Indicators on violence against women

Definition of an indicator

Indicators summarize complex data into a form that is meaningful for policy makers and the public.

Importance of indicators on violence against women

Policy makers on violence against women consistently request more and better quality information, including data, on violence against women in order to: guide legislative and policy reforms; ensure adequate provision of targeted and effective services; monitor trends and progress in addressing and eliminating violence against women; and assess the impact of measures taken. Indicators, with their associated benchmarks, contribute to organizing data into a form which contributes to the evaluation of policies and monitoring of progress in achieving goals. They enable an evidence-based comparison of trends over time, and within and between countries.

Indicators on violence against women may be divided into two main categories: indicators to measure the scope, incidence and prevalence of violence against women; and indicators to measure the effectiveness of measures undertaken to address violence against women. The Commission on the Status of Women and the Statistical Commission are currently developing indicators to measure violence against women. The report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on indicators on violence against women and State response (A/HRC/7/6) proposes indicators to measure violence against women and indicators to measure the effectiveness of State responses.

Expert group meeting on indicators to measure violence against women

In 2006, the General Assembly, in resolution 61/143, requested the Statistical Commission to develop and propose, in consultation with the Commission on the Status of Women, and building on the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, a set of possible indicators on violence against women in order to assist States in assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of violence against women.

In order to support the work of the Statistical Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women, an expert group meeting on indicators to measure violence against women was convened from 8 to 10 October 2007 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE), the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN DAW) and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). The Economic Commission for Africa (UN ECA), the Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) collaborated in this effort. The meeting was hosted in Geneva by the Conference of European Statisticians’ Task Force on Violence against Women.

In its final report, the expert group meeting produced a list of proposed international indicators on violence against women, focusing on prevalence of: physical violence, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and on two harmful practices, namely early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM).

On 28 February 2008, the Statistical Commission and the Commission on the Status of women held a joint dialogue to discuss the outcomes and proposed set of indicators of the expert group meeting. The Statistical Commission decided to undertake further work in this area.

Interim set of indicators adopted by the Statistical Commission

In July 2008, the Chairperson of the Statistical Commission, Mr. Pali Lehohla (South Africa), reported in a statement during the ECOSOC event “The role of ECOSOC in addressing violence against women in all its forms and manifestations: A dialogue with the chairpersons of the functional commissions” that the Statistical Commission had approved the formation of a Friends of the Chair group to conduct an in-depth technical review of proposed indicators to measure violence against women.

The Friends of the Chair group includes experts from Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Ghana, Italy, Mexico (the Chair) and Thailand, as well as observers from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat (Division for the Advancement of Women) the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Economic Commission for Europe, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the World Health Organization. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences also participates as an observer. The Statistical Division serves as the Group’s Secretariat.

The Friends of the Chair group submitted a report to the fortieth session of the Statistical Commission. It provides a technical evaluation of the indicators adopted by the expert group meeting taking into account national experiences in collecting, processing and disseminating statistics pertaining to violence against women. The report proposed a set of six indicators as a “starting point for initiating further work on identifying the most appropriate measurements.”

Report of the Friends of the Chair of the United Nations Statistical Commission on the indicators on violence against women E/CN.3/2009/13

At its fortieth session, the Statistical Commission considered the report of the Friends of the Chair. In its decision 40/110 on gender statistics (in E/CN.3/2009/29 [ A|C|E|F|R|S ]), the Commission welcomed the report of the Friends of the Chair on indicators on violence against women and adopted the proposed set of indicators as an interim set and the first step.

Interim set of indicators adopted by the Statistical Commission

1. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to physical violence in the last 12 months by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator(s) and frequency.
2. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to physical violence during lifetime by severity of violence, relationship to the perpetrator(s) and frequency.
3. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to sexual violence in the last 12 months by relationship to the perpetrator(s) and frequency.
4. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to sexual violence during lifetime by relationship to the perpetrator(s) and frequency.
5. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to sexual or physical violence by current or former intimate partner in the last 12 months by frequency.
6. Total and age-specific rate of women subjected to sexual or physical violence by current or former intimate partner during lifetime by frequency.

Report on the Meeting of the Friends of the Chair of the United Nations Statistical Commission on Statistical Indicators on Violence against Women of February 2010 (ESA/STAT/AC.193/L.3) (English version available only)

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