There is a small but growing evidence base underlying ICT interventions for prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence in low- and middle-income countries
Methodologically rigorous evidence examining the effectiveness of information and communication technology (ICT) in preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence against women and children in low- and middle-income countries is still relatively low, and almost non-existent with respect to children. However, with increasing interventions, future high quality studies appear to be increasing.
The interactive evidence and gap map (EGM) is available here.
What is this evidence and gap map (EGM) about?
The problem of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and children is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Adoption of ICT has increased exponentially throughout the world in the past decade. As new types of ICT interventions are being implemented with the purpose of preventing and/or responding to SGBV against women and children in LMICs, donors and policymakers have been looking for evidence based on rigorous studies that assess the effectiveness of such interventions. This EGM shows the available evidence from individual studies and systematic reviews.
What is the aim of this evidence and gap map (EGM)?
The primary goal of this EGM is to establish a baseline for the state of evidence relating to the use of ICT for preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence against women and children in low- and middle-income countries.
What studies are included?
The EGM includes systematic reviews, academic studies and grey literature from January 2005 to July 2021, focusing on:
- women and girls
- all children, aged 18 or under and
- SGBV prevention and/or response service providers in LMIC
Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, two are systematic reviews, two are scoping reviews and the remaining six are individual studies (two of which had separately published protocols, which are also included in the EGM).
Studies and reviews were categorised by type of intervention, and outcomes reflected the RESPECT Women Framework for preventing violence against women (World Health Organization 2019) and the INSPIRE Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children (World Health Organization 2016).
What are the main findings of this EGM?
No studies focused on using ICT exclusively for children. There is some evidence of impact in the areas of using ICT:
- to influence gender norms related to SGBV prevention and/or response
- in the form of mobile applications to increase safety and security
- to collect evidence related to SGBV incidents and user perceptions of SGBV services.
What do the findings of this EGM mean?
The results indicate a need for more rigorous studies on using ICT for SGBV prevention and/or response conducted in LMICs.
Specific research gap areas include: using harmonized and standardized impact indicators, child-focused interventions, and studies explicitly linking how ICT contributes to intermediate outcomes related to SGBV (identified under the RESPECT and INSPIRE frameworks) and ultimately to prevention and response outcomes.
How up-to-date is this EGM?
The authors searched for studies published up to July 2021.