A common thread throughout this field guide is that data on child sexual violence is inconsistent and difficult to collect.

And although the moral case for policymaking on child sexual violence is strong, policymakers should not be complacent. Data can help build stronger arguments to decision-makers that decisive action on preventing child sexual violence should be taken sooner rather than later.

So if you're a policymaker wanting better data to support your project, this toolkit will help you start to build the evidence you need.

Divided into five sections, it first focuses on a new resource: the Economist Intelligence Unit's Out of the Shadows Index. This interactive database provides policymakers with data and insight on how 60 countries are addressing sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Here we pull out how to get the most out of the Index.

We also include a further round-up of additional datasets to help you make the most of what's already out there, followed by a collection of best practice frameworks and methods to guide your own data collection.

Next, we have a list of organisations and projects already tackling the evidence gap in the space and finally a set of tools to help you better visualise your data.

Child sexual violence can permeate all spheres of life: at home, at school, in humanitarian conflict situations and on the internet. These resources should help you to gain a better understanding of the collecting of child violence data and acquire some specific insights into how to you can display this data for maximum effectiveness.

THE OUT OF THE SHADOWS INDEX

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Out of the Shadows Index is based on country-level benchmarking, evaluating how governments and stakeholders are responding to sexual violence against children in 60 countries.

Rather than measure the scale of the problem in each country, the Index instead serves as a tool to illustrate how child sexual abuse and exploitation is prioritised, country by country, at the national level. Of the original 40 countries reviewed in the Index, only 20 collect prevalence data on child sexual abuse and only five collect such data on child sexual exploitation.

The Index examines four categories within which responses to sexual violence against children occur:

**Environment
**The safety and stability of a country, the social protections available to families and children, and whether norms lend to open discussion of the issue

Legal framework
The degree to which a country provides legal or regulatory protections for children from sexual exploitation or abuse

**Government commitment and capacity
**Whether governments invest in resources to equip institutions and personnel to respond appropriately, and to collect data to understand the scope of the problem

**Engagement of industry, civil society and media
**The propensity for addressing risks to children at the industry and community levels, as well as providing support to victims

Across these four categories, the Index uses 34 indicators and 132 sub-indicators to rank countries on their approach to combatting child sexual violence.

You can explore the Index interactively on The Economist Intelligence Unit's dedicated site.

OTHER DATASETS

UNICEF: sexual violence
A summary of worldwide data on sexual violence against children

**NSPCC: child sexual abuse in the UK
**UK charity the NSPCC's statistical briefing includes research with over 2,000 young people aged 11-17

Darkness to Light: US child sexual abuse statistics
The US-based organisation has extensive statistics on the extent of the child sexual violence problem in the States

[European Parliament: sexual violence against minors in Latin America](http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/578023/EXPO_STU(2016%29578023_EN.pdf)
This report uses data to explore how the European Parliament can support governments in Latin America to prevent sexual violence

PLoS One: child sexual abuse in India
Academics completed a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies published in the past decade on child sexual abuse in India to examine its prevalence in the country

El Salvador Ministry of Justice: Violence Against Children Survey El Salvador has put together a comprehensive set of data representing the experiences, assets, and risks of young people in the country, including sexual violence

Violence Against Children Survey
Only the second such survey to have been completed in the Asia-Pacific region, Lao is spearheading data collection on children, including on child sexual violence

National Population Commission: Violence Against Children in Nigeria
The Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) in Nigeria was the first of its kind in West Africa. It gives national estimates on the magnitude and nature of sexual, physical and emotional violence experienced by under-18s

METHODS, BEST PRACTICE AND FRAMEWORKS

UNICEF: Multiple Indicator Surveys
Reports, documents and data sets to support and guide the process of conducting surveys

WHO: Clinical Guidelines for Responding to Children and Adolescents Who Have Been Sexually Abused
These guidelines are designed to help front-line health workers, primarily from low resource settings, in providing evidence-based, quality, trauma-informed care to survivors

U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine: Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS): towards a global surveillance system
An evaluation of the Violence Against Children Surveys — a national, household survey that has been implemented in 11 countries

UNICEF: Ethical Principles, Dilemmas and Risks in Collecting Data on Violence against Children
A review of available literature on the subject of violence against children data collection ethics

Defence for Children International: Violence Against Children In Conflict with the Law
A study on indicators and data collection in Belgium, England and Wales, France and the Netherlands on violence against children

UNICEF: Indicators for Monitoring of Violence Against Children Guidebook
A summary of methods for identifying violence against children

UNICEF: Children and the Data Cycle: Rights and Ethics in a Big Data World
A discussion of ethical considerations for data science on violence against children

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control: Critical Elements of Interviewer Training for Engaging Children and Adolescents in Global Violence Research
A collection of best practices and lessons learned from the Violence Against Children national surveys

Administration for Children and Families: Confidentiality Toolkit
A guide for handling the issue of confidentiality in child data collection

The Population Council: Ethical Approaches to Gathering Information from Children and Adolescents in International Settings
Guidelines and resources to support data collection on children and adolescents

Ethical Research Involving Children: Ethical Guidance
A guide for conducting ethical research involving children and young people

UNICEF: Ethical Research Involving Children
A compendium of methodologies, research and ethical principals designed to help practitioners ensure that the rights of children are respected during data collection

DATA-DRIVEN ORGANISATIONS

The Sexual Violence Research Initiative — @TheSVRI
The SVRI increase awareness of sexual violence as a priority public health problem through evidence-based communication and information, and build capacity in sexual violence research

ECPAT — @ECPAT
A network of organisations working to end the sexual exploitation of children by using research to better understand the issue and advocating for change. Has country-by-country profiles which include key insights into their national data

Together for Girls — @together4girls
Using data as its guide, the Together for Girls partnership aims to raise awareness, promote evidence-based solutions, and galvanize coordinated action across sectors to end violence against boys and girls

UNICEF Innocenti — @UNICEFInnocenti
A global research centre conducting studies on issues affecting children including sexual violence against children

Know Violence in Childhood — @knowviolence
A project addressing the lack of evidence on violence in childhood, including sexual violence, through data collection

DATA VISUALISATION TOOLS

Once you have the raw data, it’s a further challenge to display it in a way which connects with people you’re trying to influence. These data visualisation tools can help you communicate the patterns and inconsistencies in your data to a sceptical audience.

RawGraphs
An open source data visualisation framework that aims to make visualising complex data easy for all

Data Visualization Wizard
A data visualisation tool that provides a fast way of getting maps, graphs, data summaries and lightweight API online

Local Data
A cloud-based mapping platform that helps cities and communities make data-driven decisions by capturing and visualising street-level information in real time

Citizen Budget
An open-source online budget simulator for governments that also provides a platform for two-way dialogue between government and citizens

Tableau Public
A data visualisation service that allows users to embed visualisations into web pages and blogs

Datawrapper
A chart and map creator and associated platform

MyHeatMap
An interactive, colour-coded heat map created from CSV files — no complex code or API knowledge needed

D3.js
A JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data using HTML, SVG and CSS

Timeline
An open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines

[Picture credit: Markus Spiske/Unsplash]

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