The extent of evidence on interventions to prevent violence against children is unevenly distributed both geographically and by intervention
This Campbell-UNICEF evidence and gap map (EGM) includes interventions and outcomes, showing areas of evidence concentration that can be used to prepare evidence summaries to inform policy decisions, as well as identifying gaps in the evidence base which might benefit from a systematic review, research synthesis or additional impact evaluations.
The interactive EGM is available here.
What is this evidence and gap map about?
The EGM provides a visual and interactive display of completed and on-going studies structured around interventions and outcomes mapped in the INSPIRE framework. The framework includes these seven strategies:
- Implementation and enforcement of laws
- Norms and values
- Safe environments
- Parent and caregiver support
- Income and economic strengthening
- Response and support services
- Education and life skills
The population is children aged 0-18 years; parents, carers and other family members of children aged 0-18 years; and professionals involved in delivering support and services to children aged 0-18 years.
This EGM includes studies on all types of violence against children, i.e. physical violence, sexual violence and emotional violence.
The report presents findings on interventions addressing specific forms of violence, including corporal punishment, peer violence including bullying, and intimate partner violence.
What is the aim of this evidence and gap map (EGM)?
This EGM aims to identify all existing impact evaluation and systematic reviews related to reduction of violence against children in low- and middle-income countries published in English. A second phase of the EGM, currently underway, will expand the map to include literature in five other languages – Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
What studies are included?
The map includes 152 studies: 55 systematic reviews and 97 impact evaluations.
What are the main findings of this map?
Of the included impact evaluations:
- Interventions: Education and life skills (40) is the most commonly studied intervention area to reduce violence against children, followed by income and economic strengthening (38) and parent and child caregiver support (27).
- Outcomes: Direct impact on violence against children (91) is the most frequently measured outcome, followed by impact on changing norms and values (47) and safety and risk factors for other harms (45). Few impact evaluation studies measured economic and social outcomes (19) and there is a lack of studies conducting cost-analysis (2).
- Geographical distribution: Most studies are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa (59) and South Asia (13). The concentration of impact evaluations is particularly low for conflict-affected settings.
- Study confidence: A large number of impact evaluations have methodological limitations and are assessed to be of low confidence (47).
The systematic review evidence base is large, but similar to impact evaluations, is unevenly distributed across regions, with most reviews covering studies in Sub-Saharan Africa (37) followed by South Asia (27) and East Asia and the Pacific (28).
Of the included systematic reviews, parent, child and caregiver support (21), norms and values (20), and response and support services (20) were the most commonly studied interventions.
Many of the systematic reviews were assessed to have methodological limitations. There are large numbers of reviews rated as being of low and medium confidence, particularly those related to parent, child and caregiver support and to norms and values interventions.
What do the findings of the map mean?
Impact evaluations and systematic reviews of interventions for reducing violence against children have increased over the years, but there remain limitations that need to be addressed in research investment priorities and future studies. The evidence base is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and select countries within these regions. South Africa, Ethiopia and India are the most represented countries.
There should be more studies from low-income and conflict-affected settings, and more cost-analysis studies. Studies focusing on interventions linked to specific forms of violence, rather than multiple or unspecified forms of violence, could strengthen understanding of intervention effectiveness.
Overall, the EGM findings suggest the need to ensure increased investment in research to assess effectiveness of interventions, with specific attention to addressing thematic and geographical gaps.
How up-to-date is this EGM?
The authors searched for studies published up to December 2019.
Listen to a podcast about this EGM with Kerry Albright, Chief of Research Facilitation and Knowledge Management, and Ramya Subrahmanian, Chief of Child Rights and Protection at UNICEF Innocenti.
Watch a video explainer about this EGM by the lead author, Prachi Pundir.