The Regional Agenda to Establish Research Priorities on Violence Against Women and Girls in the Latin America and the Caribbean includes six domains of analysis, regional and subregional specificities, and was developed based on an intersectional approach to take into account the double or triple discrimination women and girls face in the region.
Building on the Global Shared Research Agenda (GSRA) and as part of continuing efforts to help ensure limited, precious research resources are directed to priority research questions, the SVRI commissioned Equipo FREE to facilitate the creation of a set of research priorities for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
Methodology of the Regional Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean
The methods used were both quantitative and qualitative, and included a desk review, data analysis and participatory consultations with experts on violence against women and girls in the region. The process aimed at ensuring that the voices of experts consulted were included and heard- with special attention to non-academic voices.
126 Afro-descendant, indigenous, mestizo, white, lesbian, bisexual, queer and disabled experts from Central America and Mexico, the Southern Cone, the Andean Region and the Caribbean responded the survey to identify experts in the region.
Of the 126 people who filled out the identification form, 83 responded to the first questionnaire on research priorities (77 women and 6 men) indicating priority topics to be investigated within the six domains of analysis identified to guide the process. 11 were interviewed, and 16 became members of an Advisory Board. This Advisory Board accompanied the whole process. Then, a second questionnaire to narrow down priorities was answered by 73 experts (69 women and four men).
In total, 101 experts from 22 countries in the region participated in the consultations which were conducted in Spanish, English and Portuguese.
Key findings of the LAC Regional Agenda
The LAC regional research agenda identified 23 research priorities under 6 domains including four general priorities. The six domains are:
- Domain 1. Characterization of violence against women and girls
- Domain 2. Strategies and actions to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls
- Domain 3. Improvement of prevention and care interventions against violence against women and girls
- Domain 4. Impact of policies and laws against violence against women and girls
- Domain 5. Costs and economic impacts of violence against women and girls
- Domain 6. Measurement of violence against women and girls
The four general priorities that were identified were:
- Key forms of violence identified as priorities were femicide or femicide violence, institutional or state violence, and sexual violence both within the couple and outside, particularly sexual harassment.
- The production of mixed methods research, which combines quantitative data with qualitative information to show and make visible VAWG and its different expressions.
- Risk factors clearly emerged as the aspect that experts consider a priority to investigate.
- Violence against girls and adolescents is the highest priority to be investigated in terms of age range.
The agenda also underscores the need to have an intersectional approach to conduct research on violence against women and girls in the region as women and girls can face double or triple discrimination. This intersectional approach often arises from a decolonial perspective and feminist research.
Additionally, four agendas were developed for the subregions of Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean, the Andean Region and the Southern Cone. The research agenda also identified subregional specificities and significant differences were found. For instance, concerning the overall priorities, the most prioritized type of violence in the Caribbean is intimate partner violence and sexual harassment.
Recommendations for the Field
Communications, dissemination and advocacy: The Regional Agenda will only be useful if it is able to position itself as a useful and relevant tool and reaches as many stakeholders as possible including research and donor networks, universities and research institutes and decision makers at the national level.
Adaptations will be needed to apply the regional agenda in specific contexts, communities and environments.
Research funding: the research agenda should be used as a tool to influence more significant and better research funding that addresses critical gaps.
Implementation: In order to guarantee the validity of the regional agenda, apply the principle of “nothing about us, without us” and ensure that the people with lived experience participate as guides in all its phases.