IVAWS International Violence Against Women Survey

The International Violence against Women Survey (IVAWS) is specifically designed to target violence against women and to make international comparisons. It utilizes the methodology and contacts developed for the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) as well as the specific expertise of Statistics Canada in developing sensitive survey tools for measuring violence against women.

International coordination

- HEUNI – European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control United Nation
- UNODC – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
- Statistics Canada
- UNICRI – United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute
- AIC – Australian Institute of Criminology

The aim with the IVAWS is:

- to promote research on violence against women (prevalence of violence against women and the sheer numbers of people affected),
- to raise awareness, promote human rights,
- to promote policy development for preventing and counteracting violence against women both nationally and world-wide,
- to evaluate the legal assistance of women experienced by violence,
- to create an international data set for cross-cultural analysis of violence against women around the world.

The International Project Team is responsible for the conceptual and methodological development of the IVAWS, the co-ordination of activities with participating countries, the creation, maintenance and analysis of a data set, promotion of the survey, the publication of key findings and planning for future activities.

Envisaged participating countries of the IVAWS

1. Survey ongoing or completed in 2003:
Australia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Greece, Switzerland
2. Survey to start early in 2004:
Denmark. Italy, Mozambique, Poland
3. Pilot study conducted:
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Basque region (Spain).

IVAWS in Poland

In Poland, the International Violence against Women Survey is coordinated by dr Beata Gruszczynska at the Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialization, Warsaw University. The Project is funded by the Ministry of Science and Informatics.

Contact

Beata Gruszczynska, Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialization, Warsaw University, ul Podchorazych 20, 00-721 Warsaw, tel: +48 22 55 30 720, fax: +48 22 55 30 753
e-mail: b.gruszczynska@uw.edu.pl