Nearly 50% of 18-24-year-olds experienced at least one form of violence before age 18.
Originally published by Population Council's.
Kampala, Uganda, 12 September 2024 – The first ever Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) to take place exclusively in a humanitarian setting reveals that children across refugee settlements in Uganda experience high levels of emotional, physical, and sexual violence, which have a major impact on their wellbeing, including their physical and mental health, and their schooling. In fact, nearly 50% of 18-24 year old females and males experienced at least one of these forms of violence before age 18.
“In an era where refugee crises are ubiquitous and are considered as one of the most significant challenges of this century, we are humbled by this opportunity to work with the government of Uganda to meet their goals for the refugees that they host,” said Dr. Chi-Chi Undie, Research Director, Baobab RPC. “We hope that learnings and impacts from the first-ever HVACS reverberate across the wider region. Our work is foundational, and there is much more to be done. We hope that other programs will further the progress we have made.”
Conducted from March to April 2022, the Uganda HVACS is a representative household survey of 13- to 24-year-old females and males drawn from all 13 refugee settlements in the country. The survey reveals that:
Read the full findings in the report
“Some of the findings were alarming and the data-to-action workshop [held to discuss the findings and prioritize actions] gave us the time and space to interpret the results and prioritize actions around violence against children and youth in refugee settings,” said Lydia Wasula, Principal Probation & Welfare Officer for Uganda’s Ministry for Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD).
The goal of this Humanitarian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (HVACS) is to enhance the well-being of children and adolescents in refugee settings in Uganda by providing population-based data that can inform prevention, healing and justice in these contexts. Based on the data, there is an urgent need for prevention programming in refugee contexts, including:
These lessons informed the second-ever Humanitarian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey, which was completed in refugee camps in Ethiopia in March 2024. Results are forthcoming.
“We know that half of the refugees around the world are children under 18. While children and adolescents are more affected by humanitarian crises, there is little data on their experiences of violence in these contexts,” said Begoña Fernandez, the Director of Data and Evidence at Together for Girls. “This first-ever Humanitarian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey is an important step in addressing an urgent data gap.”
In collaboration with the Uganda Ministry for Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) and the Office of the Prime Minister’s Department of Refugees, Baobab RPC is adapting a Population Council-tested intervention for implementation in refugee settings. In direct response to the 2022 Uganda HVACS findings, the intervention is expected to help promote disclosure by child survivors of sexual violence, normalize open discussions about sexual violence and care-seeking, while also shifting social norms that enable perpetration.
“I value our partnership with Baobab. The studies they are conducting are very important. They think outside the box,” said Senior Community Services Officer Darlson Kusasira of Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister. “We have learned that there is a lot we need to do through the evidence from the HVACS. [Since] the D2A [Data-to-Action] workshop, some implementing partners have included interventions into this year’s annual plans, especially on violence against children and youth.”
Media Contact
Joe Shaffner - Director of Communications, Population Council - jshaffner@popcouncil.org
About the Violence Against Children & Youth Survey (VACS)
The Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), led by national governments with technical assistance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of the Together for Girls partnership, have documented the magnitude and prevalence of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children in more than 20 low- and middle-income countries, with a view to informing national prevention and response programs. This survey employed the standard VACS methodology, which involves a three-stage random sampling approach, enhanced by implementation guidance for applying this methodology within humanitarian contexts.
About the Baobab Research Program Consortium (RPC)
The Baobab RPC is an Africa-based, African-led collaboration working to change the narrative about the possibilities for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) research in refugee settings. Acknowledging that few robust, well-regarded, population-based surveys have been conducted in refugee contexts (due to perceptions that such studies are too challenging to conduct in such locales), the Baobab collaboration is bringing selected, rigorous SRHR surveys into refugee settings in the East and Horn of Africa (EHA), with the goal of generating new evidence to inform context-appropriate programming and policies. Through this work, the consortium is filling critical evidence gaps to reduce inequities in SRHR among vulnerable populations in humanitarian contexts.
About Together for Girls
Ending violence against children cannot be solved by a single actor or sector alone. Together for Girls is a global partnership working to end sexual violence against children and adolescents. Active in over 20 countries, Together for Girls unites actors that often do not work together, including national governments, United Nations entities, the private sector, civil society, and survivors. Through data and advocacy, Together for Girls drives action to break cycles of violence and ensure prevention, healing, and justice.