Gender-Based Violence Survey

Gender-based violence (GBV) and violence-against-women prevalence surveys are standardized, population-based instruments designed to estimate how many people — overwhelmingly women — experience physical, sexual, and emotional violence by intimate partners and others. The dominant designs are the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) domestic-violence module. They measure violence through behaviorally specific acts rather than the word 'violence', and they are conducted under strict ethical and safety protocols that govern who is interviewed, how, and where.