Gender-Based Violence
Research, Monitoring, and
Evaluation with Refugee and
Conflict-Affected Populations
What is the manual?
This manual and the associated practitioner toolkit form a comprehensive
package to support researchers and members of the humanitarian community in
conducting ethical and technically sound research, monitoring and/or evaluation
(RME) on gender-based violence (GBV) within refugee and conflict-affected
populations. The manual’s step-by-step approach enables readers to make
appropriate ethical and methodological decisions when collecting data with
refugee and other vulnerable populations. In addition, the practitioner’s toolkit
provides data collection tools, templates and other resources that can be used in
the field to enhance data collection and analysis efforts.
Created by the Global Women’s Institute (GWI) at the George Washington
University, these materials have been developed through a multi-phased process
designed to identify and consolidate best practices and lessons learned in the
field. Researchers at GWI first conducted a literature review of peer-reviewed
articles and grey literature on GBV in refugee and conflict-affected populations.
The team consulted with research and GBV specialists to identify the most
important considerations for conducting ethical and methodologically-sound
data collection among these populations. Through this process, the team also
collected case studies to demonstrate the practical applications of best practices
in real world settings. The combination of these lessons and GWI’s own
experience in GBV research, monitoring and evaluation form the basis of this
document.
Why is it needed?
There is an increasing emphasis on research, monitoring and evaluation for
GBV programs among refugee and conflict-affected populations. However, these
efforts are mixed in quality and often raise ethical questions. Researchers and
practitioners often use weak methodologies (e.g. non-population based
sampling, insufficient sample sizes, utilizing poor questionnaire design,
insufficient training/piloting for data collectors, etc.) that reduce the utility of
their results. In addition, not all researchers appropriately consider the unique
ethical considerations that are relevant to collecting data on GBV in these
particularly vulnerable and resource-poor populations.
Key Concepts | 2
Despite this, donors are now emphasizing the importance
of NGO accountability to affected populations as well as
demanding that NGOs demonstrate the effectiveness of the
funds they provide. This has increased the pressure on the
humanitarian community to move to a more evidence-based
approach and to better understand and measure the effect of
their programs to prevent and respond to GBV.
While there are other existing guidelines and manuals that
can help researchers and practitioners to collect data on GBV,
none comprehensively examine the full research, monitoring
and evaluation spectrum or focus specifically on the unique
needs of refugee populations. This manual and toolkit aim to be
practical and accessible to both researchers and GBV program
staff alike. It provides an overall introduction to key concepts
and considerations for GBV research, monitoring and evaluation
as well as focuses on what makes this work different when
undertaken with refugee and conflict-affected populations.
Who is it for?
This manual and toolkit have been written for a variety of
audiences. Most importantly these resources aim to bridge the
gap between the academic and international humanitarian
communities by focusing on these two groups.
First, for the international humanitarian community, the
guidance will service as a primer on how to conduct safe and
ethical research, monitoring and evaluation on GBV in refugee
and conflict-affected settings. It provides a basic overview of
methodological choices and best practices on data collection
for GBV – allowing GBV specialists to design and conduct their
own basic research, monitoring and evaluation as well as to
feel empowered to engage with the academic community to
undertake more complex research and evaluation designs.
For the academic community, this guide will provide an
introduction to the key principles that make GBV research,
monitoring and evaluation different – particularly among
refugee and conflict-affected populations. It will share best
practices and lessons learned that will help them make the most
methodologically and ethically appropriate decisions for their
own research, monitoring and/or evaluation efforts.