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.

Together with local partners, the Small Arms Survey conducted a nationwide household survey in 2010 to fill some of the data gaps and to generate an evidence-based understanding of violence in post-war Liberia. This second Issue Brief of five relies on the survey findings, key informant interviews with local representatives—including city mayors, police officers, religious leaders, students, elders, and heads of grassroots organizations— and background papers produced by researchers in Liberia (Shilue, 2010; Blair, 2011; Dziewanski, 2011a).

Seven years after the end of the civil war, in 2010, the Small Arms Survey administered a nationwide household survey in Liberia to generate knowledge on perceptions of security and present-day patterns of victimization, respondents’ exposure to violence, and responses to threats in communities.