Peace without Security: Violence against Women and Girls in Liberia (LAVA Issue Brief 3)

Peace without Security: Violence against Women and Girls in Liberia analyses violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Liberia. First, it examines the extent to which women and girls in Liberia are victims of crimes and violence in general. It then focuses specifically on the patterns and characteristics of sexual and domestic violence. These latter forms of abuse, categorized as genderbased violence (GBV)3 because the victims are targeted on the basis of their gender, mainly affect females. Males are also affected, but to a far lesser extent. A study of GBV in Liberia may be considered a good entry point to gaining a deeper understanding of the current overall problems of insecurity confronting women and girls in the country.

In its analysis of VAWG in Liberia this Issue Brief presents the results of a nationwide household survey conducted by the Small Arms Survey, in collaboration with Action on Armed Violence and the Liberian Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services, as part of the Liberia Armed Violence Assessment.4 Where necessary, the survey findings are complemented by data from other information sources, notably the Ministry of Gender and Development’s (MoGD) GBV database, set up and managed with Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) support. This electronic tool serves to collect, analyse, and report on GBV cases in Liberia. Some of the data it contains is published (Republic of Liberia, n.d.). The Issue Brief also draws on unpublished data accessed by the author through the NRC.

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