Peer-reviewed article
Evaluating the reliability and validity of secondary reporting to measure gender-based violence in conflict and disaster
Lindsay Stark, Les Roberts, Gary Yu, Timothy M. Tan, Aishwarya Nagar et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study evaluates whether the 'Neighborhood Method'—a survey technique that collects reports from women about gender-based violence affecting themselves, their households, and their social networks—produces reliable and valid data compared to traditional survey methods. The research tested this approach across four humanitarian settings in Africa and South Asia, involving over 1,100 women reporting on thousands of other females. Secondary reporting about neighbors showed good reliability and produced prevalence estimates that matched standard reporting in most cases, suggesting it could be a useful addition to GBV measurement in conflict and disaster contexts.
Key points
- Reliability of secondary reporting on neighboring households was very high (ICC 0.986-0.999) and moderate between different neighbors reporting on the same third neighbor (κ = 0.45-0.48)
- Prevalence estimates from secondary reporting matched standard reporting in 18 out of 24 population comparisons with no statistical difference
- The Neighborhood Method reduces time and cost compared to traditional surveys while maintaining comparable accuracy for measuring GBV prevalence
- Study covered 1,180 women reporting on 3,744 females in respondent households and 15,086 in neighboring households across Ethiopia, Somalia, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Uganda
- Self-reports versus secondary reporting on specific female counterparts showed good but not perfect agreement (ICC 0.939-0.98)
Limitations
The study evaluates the methodological reliability of secondary reporting but does not assess the safety, ethical, or practical implications of asking women to report on violence affecting others in their communities. Results show general comparability of prevalence estimates but do not clarify whether secondary reports identify the same specific incidents or different cases of violence.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Accurately identifying the magnitude of gender-based violence (GBV) in humanitarian settings is hindered by logistical and methodological complexities. The 'Neighborhood Method', an adapted household survey that uses primary and secondary reporting to assess the prevalence of GBV in humanitarian settings, reduces the length of time and cost associated with traditional surveys. Primary female adult respondents disclose incidents of physical violence, intimate and non-intimate partner rape for themselves, other females in their homes (standard reporting) and other women and children in their social networks (secondary reporting). This study examines the reliability and validity of this inclusion of secondary reporting to determine the comparability of the Neighborhood Method to a traditional survey approach. METHODS: Drawing on data from 1180 women reporting on 3744 females in respondent households and 15,086 in neighboring households across four humanitarian settings (Ethiopia/ Somalia, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Uganda), reliability of secondary reporting was measured through intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Cohen's kappas. Validity was assessed using two-sample z-tests for differences between standard versus secondary reporting. RESULTS: Prevalence estimates comparing a respondent's household with a neighboring household show closer agreement (ICC: 0.999-0.986) than self-reports vs. secondary reporting on a female counterpoint in a neighboring home (ICC: 0.939-0.98). Kappa statistics analyzing the reliability of two separate neighbors reporting on a third neighbor showed moderate agreement beyond chance alone (κ = 0.45 for physical violence and 0.48 for rape). Prevalence rates corresponded between standard and secondary reports (i.e. showed no statistical difference) in 18 out of 24 compared populations. CONCLUSIONS: For prevalence of GBV, secondary reporting about neighbors can serve as a useful adjunct to standard survey methodology. Findings offer important initial insights into the consistency and accuracy of secondary reporting as a tool for field epidemiologists in humanitarian settings.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Neighborhood Method: an adapted household survey using primary and secondary reporting in which female respondents report on physical violence and rape affecting themselves, household members, and women and children in their social networks
- Population
- 1,180 women reporting across four humanitarian settings: Ethiopia/Somalia, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Uganda; data on 3,744 females in respondent households and 15,086 in neighboring households