Project report
Research that Drives Change:Conceptualizing and Conducting Nationally Led Violence Prevention Research
Catherine Maternowska, Alina Potts, Deborah Ann Fry, Tabitha Casey ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This report describes a multi-country study on violence affecting children conducted in Italy, Vietnam, Peru, and Zimbabwe. The study aimed to identify and understand the complex underlying causes of physical, sexual, and emotional violence against children in these four countries. Research was led by UNICEF's Office of Research–Innocenti in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, with national teams comprising government officials, practitioners, and academic researchers in each country. The work represents a shift in policy discourse from denying violence occurs to understanding its drivers and identifying solutions.
Key points
- Violence affecting children exists in every society, including Italy, Vietnam, Peru, and Zimbabwe
- The study focused on disentangling complex and interrelated causes of violence against children
- Research was nationally led by teams comprising government, practitioners, and academic researchers
- The work is shifting policy discourse from denial to understanding drivers of violence
- UNICEF Office of Research–Innocenti led the study in partnership with the University of Edinburgh
Limitations
The document is a brief description of a research project and does not provide details about the study methodology, findings, or specific outcomes. It cannot tell us what the actual drivers of violence were found to be or what interventions were tested.
Abstract
Globally, studies have demonstrated that children in every society are affected by physical, sexual and emotional violence. The drive to both quantify and qualify violence through data and research has been powerful: discourse among policy makers is shifting from “this does not happen here” to “what is driving this?” and “how can we address it?” To help answer these questions, the Multi-Country Study on the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children – conducted in Italy, Viet Nam, Peru and Zimbabwe – sought to disentangle the complex and often interrelated underlying causes of violence affecting children (VAC) in these four countries. Led by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti with its academic partner, the University of Edinburgh, the Study was conducted by national research teams comprised of government, practitioners and academic researchers in each of the four countries.