Data as a Catalyst for Change: The Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS)

As the world grapples with the health crisis and changes to everyday life caused by COVID-19, a shadow pandemic of violence against children is quickly emerging. Calls to child helplines and domestic violence hotlines point to a spike in levels of violence, trends that are consistent with data from past humanitarian and economic crises. Faced with limited data, we must rely on existing data to estimate levels of violence during COVID-19 and inform prevention and response efforts now and after the pandemic.

The Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of the partnership with Together for Girls (TFG), provide data from 20 countries that show the high rates of physical, sexual, and emotional violence children and youth were experiencing before COVID-19, often with devastating immediate and long-term consequences.

In this webinar, Daniela Ligiero of Together for Girls will give an overview of VACS and the publicly available datasets; Greta Massetti of the CDC will discuss methodology and implementation and the Data to Action process; and Clare Bangirana of Africhild Centre will describe the VACS process and outcomes in Uganda and the resulting government policies and actions.