| Definition and concepts |
Definition:
The total number of persons who have been victim of (a) physical, (b) psychological and (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months, as a share of the total population.
Three separate indicators should be computed, one for each type of violence.
Concepts:
This indicator measures the prevalence of victimization from (a) physical, (b) psychological and (c) sexual violence respectively.
(a) Physical violence: This concept largely corresponds to physical assault and robbery.
Assault is defined in the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) as: the intentional or reckless application of physical force inflicted upon the body of a person. This includes the intentional or reckless application of serious physical force resulting in serious bodily injury, and the intentional or reckless application of minor physical force resulting in no injury or minor bodily injury. According to the ICCS, these are defined as:
- Serious bodily injury, at minimum, includes gunshot or bullet wounds; knife or stab wounds; severed limbs; broken bones or teeth knocked out; internal injuries; being knocked unconscious; and other severe or critical injuries.
- Serious physical force, at minimum, includes being shot; stabbed or cut; hit by an object; hit by a thrown object; poisoning and other applications of force with the potential to cause serious bodily injury.
- Minor bodily injury, at minimum, includes bruises, cuts, scratches, chipped teeth, swelling, black eye and other minor injuries.
- Minor physical force, at minimum, includes hitting, slapping, pushing, tripping, knocking down and other applications of force with the potential to cause minor bodily injury.
In addition to acts of assault, acts amounting to serious physical threats are also included in the definition of physical violence. As defined in the ICCS, serious physical threats refer to threats with the intention to cause death or serious bodily injury.
Furthermore, physical violence also covers acts of robbery, defined in the ICCS as unlawfully taking or obtaining property with the use of force or threat of force against a person with intent to permanently or temporarily withhold it from a person or organization.
Physical violence only counts as such when it is non-consensual, for example, acts of physical violence (punching, kicking, etc.) experienced while exercising a regulated combat sport or combat training will not count towards victimization prevalence.
In the absence of suitable data on physical violence, it is possible to use data on physical assault or robbery, given they are both component of physical violence.
Psychological violence: There is no consensus at the international level on the precise definition of psychological violence. Psychological violence may be defined as any intentional and reckless act that causes psychological distress to an individual. Psychological violence can take the form of, for example, coercion, defamation, humiliation, intimidation, credible threats of violence, excessive verbal attacks or bullying, or harassment. Often, psychological violence is a pattern of behaviours, but it may be a distinct incident as well. Psychological violence is often experienced in domestic contexts. The internationally standardized and tested SDG 16 survey questionnaire provides a methodology and a core set of questions to measure psychological violence (see Section 4.c. Method of computation).
Sexual violence: As defined in the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS), sexual violence includes unwanted sexual acts or attempts to obtain a sexual act without valid consent or with consent as a result of intimidation, force, fraud, coercion, threat, deception, use of drugs or alcohol, or abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability. This includes rape and other forms of sexual assault, excluding non-physical sexual assault (e.g. sexual harassment). Sexual violence may be perpetrated by casual partners, by acquaintances or by strangers, but such acts also occur in established or even in formalized intimate partnerships, including in marriages. Sexual violence most often, but not exclusively, targets women. Sexual violence may also take place in same-sex contexts.
More details on the set of behaviours to be used to measure physical, psychological and sexual violence are provided in Section 4.c. Method of computation.
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| Data sources |
Acts of violence are heavily underreported to the authorities, so this indicator should be derived from population surveys, not administrative data sources.
Experience of violent victimization is collected through a series of questions on concrete acts of violence suffered by the respondent (see Section 4.c. Method of computation)
These questions can be part of an add-on module on physical, psychological and sexual violence, to be incorporated into other ongoing general population surveys (such as surveys on quality of life, public attitudes, or surveys on other topics) or be part of dedicated surveys on crime victimization.
Data should be collected as part of a nationally representative sample of the adult population residing in the country, irrespective of legal residence status. The sampling frame and sample design should ensure that results can be disaggregated at sub-national level. The sample size should be sufficiently large to capture relevant events and compute needed disaggregations.
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| Comment and limitations |
Crime victimization surveys are able to capture experience of violence suffered by adult population of both sexes; however, due to the complexity of collecting information on experiences of violence, it is likely that not all experiences of violence are duly covered by these surveys, which aim to cover several types of crime experience. Other dedicated surveys on violence usually focus on selected population groups (typically women, children or the elderly) or specific contexts (domestic violence, schools, prisons, etc.), but they are not able to portray levels and trends of violence in the entire population.
Victimization surveys (as dedicated surveys or as modules of household surveys) are usually restricted to the general population living in households above a certain age (typically 15 or 18 years of age and older), while sometimes an upper age limit is also applied (typically 65, 70 or 75 years of age).
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| Method of computation |
The indicator is calculated as the number of survey respondents who have been victim of (a) physical, (b) psychological, and(c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months, divided by the total number of survey respondents.
Three separate indicators should be computed, one for each type of violence.
The indicators refer to the individual (“direct”) experience of the respondent, who should be randomly selected among eligible household members. Experiences of violence by other members of the household should not be included in the computation.
The internationally standardized and tested SDG 16 Survey questionnaire and the accompanying Implementation Manual, which can be used by countries for collecting data SDG indicator 16.1.3, provide a core set of questions about specific behaviours that allow for the measurement of the prevalence of physical, sexual and psychological violence in the population. The Latin America and the Caribbean Crime Victimization Survey Initiative (LACSI) also offers a standardised methodology to measure violence.
While the precise formulation and wording of the pertinent survey questions may need national customization, a core set of behaviours have been identified as indicative of physical, psychological and sexual violence exercised towards a person.
Questions on physical, psychological and sexual violence are to be measured separately. Both numerator and denominator are measured through sample surveys of the general population.
The computation of this indicator requires the inclusion of a short module in a representative population survey, which elicits whether the respondent has, in the past 12 months, personally experienced any of the following acts or behaviours indicative of physical, psychological and sexual violence (see Table 1):
Table 1: Types of acts or behaviours indicative of physical, psychological and sexual violence.
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Physical violence
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A.
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THREATEN TO HURT PHYSICALLY WITH A WEAPON (stick, knife, firearm, etc.)
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B.
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THREATEN TO HURT PHYSICALLY WITHOUT A WEAPON, but in a really frightening way
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C.
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PUSH, SHOVE or SHAKE
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D.
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SLAP or PUNCH
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E.
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THROW A HARD OBJECT
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F.
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GRAB, PULL HAIR or DRAG
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G.
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BEAT WITH FIST OR A HARD OBJECT, OR KICK
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H.
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BURN
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I.
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Try to SUFFOCATE or STRANGLE
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J.
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CUT OR STAB
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K.
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SHOOT at
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L.
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BEAT HEAD AGAINST SOMETHING
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X.
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SOMETHING ELSE TO PHYSICALLY HURT, NOT COUNTING A SEXUAL ATTACK
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Psychological violence
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A.
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HURT, THREATEN TO HURT, OR THREATEN TO TAKE AWAY CHILDREN
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B.
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LIMIT CHOICES ABOUT FAMILY PLANNING, for example, by forbidding use of contraception or misleading about own use of contraception
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C.
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EXPECT TO BE ASKED PERMISSION TO SEE A DOCTOR
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D.
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TRY TO PREVENT TALKING TO OTHER MEN/WOMEN out of jealousy, OR INSIST ON KNOWING WHEREABOUTS at all times
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E.
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CONTROL WHAT CLOTHES ALLOWED TO WEAR AND TELL HOW TO DRESS
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F.
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SCARE OR INTIMIDATE ON PURPOSE, for example, by yelling and smashing things, using threatening expressions/words.
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G.
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DAMAGE OR DESTROY POSSESSIONS OR PROPERTY, including pets, to scare or hurt
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H.
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HARM, OR THREATEN TO HARM, SOMEONE CLOSE (apart from the cases already discussed)
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I.
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RESTRICT FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, for example, by locking up or taking away I.D. or passport
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J.
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Try to LIMIT CONTACT WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS or restrict use of social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
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Sexual violence
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A.
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FORCED SEXUAL INTERCOURSE by threatening, holding down or hurting in some way. Sexual intercourse means vaginal or anal penetration, including with objects, or oral sex.
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B.
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ATTEMPT to FORCE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE by threatening, holding down or hurting in some way, but intercourse DOES NOT OCCUR.
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C.
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FORCED SEXUAL INTERCOURSE when UNABLE TO REFUSE owing to the influence of alcohol or drugs
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D.
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FORCED or attempted to FORCE or THREATEN or BLACKMAIL TO HAVE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH SOMEONE, including forced to have sex in exchange for money, goods or favours.
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E.
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Unwanted sexual intercourse BECAUSE AFRAID OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF REFUSED
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F.
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STRIP, TOUCH INTIMATE PARTS – GENITALS OR BREASTS –OR KISSED when not wanted.
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G.
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Do something or forced to do something else of sexual nature that is perceived as DEGRADING OR HUMILIATING.
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H.
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THREATEN WITH VIOLENT SEXUAL ACTS, SUCH AS RAPE (OR FORCED PREGNANCY) in a really frightening way
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Based on the responses about experiences of different types of violent acts or behaviours listed in Table 1, the following indicators can be computed:
Indicator 16.1.3a: Proportion of population subjected to physical violence in the previous 12 months.
This indicator in computed by taking the number of respondents who experienced at least one form of physical violence in the past 12 months and dividing by the total number of respondents. The result needs to be multiplied by 100.
Indicator 16.1.3b: Proportion of population subjected to psychological violence in the previous 12 months.
This indicator in computed by taking the number of respondents who experienced at least one form of psychological violence in the past 12 months and dividing by the total number of respondents. The result needs to be multiplied by 100.
Indicator 16.1.3c: Proportion of population subjected to sexual violence in the previous 12 months.
This indicator in computed by taking the number of respondents who experienced at least one form of sexual violence in the past 12 months and dividing by the total number of respondents. The result needs to be multiplied by 100.
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| Related indicators |
Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age
Indicator 5.2.2: Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
Indicator 11.7.2: Proportion of persons victim of non-sexual or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months
Indicator 16.2.3: Proportion of young women and men aged 18–29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18
Indicator 16.3.1: Proportion of victims of (a) physical, (b) psychological and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms
Indicator 16.a.1: Existence of independent national human rights institutions in compliance with the Paris
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