Disclosure of violence against women and girls in Senegal

Peterman, Amber; Dione, Malick; Le Port, Agnes; Briaux, Justine; Lamesse, Fatma; and Hidrobo, Melissa. 2024. Disclosure of violence against women and girls in Senegal. World Bank Economic Review. Artcile in press. First published online September 6, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhae039

Measures of violence against women and girls (VAWG) are widely collected in surveys, yet estimates are acknowledged to be lower bounds of the true prevalence. This study reports on a survey experiment randomly assigning 3,400 women and girls to either face-to-face interviews or audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI), a modality that increases privacy and confidentiality of responses. Results show the ACASI group discloses higher prevalence of lifetime intimate partner violence by 4 to 7 percentage points compared to face-to-face interviews. Differences in disclosure for nonpartner VAWG are even larger, ranging from 6 to 12 percentage points. Tests for correlates of characteristics that might lead to increased disclosure show few notable patterns. Overall results suggest ACASI are a promising way to encourage disclosure, however trade-offs include limits in the complexity of questions that can be asked and higher time costs associated with development and implementation of surveys.

JEL Codes: C83, J12, J16