and case tracking with police and courts u 2402 incidents u 50% of individuals re-offended in the period u Increasing percentage of arrests where had powers u Arrest, charge and conviction in 120 (5%) u Convictions more likely where charges were for public order/criminal damage

Promising directions 3: Mainstreaming a conceptually sophisticated indicator module - FGM/C Module used in Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS+), at least 17 countries and UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) u u Key indicator: Prevalence of FGM/C by age cohorts (5 year bands) u u FGM/C status of all daughters (age now, age cut) and percentage of forms of FGM/C - possible trends/changes between generations and over more recent time u u Performer of FGM/C. u u Support of, or opposition to FGM/C by women and men age Indictors for programming Public declarations of intent Community-based surveillance mechanisms for girls at risk Drop in prevalence

Other potential routes u Attitude surveys u Eurobarometer u Common data collection tools for services u Routine enquiry – current rates and health impacts – but not just IPV u Accident and emergency u Pre and post natal u Mental health

Good and bad news u Unprecedented interest in developing indicators u Uneven starting points u IPV/VAW u Continuum of interests u States, organisations, NGOs and academics u Difficult conundrums u Common definitions across ongoing debates and varied legal contexts