Leveraging Real-Time Data to Enhance Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning: Gender-Based Violence

Introduction

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains one of the most widespread human rights violations: globally, around one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence in her lifetime (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021). In Ghana, the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) provides the legal framework for response, and the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey provides national data on women’s experience of violence (Ghana Statistical Service [GSS] & ICF, 2024; Republic of Ghana, 2007).

In the effort to address GBV, leveraging real-time data is paramount to improving the effectiveness of monitoring, evaluation, and learning efforts. Real-time data enables faster responses, better resource allocation, and greater impact on the lives of survivors and communities.

Real-time GBV data also carries serious risks. Information about survivors is highly sensitive, and collecting or sharing it carelessly can expose people to further harm. Every strategy below should therefore follow survivor-centred principles: informed consent, confidentiality, safety, and collecting only the data that is genuinely needed (Inter-Agency Standing Committee [IASC], 2015; WHO, 2007).

Seven Innovative Strategies

1. Mobile apps for reporting

Develop user-friendly mobile apps that enable survivors, witnesses, and service providers to report incidents in real time, ensuring immediate assistance and tracking of trends across geographies and communities. Apps should protect anonymity, store data securely and connect users directly to services, since remote data collection can put survivors at risk if it is not designed with their safety in mind (UN Women & WHO, 2020).

2. Geospatial mapping

Utilise geospatial data to identify high-risk areas, allocate resources more precisely, and target interventions where they are most needed. Maps reveal patterns that are invisible in tabular data, making programmes more effective and efficient. Data should be aggregated so that no individual survivor can be identified from a map (WHO, 2007).

3. Sentiment analysis

Employ sentiment analysis tools to assess the emotional state and response to GBV campaigns on social media, enabling timely adjustments in messaging and strategy to reach those most in need.

4. Hotlines and chatbots

Implement 24/7 hotlines and AI-driven chatbots for immediate support and information dissemination, ensuring victims have access to help whenever and wherever they need it, without barriers of time or location. Chatbots should complement, not replace, trained human responders who can assess risk and make referrals (IASC, 2015).

5. Community engagement platforms

Create online forums and community engagement platforms that facilitate discussions and feedback, promoting collective learning and the sharing of best practices among GBV practitioners and responders.

6. Data integration

Integrate data from multiple sources such as law enforcement, healthcare, and support services, to gain a comprehensive view of GBV incidents and responses, avoiding the siloed interventions that leave gaps in protection. Integration should be governed by clear information-sharing protocols that set out who may see which data, and why (IASC, 2015).

7. Real-time training and capacity building

Use virtual, augmented reality, and interactive simulations to enhance real-time training for GBV responders and advocates, improving the quality, consistency, and speed of frontline response.

The Call to Action

By adopting these innovative strategies, organisations can respond more effectively to GBV and continuously learn and adapt to improve their prevention and support efforts. Real-time data is a powerful tool in the fight against GBV, enabling faster response and greater impact on the lives of survivors and communities, provided that survivors’ safety, dignity and confidentiality come first (IASC, 2015; WHO, 2007).

References