
Bridging the Gaps: A Global Review of Intersections of Violence Against Women and Violence Against Children
This article presents a review of evidence on intersections between violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC)—including sexual violence by non-partners. It especially looks at low- and middle-income countries.
The review of evidence looks at six identified intersections of VAW and VAC: their shared risk factors, social norms that support violence and discourage help-seeking, child maltreatment and partner violence that co-occur within the same household, intergenerational effects of VAC and VAW, common and compounding consequences of VAC and VAW across the lifespan, intersection of VAC and VAW during adolescence, a time of heightened vulnerability to certain kinds of violence.
The evidence suggests:
- Consolidating efforts to address shared risk factors may help prevent both forms of violence.
- Early intervention is needed to address common consequences of VAC and VAW and intergenerational effects.
- Adolescence falls between and within both VAW and VAC, therefore deserves greater attention.
- There is a need for better collaboration in prevention strategies: Preparing service providers to address multiple forms of violence, better coordination between services for women and for children, school-based strategies, parenting programmes, and programming for adolescent health and development.
- More coordination among researchers working on VAC and VAW is needed.
- 2016
- Alessandra Guedes
- Sarah Bott
- Claudia Garcia-Moreno
- Manuela Colombini