Taking a look at the evidence: the role of faith communities in prevention and response to

SGBVReligion & Sustainable Development: Building Partnerships To End Extreme Poverty

9 July 2015

Washington, DC

• Scoping Study commissioned by DFID and JLI• In reality, more of a scoping study/ systematic review/ qualitative

research hybrid• Literature review, electronic survey (113 invited, 51 completed), key

informant interviews (20)

Today I focus on the state of the existing evidenceThe status of the available evidencePossible reasons for thisPossible ways in which it can be improved

In identifying and selecting relevant literature, two things were of utmost importance:It must provide evidenceIt must be about some form of SGBV and faith

The focus on evidence led us to only accepting texts that are based on empirical research

We searched

• Peer-reviewed academic databases: ATLA, Scopus, Directory of Open-Access Journals, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, JStor, JAMA, LexisNexis, MasterFILE Premier, Academic Premier, MEDLINE, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, ProQuest Medical Library, ProQuest Social Science Journals, PsycARTICLES, Sabinet, Social Sciences , itation Index, Social Services Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts, Sociology Abstracts, and Africa-Wide: NiPAD.

• Hard copy publications were searched via SU’s “Libraries Worldwide” database. • Sabinet, Google Scholar, Project Muse, UN website and resource lists, Red Cross

website and resource lists, The World Bank website and resource lists, and the Deepweb, with the help of search engines such as Webcrawler.

• Survey and KII participants provided documentation• Snowball process: using the bibliographies of texts that have been selected, to identify

further texts

• We accepted academic articles, grey literature, organisational reports, internal evaluations, case studies, model programmes, and models of collaboration• We placed no limits on the discipline• 601 possible texts identified • After applying our final selection criteria, only 139 remained

Why only 139?Because of the focus on empirical evidence

Three categories of texts

• Intervention texts: texts that empirically study an actual faith-based intervention on any form of SGBV. The text could describe the intervention, evaluate the intervention, or both.• Status quo texts: texts that empirically study the current status quo in

terms of faith reaction to SGBV. These are empirical studies that look at how faith groups/institutions/leaders are currently reacting to SGBV. For example, a survey with clergy of a certain church denomination, looking at how they respond to the IPV within their congregations.• Model texts: Texts that develop a structured, systematic model of faith-

based response to SGBV. These are the only texts that were included even if they have no empirical component.

What are we finding?

• 90 of the texts are academic peer-reviewed journal articles• The overwhelming majority of the texts have been published since 2000, especially in the

last seven years• Overwhelming majority of literature is USA-based.• Big focus on domestic violence• Faith-based intervention tends to focus on working with or through faith leaders, and/or

targets (female) survivors• Faith-based intervention tends to be more focused on prevention • Prevention is largely creating awareness and training• Survivor are almost always seen as (only) women• Christianity, Judaism, Islam, interfaith• Overwhelming majority of texts are Christian-focused

What is the existing evidence saying about the role of faith communities and how they respond to SGBV?

• The importance of spirituality/ religion for coping with and healing from experiencing SGBV• Survivors want to turn to faith communities and faith leaders• Other disciplines (e.g. social work, psychology) emphasise the

importance of faith for holistic SGBV response• The key role of faith leaders in SGBV response• The importance of training that engages with attitudes, beliefs and

behaviours (not just knowledge)

Only one quantitative study – finding no link between religiosity and IPV perpetration – argues that less emphasis should be placed on religion during the rehabilitation of perpetrators.All of the other studies consistently find that faith is an important resource, and/or is effective in, addressing SGBV.

Where are the obvious gaps?

• There is a need for empirical research on faith involvement in SGBV: very little empirical evidence available• The world is not being represented• All faith groups are not being represented• There are no longitudinal studies• There are no RCT studies• No research or interventions on SGBV focused on other marginalised

groups (e.g. LGBTI, SVAM)• Very little focus on perpetrators (1 status quo study, 2 interventions, 1

model)

One must take into account not only what the evidence finds, but also the quality of the evidencee.g.: why is no-one willing to talk about failure?

Why is there so little research? Possible reasons• Funding• SGBV has only recently become a focus are for FBOs and faith

communities• Research has not been a priority for FBOs• Publishing and making research available has not been a priority for

FBOs• Faith sector finds public dissemination of reports challenging• FBOs do not talk about failures

Possible ways of building the evidence base• Funding: funders most prioritise and fund research• Sharing programme documentation and research• Create a community of learning• Interagency comparative studies• Partnering with academic institutions• Building research capacity within own organisations

Some challenges remain

• “Context is king”: interventions are difficult to replicate within different settings. How do you identify what is transferable?• “Faith” is not a homogeneous category. Even within the same faith

group there is vastly different opinions• How do we not simply demand ‘Western’ models of M&E, but

develop context-appropriate, yet rigorous, models?