RESEARCH AREAS

Violence Against Women Projects

	Gender-based Violence in the Balkans
	Property Rights and Domestic Violence
	The Costs of Violence
	Secretary-General's Report on Violence Against Women
	Stigma and Violence Reduction Toolkit for Health Care Providers

Gender-based Violence in the Balkans

ICRW will build on lessons learned from the ISOFI project as it partners with CARE to reduce gender-based violence in the Balkans.

Violence against women and girls is a grave social and human rights concern affecting nearly all societies. A culture of violence, particularly against women, has become pervasive in the western Balkans since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Young men in particular are pressured from an early age to exhibit typically "manly" characteristics, which are often aggressive and even violent. Traditional patriarchal customs and norms foster silence at the community level regarding violence experienced by women.

This three-year program will use action research to clarify the experience, attitudes and behavior of young men related to gender-based violence in the western Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia), and measure impact of interventions on male attitudes and behavior relating to violence.

For more information, please contact Sarah Degnan Kambou.

ICRW and International NW Balkans report on young men between the ages of 13 and 19 to deconstruct masculinity in their cultures and determine how gender norms and male socialization lead to inequitable attitudes and behaviors toward women and girls.

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Property Rights and Domestic Violence

ICRW is researching the association between women's experience of domestic violence and their ownership of property across different cultural contexts.

By exploring community perceptions, attitudes and practices related to women's land ownership and promoting dialogue on the issue, ICRW aims to increase women's social protection against violence.

For more information, please contact Nandita Bhatla.

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The Costs of Violence

Economic, health related and social costs of violence against women are largely undocumented and unrecognized by policy-makers.

This gap in understanding of the enormous costs of violence on households and communities often constrains the political will to provide adequate resources to address the issue. ICRW is developing a framework for estimating costs of intimate partner violence at the household and community levels.

For more information, please contact Nata Duvvury.

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Secretary-General's Report on Violence Against Women

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is conducting an in-depth study of the forms, consequences and costs of violence against women. The study will be based on research undertaken and data collected at the national, regional and international levels, and will include statistical information and best practices.

ICRW will prepare a chapter for this study which will be circulated among policy-makers and national governments to create awareness of gender-based violence and how to reduce violence against women.

For more information, please contact Nata Duvvury.

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Stigma and Violence Reduction Toolkit for Health Care Providers

This project is designed to advance knowledge and practice in reducing HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination and gender-based violence in India and builds on a previous project that developed a stigma an violence reduction intervention with rural communities in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Targeting health care providers, this is an initiative in Andhra Pradesh to develop and implement a stigma and violence reduction toolkit.The toolkit aims at reducing stigma and tolerance of gender-based violence among health care providers, strengthening their ability to deliver higher-quality care to vulnerable populations.

Project activities will take place in the high-risk district of Ichapuram, but the toolkit is intended for broader application throughout Andhra Pradesh and India.