1. Sally Engle Merry New York University
Human Rights, Gender Violence and the Challenge of Global Governance by Number
Sally Engle Merry
New York University

2. The Challenge of Quantification
Promises objectivity, rationality, freedom from political pressures
But deeply social and political process
Expensive and difficult
Affects what gets measured and what does not
Affects who is measuring whom
Shapes underlying social theory

3. Where do numbers come from?
Who counts?
Who pays?
Who decides what to measure?
What is left out?
Problem of commensuration and development of categories
How do you translate the complexity of social life into numbers?

4. Governance through Measurement
Problem of hard-to-define categories
Example: counting “race”
Problem of hard to count events
Example: torture of the poor
Problem of lack of infrastructure for measurement

5. UNSC Indicators of VAW
i. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to physical violence in the last 12 months by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator and frequency
ii. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to physical violence during lifetime by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator and frequency
iii. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to sexual violence in the last 12 months by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator and frequency
iv. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to sexual violence during lifetime by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator and frequency

6. UNSC Indicators
vi. Total and age specific rate of ever-partnered women subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by current or former intimate partner during lifetime by frequency
v. Total and age specific rate of ever-partnered women subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by current or former intimate partner in the last 12 months by frequency
vii. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to psychological violence in the past 12 months by the intimate partner

7. UNSC Indicators
viii. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to economic violence in the past 12 months by the intimate partner
ix. Total and age specific rate of women subjected to female genital mutilation

8. Forms of data
Administrative
Survey
Survey module
Big Data

9. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Replace MDGs,
UN project with extensive civil society consultation
Produced 17 goals, 169 targets, 232 indicators and counting
Indicators produced by IAEG-SDGs of UN Statistical Commission

10. Example of Goal 16
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Target 16.1 Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere
Indicators: Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age

11. 16.1.2 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause
Proportion of population subjected to physical, psychological or sexual violence in the previous 12 months
Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live

12. 16.3 Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
Proportion of victims of violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms
Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population

13. Example of Goal 5
Goal 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls
Target 5.2 “Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.”

14. Indicators for Target 5.2
“Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner, in the last 12 months, by form of violence and age group.”
“Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner, in the last 12 months, by age group and place of occurrence.”

15. Indicators for Target 5.3
Target “Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.”
5.3.1 “Percentage of women aged who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18.”
5.3.2 : “Proportion of girls and women aged who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age.”

16. Is there adequate data and methodology?
Tier I: Established methods and available data
Tier II: Established methodology but little data available
Tier III: Lack established methodology and require further work and development
December 2017: 93 Tier I indicators, 66 Tier II indicators and 68 Tier III indicators.
Goal 16: Only , Victims of intentional homicide, and , unsentenced detainees in prison are Tier I.

17. Availability of Data for VAW
All Violence Against Women indicators listed as Tier II – 5.2.1,5.2.2, and 5.3.2

18. Why not more data available?
Lack of organizations of various kinds that have resources to expend on developing systems of classifying, counting, analyzing, and presenting information
Inability of states to gather all relevant data
In other words, lack of infrastructure of measurement
New public/private partnerships emerging; question of control over data

19. Infrastructural dimensions
Cost of survey, including development of survey instrument, expert consultation, training of data collectors, system of aggregating and analyzing data: requires resources and a bureaucracy. Who pays?
UNSC uses narrower definition, relies on National Statistical Offices to carry out surveys. Offers guidelines and hopes states will follow through.

20. Importance of Infrastructure in shaping measurement
Measurement depends on control of guidelines and resources. What gets counted and how it is done depends on infrastructure of measurement Extent of disaggregation depends on infrastructure and resources Inequality of power in resources influences what gets measured and what does not

21. Conclusions
Power/knowledge: The ability to measure and represent provides a picture of the world which can influence governance
The underlying social theory of a measurement system is part of its power
The ability to measure depends on resources and expertise, which are unequally distributed
One consequence is the dominance of wealthier countries in measuring the world