Acceptance of Gender Based Violence

This indicator measures the proportion of either men or women who consider physical or sexual violence as an acceptable way of treating their intimate partners.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of your target group members:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Introduction: Now I am going to ask a few more sensitive questions. There are no right or wrong answers, so please answer depending on how you feel about the topics. Please be as honest with your answers as you can. I would again like to assure you that your answers will be kept secret, and that you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to.

Q1: In your opinion, is there any situation when it acceptable for a [specify: man / woman] to beat [specify: her / his] intimate partner?

A1: yes / no / did not respond

Q2: In your opinion, is there any situation when it acceptable for a [specify: man / woman] to have a sex with [specify: her / his] intimate partner even if the partner does not want to have sex?

A2: yes / no / did not respond

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents who responded “yes” to any of the two questions by the total number of respondents (exclude those who did not respond to one or both questions). Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by the respondent’s gender, age group, marital status and other factors depending on the local context.

1) Measuring people’s attitudes towards abusive behaviour can be sensitive and pose risks to the respondent as well as to the enumerator. Therefore, as a very minimum, adopt the following measures:

- Ensure that the enumerators are familiar with and carry with them the Constant Companion listing 1) the main DOs and DON’Ts and 2) contacts for relevant service providers that can provide support to people who experienced violence (see example at the bottom of this page).

- Discuss and agree with your team whether the data collectors should be allowed to ask an affected person whether they can inform the relevant service provider about her/his situation so that s/he can be contacted by the service provider (i.e. thereby ensuring a referral).

- Ensure that all enumerators were trained in the principles of gender-sensitive interviewing and are not from the same communities as the interviewees

- Instruct the enumerators to ensure that the interviews are conducted in a place where no one else can hear or observe the respondent (if the enumerators cannot ensure complete privacy, they should skip this part and move to less sensitive parts of the questionnaire)

- Instruct the enumerators to ensure that the interviews are conducted in a place where no one else can hear or observe the respondent (if the enumerators cannot ensure complete privacy, they should skip this part and move to less sensitive parts of the questionnaire)

- Train the enumerators to quickly switch topic if during the interview someone comes too near the respondent

- Train the enumerators in how to close the topic and move to the next part of your survey in a sensitive manner

- Ensure that there is emotional support available to the enumerators