Situation analysis
Know your facts
It is crucial to understand the magnitude, populations affected, consequences, types of violence women experience, and legal and policy situations in your specific context. Violence against women is widespread. Almost 1 in 3 women worldwide experience either physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner, or non-partner sexual violence, at least once in their lifetime. This number varies across and within countries. Comparable data for intimate partner violence in 159 countries can be accessed here.
Know your legal and policy context
Various global and regional frameworks are in place to address violence against women. They set out norms and standards to prevent and respond to it, as well as describe what specific obligations countries have to protect and uphold rights. You can learn more about how health and multi-sectoral policies from 179 countries are addressing violence against women and how these are aligned with international norms and standards.
Assess risk and protective factors
Some factors, which are either societal, community, interpersonal or individual, may either increase or reduce the likelihood of violence occurring. These are explained in more detail on pages 6 and 7 of the RESPECT framework. Assessing specific risk and protective factors in your context is an important step in order to develop interventions that reduce risk and/or enhance protective factors to prevent violence against women.
