Age Is No Protection: Prevalence of Gender-Based Violence Among Men and Women Over 49 Years of Age in Five Situations of Protracted Displacement

• Activity Number: 289 - Data for the Public Good: Statistical Humanitarian Groups Making a Difference for Their Clients/Partners
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 : 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
• Sponsor: Statistics Without Borders
• Author(s): Theresa Harris*
• Companies: AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program
• Keywords: human rights; partnerships; older people; gender based violence; humanitarian response; refugees

Abstract

HelpAge USA invited the Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program of the American Association for the Advancement Science (AAAS) to collaborate on an investigation of the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) among women and men over 49 years of age in situations of protected displacement. The study also sought to identify factors that may increase the risks of older persons for exposure to GBV. The project involved volunteer statisticians, demographers, psychologists, computer programmers, and ethicists who worked with humanitarian and human rights experts to design the survey and informed consent procedures, write the research protocol, develop innovative digital methods for collecting data and keeping it secure, training the enumerators, and analyzing the findings. These experts worked across seven different countries to produce context-specific yet comparable results. HelpAge USA used these baseline findings as evidence for policy recommendations aimed at raising awareness of and more effectively protecting the human rights of older people displaced by conflicts.