Measuring the incidence and reporting of violence against women and girls in liberia using the 'neighborhood method'

Abstract

BackgroundThis paper reports on the use of a “neighborhood method” to measure the nature and incidence of violence against women and girls in post-conflict Liberia.MethodsThe study population comprised females in Montserrado and Nimba counties. Study participants were randomly selected for interviews using multi-stage cluster sampling. 30 clusters of households were sampled in each county. Information on incidents of domestic violence and rape within the preceding 18 months was collected with regard to females of all ages in the respondent’s household, and those of her four closest neighbors to make up the full sample.FindingsHouseholds in the sample contained 7015 females (1687 girls, 4586 women, 742 age missing) in Montserrado and 6632 (2070 girls, 4167 women, 95 age missing) in Nimba. In the previous 18 months 54.1% (CI 53.1-55.1) and 55.8% (CI 54.8-56.8) of females in Montserrado and Nimba respectively were indicated to have experienced non-sexual domestic abuse; 19.4% (CI 18.6-20.2) and 26.0% (CI 25.1-26.9) of females in Montserrado and Nimba respectively to have been raped outside of marriage; and 72.3% (CI 70.7-73.9) and 73.8% (CI 72.0-75.7) of married or separated women in Montserrado and Nimba respectively to have experienced marital rape. Husbands and boyfriends were reported as the perpetrators of the vast majority of reported violence. Strangers were reported to account for less than 2% of the perpetrators of rape in either county. Incidents were most commonly disclosed to other family members or to friends and neighbors, and less often to formal authorities such as the police, court or community leaders. Incidents were approaching fifty times more likely to be reported to police if perpetrated by strangers rather than intimate partners.ConclusionsViolence against women and girls is widespread in the areas studied. Programming needs to address the fact that this violence is primarily occurring in the household, where most incidents go unreported outside the immediate family or social circle. Police and hospital reports severely under-represent these known perpetrators. Inter-interviewer variance and differences in reports for self and neighbors for some outcomes caution the precision and validity of some estimates. However, the potential utility of the neighborhood method for estimating prevalence rates with an accuracy suitable for programmatic purposes in conflict-affected and post-conflict settings is noted.

Measuring Physical Violence and Rape Against Somali Women Using the Neighborhood Method

“…The overwhelming majority of physical violence and rape was domestic in nature, perpetrated primarily by husbands and other family members and occurring primarily at home. The findings of this study are consistent with a systematic review on the prevalence of GBV in humanitarian settings that found high prevalence of IPV across countries as well as with previous studies using the neighborhood methodology (Stark & Ager, 2011;Stark et al, 2009;Stark et al, 2013). A study that used the Neighborhood Method to investigate incidence of physical violence and rape against females in Liberia found that more than half (56%) of the study sample had experienced physical violence in the previous 18 months and three quarters of adult women had experienced domestic violence in the same time period (Stark et al, 2013).…”

“…However, reported rates of rape did not differ significantly between respondents and females in their households as compared with neighbors and females in neighbors' households. Similar results were found when Stark et al (2013) investigated this potential bias in a Neighborhood Method study of GBV among women and girls in Liberia. A non-statistically significant trend toward higher rates of domestic violence was found among respondents as compared with female heads of neighboring households in Liberia; there was no statistically significant difference in reporting of rape between respondents and female heads of neighboring households (Stark et al, 2013).…”

“…Similar results were found when Stark et al (2013) investigated this potential bias in a Neighborhood Method study of GBV among women and girls in Liberia. A non-statistically significant trend toward higher rates of domestic violence was found among respondents as compared with female heads of neighboring households in Liberia; there was no statistically significant difference in reporting of rape between respondents and female heads of neighboring households (Stark et al, 2013). As a result, it is likely that this study underestimates the true prevalence of physical violence occurring in these communities.…”

Evaluating the communities care program: best practice for rigorous research to evaluate gender based violence prevention and response programs in humanitarian settings

“…Often these negative consequences are never addressed because women and girls do not disclose violence to authorities or access existing health and social services. Women and girls report non-disclosure is often related to harmful social norms that blame the victim for the assault, prioritize family honor and dignity over the health and safety needs of the survivor, and acceptance of sexual violence and other forms of GBV as normal and expected [10, 16, 26, 27]. Given the significant experience and risk of sexual violence and other forms of GBV faced by women and girls in conflict and other humanitarian settings, global and local organizations are collaborating to develop, implement and evaluate innovative GBV primary prevention and response interventions in diverse humanitarian settings [15, 17, 28, 29].…”

Challenges to Researching Childhood Sexual Violence in Indonesia

“…This study piloted the use of the 'neighborhood method' (Stark et al, 2009;Stark, Warner, Lehmann, Boothby, & Ager, 2013), in the Nusa Tenggara Timur province among a sample of 365 adult females to establish a rough estimate of sexual violence incidence, with adult respondents reporting only a handful of incidents of CSV (n = 5). The author suggested that interviewing adults may underestimate the prevalence of sexual violence against children where the perpetrator is a family member (Horn, 2011, unpublished report).…”