We know there are proven, evidence-based solutions to prevent and respond to sexual violence. Now, it is on us to bring it to scale.
This study compared prevalence estimates of violence in youth aged 15–24 years from two Ugandan population-based cross-sectional household surveys, including the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey.
The objective of this study was to understand factors associated with disclosure and help-seeking to inform care.
This study examines the relationship between exposure to violence and mental health issues among youth using a nationally representative study in Malawi.
This study conducts a multi-country, gender-stratified analysis of the relationship between age at first incident of physical violence and outcomes of wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa.
This study aimed to understand cycles of violence among adolescent girls and young women in Namibia to inform violence prevention and treatment interventions.
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and contraceptive behaviors among young women and men in Honduras.
This study was a secondary analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Zambia.
Explore this study on peer-reviewed research which used Violence Against Children and Youth (VACS) data or mentioned the VACS.
This study examined violence exposure and self-harm among Colombian youth aged 13–24.
This study utilized a three-stage clustered sampling design to administer a population-based household survey about victimization due to physical violence to 13–24 year old Haitians.
This systematic review sought to identify the relative importance of factors associated with physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children in low- and middle-income countries.
Explore the results from a secondary analysis of VACS data by Together for Girls, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Global Affairs Canada.
This brief explores the results of the 2019 the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey, which found that both boys and girls experience unacceptably high rates of emotional, physical, and sexual violence in Namibia.
Explore the key findings and recommendations in this policy brief based upon a global systematic review and meta-analysis of factors associated with physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children in ow- and middle-income countries.
This analysis employed data from 13–24-year-old females as part of the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) in Nigeria, Uganda, and Malawi.
This study specifically investigates the role of fathers and whether paternal violence victimization is associated with peer violence perpetration, above and beyond maternal violence victimization.
Explore the research and findings from the Uganda Violence Against Children and Youth Survey.
This study seeks to explore the magnitude of witnessing intimate partner violence between caregivers, its association with other types of violence, and the relationship between witnessing intimate partner violence in the past and current mental distress.
This study provides comprehensive evidence on the negative effects of physical, sexual, and emotional violence on children’s well-being and educational outcomes in Northern Nigeria.
This study assessed whether the endorsement of inequitable gender norms about intimate partner violence against women and sexual behavior was associated with intimate partner violence victimization, intimate partner violence perpetration, and sexual risk behavior.
This study explores the rarely studied prevalence and dynamics around disclosure, reporting, and help seeking behaviours of children who ever experienced physical and/or sexual violence.
This article examines the effect of internal displacement from the 2010 Haitian earthquake on long-term physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children.
Explore data from the Honduras and El Salvador Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) reports launched in 2019.
This article examines the outcomes associated with early sexual debut in five sub-Saharan African countries for males and females, separately.
This study examines the independent association between emotional violence and some health conditions, risk taking behaviors, and violence perpetration among Nigerian young adults.
This policy brief is targeted at policymakers and practitioners working in gender, education, and child protection fields.
The Kenyan government has developed a national prevention and response plan (2019-2023) that aims to reduce violence against children prevalence by 40 percent.
This study examines the association between intimate partner violence victimization, perpetration, and mental health outcomes for male and female adolescents and young adults.
This study aims to quantify the prevalence of forced sex, pressured sex, and related pregnancy among adolescent girls and young women in five low- and middle-income countries.
In 2019, Together for Girls celebrated 10 years of partnership. This visual annex highlights key accomplishments from the partnership’s banner year, including high-level VACS launches, global events, and the release of several new resources.
Explore this study examining the prevalence of, and relationships between, violence victimization and negative health correlates of Haitian youth exposed to the 2010 earthquake.
This analysis examines the association between intimate partner violence perpetration and mental health for male and female adolescents and young adults in Nigeria.
This study examines the gendered association of acceptance of intimate partner violence across age, marital status, and education attainment — for male and female adolescents and young adults.
This study aims to explore the effects of poly-victimisation and gender attitudes on mental distress and suicidal ideation among adolescent girls in Cambodia and Haiti.
This brief explores the findings from the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey in Namibia highlighting the need for children and youth to know they can report violence, and that they will be helped.
Together for Girls, in partnership with The Equality Institute and the Oak Foundation, undertook a systematic review of proven solutions and best practices to prevent and respond to sexual violence against children and young people.
This report presents the priority indicators from the Mozambique Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS, 2019).
The purpose of this study was to investigate experiences of violence by age and sex across in Cambodia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania.
This study examines how exposure to emotional violence is associated with suicide ideation in childhood and adolescence in low- and middle-income countries.
This study examined the prevalence of forced sexual initiation and its consequences associated with forced sexual initiation among youth aged 13–24 years in three countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Building on growing evidence that violence against children is preventable, these evidence-based strategies support countries and communities to intensify their focus on prevention programmes and services in order to reduce violence against children.
Learn more about the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), including background on the process for implementation, details about the type of data found in the surveys, and information on where the surveys have been conducted so far.
Learn more about sexual violence against children, adolescents, and youth with data from the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), including data on prevalence and perpetration.
Watch this video to learn more about the Together for Girls partnership.
This article explores how the use of innovative approaches to analyzing proxies for gender norms, generated evidence that gender norms impact the health of women and men across life stages, health sectors, and world regions.
This study explores the collective effects of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional violence on selected self-reported health outcomes among young Kenyan females and males using the Violence Against Children Survey (VACS).
This purpose of this study is to describe associations between childhood violence and forced sexual initiation in young Malawian females.
From 2013 to 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with Together for Girls and the governments of Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia to plan and implement Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys.
Explore the first study to estimate the economic burden of aspects of violence against children in Nigeria.
Explore this analysis looking at risk factors of childhood emotional, physical, sexual violence, and polyvictimization for children aged 13–17 from Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys across six countries.
This study explores the association between emotional, physical, and sexual violence against children with physical intimate partner violence in young adulthood.
Using infographics, this document visualizes the findings of the national Violence against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in Lao PDR.
This study compares the characteristics of survivors who present for healthcare to those of survivors reporting violence on national surveys; understand the healthcare services provided to survivors; and, identify barriers to treatment.
Explore this article on what drives violence against children in Zimbabwe and what can be done to address them.
This study describes the surveys’ target population, sampling design, statistical considerations, data collection process, priority violence indicators, and data dissemination.
This analysis explores the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and HIV sexual risk-taking behaviors among young adults in Malawi.
This white paper seeks to fill a gap in the field by describing strategies for interviewer recruitment and training for population-based studies on violence with child research participants.
This National Plan of Action provides a five-year national framework for all stakeholders committed to preventing and responding to violence against women and children in Zanzibar.
Explore the findings from this 2017 T-Watoto survey report which will inform the design and implementation of key interventions in engaging with communities to prevent and respond to violence against children.
This article explores the analysis of the associations between emotional abuse and putative risk, and protective factors and health outcomes.
This article explores the prevalence, circumstances, and health outcomes associated with childhood sexual violence.
The five-year National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children has been developed by consolidating eight different action plans.
This document sets out the pathway that Nigeria will take to achieve the goal of ending violence against children.
Explore Lao PDR’s Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) preliminary report.
This document serves as a companion guide to the 2012 Clinical management of children and adolescents who have experienced sexual violence: Technical considerations for PEPFAR Programs, which provides step-by-step guidance on the appropriate clinical/forensic care for children and adolescents who have experienced sexual violence and exploitation.
This study examines the association between exposures to violence in childhood, including exposure to multiple forms of violence, with young men's perpetration of intimate partner violence.
This study sought to produce the first internationally comparable estimates of the magnitude, characteristics, risk factors, and consequences of sexual violence against boys in three countries.
This research briefing describes the contribution VACS have made to the global understanding of violence against children.
Watch this video to learn how young girls and boys in Malawi are empowered with skills to protect themselves and their friends against sexual abuse.
This article explores findings from Haiti’s first nationally representative survey focused on childhood violence to help inform the development of a national action plan for violence against children.
Explore this summary report on the Together for Girls experts meeting with key partners working to combat violence against children (VAC) from the fields of human rights, HIV/AIDS, and violence against women (VAW).
This document builds on The Together for Girls Partnership: Linking Violence Against Children Surveys to coordinated and effective action, consolidating lessons learned from countries undertaking the national action planning process.
This document outlines the government of Cambodia’s core commitments to prevent and respond to violence against children leading to the development of a National Action Plan on violence against children in Cambodia.
This study estimates the health and economic burden of violence against children in Cambodia, addressing a significant gap in the current evidence base.
This study explores the evidence linking violence against women and HIV, including on the cycle of violence and the links between violence against children and women.
This study examines exposure to multiple forms of violence among Malawian children and youth and their association with mental health outcomes.
This document serves as a guide for countries and Together for Girls partners interested in undertaking the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS).
Explore this study on the scope and characteristics of childhood physical abuse in Swaziland.
The aim of this study in 2012 was to summarize the evidence relating to the possible relationship between child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, and subsequent mental and physical health outcomes.
Explore the protocols on the multi-sectoral management of sexual abuse and violence in Zimbabwe.
The purpose of the Technical action framework is to provide key stakeholders with an overview of the strategies that can be used to prevent and reduce sexual violence and its consequences to children, especially girls.
This article explores risk factors for sexual violence in childhood in a nationally representative sample of females aged 13 to 24 years in Swaziland.
This study looks at the prevalence and circumstances of sexual violence in girls in Swaziland, and assesses the negative health consequences.
While school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) is prevalent, it is also preventable, and there are evidence-based solutions that show that teachers and school personnel can be significant changemakers when they take active roles in preventing, addressing, and responding to violence.
This essay is guest authored by Peter Kisaakye, Francis Obare, George Odwe, Yohannes Wado, and Chi-Chi Undie. Part of Population Council’s Rooted Reflections series, the team share their experiences implementing the first-ever Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (HVACS), gathering vital data about violence against refugee children.
This essay is guest authored by Chi-Chi Undie, Senior Associate, Population Council and Together for Girls board member. Part of Population Council’s Rooted Reflections series, Chi-Chi shares her experience of implementing the first-ever Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (HVACS), gathering vital data about violence against refugee children.
On May 11-13, 2022, senior government officials and civil society leaders from over 30 African countries gathered at the Pan-African symposium on violence prevention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Survivors and allies demand change
Together for Girls is promoting meaningful partnerships amongst local agencies to catalyze full scale support for children.
Next week, on March 29-30, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) will hear the groundbreaking case of Brisa De Angulo Losada v. Bolivia.
International Safer Internet Day serves as a reminder that we all have a role to play in keeping children and adolescents safe online. Together, we can make the internet a safer and better place for children and adolescents now and in the future.
To mark World Education Day this year, we spoke to Yona Nestel of Plan International and Olanike Timipa-Uge of Teenage Network to learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on girls’ access to education.
On Human Rights Day, let’s commit to accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by ending violence against children and adolescents. We must protect their right to live free from violence.
The World AIDS Day 2021 theme is “End Inequality. End AIDS. End Pandemics.” By ending gender inequality and the silent pandemic of sexual violence against children and adolescents, we can create a safer, AIDS-free future.
November 18 is the Inaugural World Day for Prevention, Healing and Justice to End Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents.
We have conducted secondary analyses of the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) to understand the prevalence, consequences, and gender-specific experiences of violence in and around schools.
For decades, advocates and researchers have stressed the need to collect more data on both violence against children and violence against women and have pushed to make sure data is disaggregated by sex, age and geography.
High-quality, disaggregated data on school-related gender-based violence is essential to help drive effective policies and programs for prevention and response.
In 2015, Uganda’s commitment to implementing the Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS) was motivated by limited pre-existing nationwide data on the prevalence and magnitude of violence against children.
The Generation Equality Forum, convened by UN Women was co-hosted by the governments of France and Mexico in close partnership with civil society and youth activists, launched a collective call to accelerate action for gender equality.
Together for Girls and partners hosted a Solutions Summit side event. Global leaders, experts, and youth activists shared the latest data on violence in school settings and highlighted school-based interventions for catalyzing broader social change to end violence.
Social norms drive gender inequalities and violence, and even though access to education is a human right, learners across the globe are impacted by school-related gender-based violence.
Together for Girls profiles VidaNyx — the leading cloud-based digital video evidence management solution that works to address the needs of the Children’s Advocacy Center in the U.S. — as a critical solution in the What Works to Prevent Sexual Violence Against Children Evidence Review.
The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month. Throughout April, the Keep Kids Safe coalition is raising awareness of sexual violence and promoting events that amplify the voices of survivors.
Responding to violence and ensuring survivors can access justice
As we think about the past year there are undeniable moments of collaboration and partnership that provide hope as we prepare for the year ahead.
Every child deserves to be safe at home, in their communities, and at school. However, findings from the VACS show that many children experience school-related gender-based violence. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Girls Health Ed is one organization working in and through schools to address the root causes of gender equality that often lead to violence.
Whether you’re a parent, leader of a youth-focused organization, or coach of a youth sports team, you should know what safeguarding is and why it’s critical to keeping kids safe.
Together for Girls, Darkness to Light, Child USA, and the National Children’s Alliance join forces with a diverse coalition of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, advocates, and leading organizations to launch #KeepKidsSafe.
The Violence Against Children and Youth Survey report, reveals new data about the state of violence against children throughout Côte d’Ivoire, but also, pointing to critical facts that were previously unknown.
Athlete A reminds us how regularly survivors are ignored and how often they are chastised for reporting an abuser. It reveals how self-interested institutions can themselves turn into cloaks of protection for the most heinous crimes.
The COVID-19 lockdowns around the U.S. have exacerbated what was already a widespread problem gripping our nation: the trapping of children at home with sexual abusers.
Survivors of sexual violence, particularly those of color, should be leading the conversations about their needs and the needs of their communities, informing policy, and catalyzing prevention.
Every child around the world deserves the opportunity to learn. Education is a basic human right and a necessary pathway to ending extreme poverty. We know that equitable, quality education has an immense power to transform the lives of individuals, communities, and nations.
This blog features COVID-19 parenting resources, including evidence-based strategies to manage stress, tools to keep children safe online, and guides that help parents talk to their kids about COVID-19.
Ashleigh Howard — a global health epidemiologist with expertise in violence and HIV — shares her top 10 things you should know about the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys.
Education is a fundamental human right and a critical pathway to ending extreme poverty. Equitable, quality education has an immense power to transform the lives of individuals, families, communities, and nations.
Launched in 2007, the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys in Eswatini was the first of its kind and a prototype for surveys to come, focused on sexual, physical, and emotional violence against girls and young women.
Childhood sexual violence differs from other forms of violence, such as physical or psychological violence, as child development and the capacity to consent influence its recognition as a crime.
Together for Girls rang the the New York Stock Exchange opening bell on September 16, to celebrate a decade of partnership.
Together for Girls released a new case study highlighting groundbreaking country-led action to end violence against children and youth from a decade of the partnership’s collective work in Tanzania.
In celebration of Together for Girls' 10-year anniversary, we sat down with Gary to learn more about how Together for Girls came to be — where it all began, the challenges, the successes, and what’s next.
Attitudes and behaviors that can exacerbate the risk for or facilitate acts of sexual violence against adolescents and children are grounded in broad social norms.
Together for Girls talks with Dr. Andrés Villaveces MD, MPH, Ph.D. to learn more about his experience in the field and what inspires him to do this critical work.
On September 21, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) launched an historic global, multi-year initiative focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) – the Spotlight Initiative.
Six ways to celebrate 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
Together for Girls had the opportunity to interview Gary Barker, the President and CEO of Promundo and longtime champion of engaging men and boys in gender equality and violence prevention.
For the second annual World in Your Hands Art Contest, Together for Girls and the Coalition for Adolescent Girls asked female artists ages 12-24 about their influences, how they themselves strive to influence others, and how they use their voice and influence to make the world a better place.
Girls from all over the world used their artistic talents to illustrate barriers and solutions to gender inequities that stop them from reaching their full potential.
The photo exhibition, “Champions for change”, brings together personal stories showcasing how individual action can lead to a collective and forceful nationwide movement against gender-based violence.
Across Kenya, PEPFAR’s DREAMS partnership is supporting young women to lead safe and healthy lives free from HIV.
A prudent intervention on the adoption of safeguarding policies and procedures for child and youth-serving organizations
A prudent intervention providing education and awareness-raising for adults who interact with children
A program that recognizes and encourages coaches' unique position to impact positive attitudes and behaviors, and challenge toxic masculinity
“My dream for these children is for them to reach their own dreams according to their own desires.”
“What gives us hope is how we are rescuing these children. If I stop doing this, who will?”
“My request is that we reach more girls all over Tanzania. They need to know that there is a safe space to talk. We’re here.”
“My salon is famous within the community. People are brought to me even if I don’t know them because they know that I am a champion for the victims of sexual violence.”
“With the one stop center, more victims get the services they need on time, right away."
"I started working in violence prevention because I believe that children need to be well-protected to ensure that they can grow and develop."
“Children’s issues are not a single person’s responsibility, we all must work in cooperation for the benefit of the child."
The United Nations declares November 18 “World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Violence”
Global landscape analysis provides evidence that the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) drive policy and program reform.
On July 16, 2020, the Government of Kenya shared their groundbreaking second Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) Report.