SVRI Forum 2022 Themes

The SVRI Forum calls for abstracts on effective interventions for, responses to, and prevention of VAW and VAC across different settings and populations. Research gaps in this area include research on humanitarian settings, out-of-school adolescent girls, LGBTQ+ populations, and women and children with disabilities. We are seeking abstracts from under-researched regions, such as Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. We are also calling for abstracts on interventions or aspects of interventions that have been unsuccessful or not worked with specific groups, and why.

VAW and VAC are recognised as pervasive in all sectors of society across the socio-ecological levels. The intersection of VAW and VAC with multiple other development challenges is also well recognised, indicating the need for innovative and creative multi-sectoral solutions. Integrating VAW and VAC interventions into other sectoral and development work is an opportunity to address these issues on a broader scale, in sustainable ways. The SVRI Forum invites abstracts on innovative approaches to conducting intersectional or integrative research and programming that will address VAW and VAC together, or VAW and/or VAC within other sectoral work.

Recent reviews show methodological challenges facing our field, including a lack of standardised outcome measures across studies, and of consistent and comparable reporting on trial outcomes. Our body of evidence is still dominated by research on intimate partner violence (IPV), with very few studies including other forms of violence against women, such as psychological, emotional, economic IPV and non-partner sexual violence. We also have very few longitudinal studies and studies measuring or reporting frequency, severity or recency of IPV. The SVRI Forum is calling for abstracts on the science of VAW and VAC research and how we can strengthen it.

COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill with most countries enforcing some sort of lockdown wherein most people, including the most vulnerable within communities, have been confined to their homes. The intensification of VAW and VAC during these lockdowns has been described as a shadow pandemic. The field has rallied and worked to support survivors during the crisis within new regulatory environments. There are many lessons here for us to learn and share. The SVRI Forum is calling for abstracts on how COVID-19 has impacted VAW and VAC in different settings, and how we have adapted the way we work in research and in practice in response.

Not all interventions can be taken to scale. We need to understand what makes certain interventions effective (or ineffective), what they cost, and who they work for. Different stakeholders need to collaborate to identify changes in intervention content or programs at scale, and their financial impact. They need to have clear cost measurement analysis and M&E strategies to refine scale-up packages. SVRI Forum invites abstracts on lessons learned around adaptation, scaling of interventions, which interventions work for whom, and costing at scale, as well as research to explore if ‒ and when ‒ scale is appropriate

Policy-relevant and actionable research in times of uncertainty can play a crucial role in understanding how to protect vulnerable populations from violence. SVRI Forum seeks abstracts on conducting research and programming during times of widespread instability and anxiety. In particular, we are seeking lessons from research and practice on COVID-19 and other public health emergencies, armed conflict, and natural disasters, and climate change.

In recent decades, we have gained a much deeper understanding of the complex and multi-faceted nature of physical and psychological responses to traumatic experiences, both primary and secondary (vicarious) trauma, and processes of healing and recovery. SVRI Forum invites abstracts on research exploring the outcomes of interventions with victims/survivors of VAW and VAC, in terms of their effectiveness in fostering healing and long-term recovery. We also invite abstracts that examine putting self, institutional and community care and kindness at the centre, and the related ethical responsibilities when conducting VAW and/or VAC research and programming; specifically, how we integrate kindness and self/collective care in the context of COVID-19.

Research has a diversity and inclusion problem. Knowledge generation in the VAW and VAC fields has been predominantly driven by researchers based in high-income, English-speaking countries, with priority given to, and policy being driven by methodologies that rely on quantitative measures over the voices of women survivors, children, indigenous and marginalised populations and practitioners working at the frontlines. The SVRI Forum calls for abstracts on indigenous knowledge and/or methodologies, practitioner-based learning, and creative entries using visual media, sound, and comics to complement more academic/scientific enquiry.