Collecting Reliable Information About Violence Against Women Safely in Household Interviews: Experience From a Large-Scale National Survey in South Asia
Abstract
This article describes the first national survey of violence against women in Pakistan from 2001 to 2004 covering 23,430 women. The survey took account of methodological and ethical recommendations, ensuring privacy of interviews through one person interviewing the mother-in-law while another interviewed the eligible woman privately. The training module for interviewers focused on empathy with respondents, notably increasing disclosure rates. Only 3% of women declined to participate, and 1% were not permitted to participate. Among women who disclosed physical violence, only one third had previously told anyone. Surveys of violence against women in Pakistan not using methods to minimize underreporting could seriously underestimate prevalence.
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The household survey training was based on the 'reverie' training approach, which has proven effective to increase reliability of disclosure rates for SGBV.
“The part of training focused on the household survey was also based on the”
From Sexual and gender-based violence against South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: a mixed-methods study (2025) · cites this paper as Andersson, 2009
The reverie training approach includes hiring local research assistants from the same cultural background, dressing according to community norms, training on survey instruments and practicing in non-sample communities, and interviewers practicing remembering a case of gender violence before asking questions.
“The”
From Sexual and gender-based violence against South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: a mixed-methods study (2025) · cites this paper as Andersson, 2009
The reverie practice has been shown to increase empathy amongst research assistants and make them more comfortable asking about violence, and in turn participants feel more comfortable to share their experiences.
“This practice has been shown to increase empathy amongst research assistants and make them feel more comfortable asking participants about their experiences of violence.In turn, participants feel more comfortable to share their experiences (Andersson, 2009).”
From Sexual and gender-based violence against South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: a mixed-methods study (2025) · cites this paper as Andersson, 2009
Research has shown that disclosure of partner violence is highly influenced by interviewer factors as well as privacy and context of the interview, factors that are more difficult to control in national surveys designed for other purposes.
“Research has shown that disclosure of partner violence is highly influenced by interviewer factors as well as privacy and context of the interview--factors that are more difficult to control in national surveys designed for other purposes [16,25,26].”
From What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence? findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence (2011) · cites this paper as [25]
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References 32 · Cited by 39
- Authors
- Andersson, N., Cockcroft, A., Ansari, N., Omer, K., Chaudhry, U. U., Khan, A., & Pearson, L.
- Affiliations
- CIET Mexico
- CIET Trust, Johannesburg
- CIET Pakistan
- University of Peshawar (PK)
- UNICEF Ethiopia
- Venue
- Violence Against Women
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-01-27
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 482-496
- ISSN
- 1077-8012 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-8448
- OpenAlex
- W2130661370
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 5.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Violence Against Women (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Keywords
- household survey methodology, underreporting of violence, disclosure rates, interviewer training, respondent privacy, survey ethics, physical violence, prevalence estimation, Pakistan
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Middle Aged, Pakistan, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Disclosure, Social Values, Spouse Abuse, Prevalence, Women's Health, Battered Women, Young Adult
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