Summary

An online centre to support practitioners and policy makers around the world who are responsible for taking action to prevent violence against women and girls in the effective design, implementation monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes.

Type of intervention

Book/guide, online/app

Target groups, level of prevention and subgroups

• Additional Resource | Book/guide | Online/app | English

Target population

The Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls targets professionals and policy makers around the world, who are responsible for taking action to prevent violence against women and girls, including sexual abuse. Its primary audience is developing countries and other countries with fewer resources.

Delivery organisation

The Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls is delivered by UNIFEM, which is part of UN Women. See www.unwomen.org. It can be freely accessed through the website at www.endvawnow.org..

Mode and context of delivery

This is a website for anyone who is developing strategies or programmes to prevent sexual abuse and violence against women and girls. Its focus is on gender-based violence against women and girls. There is a module on working with men and boys as potential and actual perpetrators (not as victims).

Level/nature of staff expertise required

No professional background required.

Intensity/extent of engagement with target group(s)

The website can be viewed for as long as required.

Description of intervention

The Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls is a one stop online resource. The aim is to support practitioners around the world in the effective design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes designed to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls. The web-based site brings together lessons learned to date and recommended practices in order to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of interventions. It is a fully searchable database of tools, practical guidance and resources as well as expert modules of different topics. It includes a module on work with men and boys.

The website provides a wide range of information from which to select, therefore intensity of engagement depends on individual requirements. It brings together data from many countries and from large and small initiatives.

The Virtual Knowledge Centre was designed by UNIFEM, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, which is part of UN Women, to help with the challenge of translating national and international policy commitments into practice. It is divided into a number of sections some of which are relevant to preventing child sexual abuse.

Programming Essentials, Monitoring and Evaluation: is a section which provides essential information and guidance for programming to address violence against girls and women. It includes information on forms of violence, prevalence and consequences, international frameworks, main challenges and strategies for prevention and response and a full module on monitoring and evaluation. A section on promoting primary prevention is included, as well as sections on capacity building and engaging key groups.

Work with men and boys: This module provides guidance on how to engage men and boys drawing on the knowledge of experts and on existing programmes that work. It provides information about the programming cycle, including step-by-step guidance with illustrative case studies and links to tools and other resources.

The website contains a fully searchable database of implementation tools and specialist organisations. Practical guidance is provided on:

• How to work with specific sectors and groups
• Proven and promising approaches
• Recommended training
• Evaluations and key data
• Sources and on-line resources
• Leading initiatives

Expert modules written by specialists have been vetted by a network of practitioners from around the world and include modules on prevention, campaigns, adolescents and legislation.

Evaluations

Although the site contains extensive information about evaluation and monitoring, the no evaluation of site itself is available.

References

Addressing Gender-Based Violence: A Critical Review of Interventions (Morrison, Ellsberg and Bott/World Bank, 2007). Available for purchase from Oxford Journals.

Addressing Gender-Based Violence in the Latin American and Caribbean Region: A Critical Review of Interventions (Morrison, Ellsberg and Bott/World Bank, 2004).

Intervening with Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Global Perspective (WHO, 2003).

Preventing and Responding to Gender-based Violence in Middle and Low-income Countries: A Global Review and Analysis (Morrison, Ellsberg and Bott/World Bank, 2005).

Primary prevention of intimate-partner violence and sexual violence: Background paper for WHO expert meeting (WHO, 2007).

Violence Prevention: the Evidence (WHO, 2009).

World Health Organization (WHO). 2009. Promoting Gender Equality to Prevent Violence against Women: Series of Briefings on Violence Prevention: The Evidence – Overview. World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva. https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/gender.pdf February 2010.

Contact details

See https://www.endvawnow.org/  

INFORMATION CORRECT AT JANUARY 2021

RATING: Pioneering