LearnVACS is a course on how to use and analyze the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) data.

LearnVACS: Course aims

The aim of LearnVACS is to support researchers, practitioners, advocates and policymakers to contextualize, analyze, interpret and use the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS).

We want to create a community of practice to support analyses of data on violence against children to inform programming and policy and create a free and accessible resource on how to analyze data on violence against children.

This course is for you if you:

Are interested in understanding how VACS data were collected
Want to learn approaches to analyzing data on violence
Are planning or conducting analyses of VACS data

Overview of the course

Section 1, Welcome and Overview: In section 1 we will introduce the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), describe how the Uganda VACS was designed and conducted, offer examples of interviewing young people about violence, and describe principles and approaches to ensuring ethical data collection.
Section 2, Analysing data on violence: In section 2 we will introduce the global epidemiology of violence against children and key principles and approaches to analyzing quantitative data on violence against children.

Section 3, Analysing VACS data: In section 3 we will describe the sampling approach of the VACS, describe the constructs in the VACS, and demonstrate how to construct and code violence variables, including physical, sexual, emotional and school-related gender-based violence.
Section 4, Using VACS data for programmes, policy and research: In section 4 we will introduce key principles of reporting and communicating data on violence and explore examples of how VACS data are used in programming, policies and research.

How to take the course:

Watch all the sections or select the ones more relevant to you
It may be helpful to have a provisional research question related to the VACS
Download VACS data and documentation
Give us your feedback!

Meet the team

AfriChild

Timothy Opobo, Executive Director, AfriChild Centre
Mathew Amollo, Technical Advisor, Evaluations, AfriChild Centre
Clare Bangirana, Director, Research and Knowledge Development, AfriChild Centre
Clinton Tumanye, Communications Officer, AfriChild
Pamela Ahereza, Communications Assistant, AfriChild

Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford

Amiya Bhatia, Associate Professor, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford
Anja Zinke-Allmang, Research Manager, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford

Child Protection Research Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Jodie Pearlman, Research Fellow & PhD Candidate, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dr. Charles Opondo, Associate Professor of Medical Statistics and Co-Director of the Clinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Professor Karen Devries, Epidemiologist, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Aga Khan University

Daisy Chelangat, Research Associate, Aga Khan University

Together for Girls

Begoña Fernandez, Former Director of Data and Evidence, Together for Girls
Constanza Ginestra, Research and Policy Specialist, Together for Girls

Course outline

Join the Contexts and Violence Research Network (Net-VAC)

You are welcome to sign up to Net-VAC, a network of early career violence researchers who are interested in exploring how school, household, neighbourhood and community contexts shape experiences of and use of violence as children grow up.

Thank you to the SDG Impact grant at the University of Oxford for supporting this course.