The Egypt Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence Survey, ECGBVS 2015 - Egypt, Arab Rep.

Abstract --------------------------- The 2015 ECGBVS was designed to provide and disseminate accurate, nationally representative data related to Gender-Based Violence against women and girls and its associated economic costs. These data will help the policy-makers and planners to formulate evidence-based strategies and action plans to combat violence against women. The survey aims to measure the following: - Prevalence and incidence of the different types and forms of violence against women. - Impact of violence on women’s health, reproductive health and general wellbeing. - Consequences of violence against women and their associated economic costs. Initiation of a collaboration in the beginning of 2014 between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the National Council for Women (NCW) and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) to conduct the national survey collecting evidence on the prevalence of Gender-Based Violence, its effects on reproductive and general health and wellbeing, as well as assessing the economic cost the victim, society and state endure yearly as a result. Technical and financial support to CAPMAS and NCW were solely provided by UNFPA Egypt country office. The fieldwork for the 2015 ECGBVS took place from April 11, 2015 to June 11, 2015. The sample for the 2015 ECGBVS was designed to provide representative estimates of the survey indicators at the national level, for urban and rural areas separately and for the five regions: Urban Governorates, urban Lower Egypt, rural Lower Egypt, urban Upper Egypt and rural Upper Egypt. Frontier Governorates were excluded from the sample as their population constitutes less than 1 percent of Egypt’s total population and accordingly does not affect national estimates. A total of 21,448 households were selected for the sample, of which 21,102 were found at the time of fieldwork. Of the households that were found, 20,535 were successfully interviewed, yielding a household response rate of 97.3 percent. In these households, 20,157 women were identified as eligible for the individual interview. Out of these women, 20,000 were successfully interviewed, which represents a response rate of 99.2 percent. In view of the extreme sensitivity of the main topic of the survey (violence against women), this response rate is highly encouraging and appears to be the result of a well-coordinated team effort. As expected, response rates were lower in the urban areas than in the rural areas. Women aged 18-64 who were residents or present in the household for a month or more before the survey were eligible for the 2015 ECGBVS. Only one eligible woman in each household was selected for the interview. Geographic coverage --------------------------- National Analysis unit --------------------------- Women aged 18-64 Universe --------------------------- The survey covered a national sample of women aged 18-64. Women aged 18-64 who were residents or present in the household for a month or more before the survey were eligible for the 2015 ECGBVS. Only one eligible woman in each household was selected for the interview. Kind of data --------------------------- Sample survey data [ssd] Sampling procedure --------------------------- The sample of the 2015 ECGBVS is a two-stage cluster sample: The first sampling stage involved the selection of 1,000 enumeration areas (EAs) from a master sampling frame prepared by CAPMAS in January 2010 based on the 2006 Population Census, and updated in 2013. The 1000 EAs were divided into 45% to the urban areas and 55% to the rural areas. This yielded 448 EAs in the urban areas and 552 EAs in the rural areas. The EAs in the urban and rural areas were allocated to the urban and rural areas of all the governorates (except Frontier Governorates) in proportion to the number of the households in each governorate (urban and rural). Then the sample size of the small governorates (Port Said, Suez, Damietta, Ismailia, Luxor and Aswan) was increased to get more precise estimates. In the second sampling stage, 22 households were systematically selected from each of EAs of the urban areas and 21 households from each of the EAs of the rural areas. The size of the cluster in the urban areas (22 households) was higher than that in the rural areas (21 households) to take into consideration that the response rate is lower in the urban compared to the rural areas as indicated from previous surveys. Thus 21,448 households were selected for the 2015 ECGBVS. Mode of data collection --------------------------- Face-to-face [f2f] Research instrument --------------------------- The 2015 ECGBVS used two questionnaires: a household questionnaire and an individual questionnaire (for eligible women). Two international experts in the area of GBV costing were especially engaged to develop the methodology of the ECGBVS and the inception of the questionnaire content. The design of the questionnaires was based on the United Nations Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women (United Nations, 2013) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) tools that were adapted for measuring violence against women in Arab countries. Experience of other countries who conducted similar surveys also guided the design of the ECGBVS questionnaires, after adaptation to fit the cultural context of the Egyptian society. The questionnaires went through a further process of consultations to ensure their compatibility to the context that will be surveyed. The national advisory committee of the ECGBVS (formed of CAPMAS, NCW and UNFPA) led the consultations throughout the process of the development of the questionnaires together with local experts. A validation committee was formed of selected local experts from various sectors to endorse the final questionnaires. The household questionnaire included questions on the age, sex, marital status and relationship to the household head (of each household member or visitor for one month or more). These questions served to identify the eligible women for the individual questionnaire, but are not included in the data. The household questionnaire collected information on housing characteristics (e.g. type of dwelling unit, the number of rooms, the flooring material, the source of water and the toilet facility) and on the ownership of a variety of consumer goods. The individual questionnaire was conducted with women age 18-64, regardless of their marital status, who were usual residents or present in the household for a month or more before the interview. As mentioned above, only eligible women from each household were interviewed. The individual questionnaire collected information on the following topics: Characteristics of respondent and the district she lives in, Women’s employment and income, General and reproductive health, including traditional harmful practices, Violence perpetrated by husband/fiance , Violence perpetrated by family members/ persons in close relation and strangers within the surrounding environment, and Violence in public spaces. Response rate --------------------------- A total of 21,448 households were selected for the sample, of which 21,102 were found at the time of fieldwork. Of the households that were found, 20,535 were successfully interviewed, yielding a household response rate of 97.3 percent. In these households, 20,157 women were identified as eligible for the individual interview. Out of these women, 20,000 were successfully interviewed, which represents a response rate of 99.2 percent. In view of the extreme sensitivity of the main topic of the survey (violence against women), this response rate is highly encouraging and appears to be the result of a well-coordinated team effort. As expected, response rates were lower in the urban areas (98.9) than in the rural areas (99.5).