Preventing violence against women and girls - what works: evidence summary

Annex E: Out of scope interventions

Two possible reasons for an intervention being out of scope have been identified:

i) Topic out of scope – areas which are wider than preventing violence^[132], and/or where the policies relating to this would sit outwith the remit of Justice Analytical Services, and/or where interventions focus exclusively upon perpetrators/offenders who have entered the criminal justice system.

ii) Evidence base out of scope: i.e. we have looked at the evidence base, but it does not directly address violence related outcomes, therefore we cannot draw trustworthy conclusions regarding the impact of such interventions on violence prevention or reduction.

The table below details interventions that have been classified as out of scope for this review. Where possible, web links have been included to published work in this area.

Table showing interventions and topics that were identified as out of scope for this report:

Justice and legislative interventions

Legislative changes and reform

Topic out of scope

Legislative changes have been identified as beyond the scope of this report. As such, legislative changes are not explored in detail.

Criminal justice interventions for GBV and domestic abuse

Topic out of scope

As this report focuses on pre-criminal justice and prevention-focused interventions, perpetrator programmes such as the Caledonian System and domestic violence perpetrator programmes (DVPPs) are out of scope. However the What Works to Reduce Reoffending (2015) report, which is due to be updated in 2021, will review the international evidence on the extent to which domestic abuse perpetrator programmes reduce reoffending.

Civil protection orders^[133]

While civil protection orders (such as interdicts, non-harassment orders and exclusion orders) have been identified as interventions to protect against domestic abuse. However, the evidence base on the effectiveness of these interventions for prevention and reducing reoffending is limited. As such, this approach is not explored in detail (for relevant publications see annex F for additional sources).

Intervention cost and cost effectiveness

Cost and cost effectiveness

Evidence base out of scope

cost and cost effectiveness have not been covered within this report due to limited available evidence

Domestic abuse interventions

Perpetrator-focused and offender-focused interventions^[134]

Topic out of scope

Perpetrator-focused and offender-focused interventions have been defined as out of scope for this report.

As above; this report focuses on pre-criminal justice and prevention-focused interventions, perpetrator programmes such as the Caledonian System and domestic violence perpetrator programmes (DVPPs) are out of scope. However the What Works to Reduce Reoffending (2015) report, which is due to be updated in 2021, will review the international evidence on the extent to which domestic abuse perpetrator programmes reduce reoffending.

Interventions & approaches aimed at supporting and/or advocating for women who have experienced domestic abuse (e.g. MARACS)

Topic out of scope

Interventions aimed at supporting victims-survivors of domestic abuse have been identified as out of scope as there is a lack of evidence on outcomes relating to preventing violence. The secondary prevention focus of these interventions/approaches is beyond the scope of the primary prevention emphasis of this report.

For more information, see CAADA’s (2010) report on MARACS entitled: Saving lives, saving money: MARACs and high risk domestic abuse. See also Scottish Government report (2017): National scoping exercise for advocacy services for victims of violence against women and girls for more information on advocacy services.

Routine enquiry in healthcare settings for disclosing domestic abuse

Topic out of scope

Interventions aimed at supporting victims-survivors of domestic abuse have been identified as out of scope as there is a lack of evidence on outcomes relating to preventing violence. The secondary prevention focus of this intervention is beyond the scope of the primary prevention emphasis of this report.

Shelters^[135], and Sanctuary Schemes^[136] for women experiencing domestic abuse

Evidence base out of scope

There is some available evidence about use of shelters to reduce harm within Jewkes (2014:17) What works to prevent violence against women and girls? However, they highlight challenges around researching the effectiveness due to the self-reported data rather than robust evaluations, as well as evidence of the potential for re-victimisation by the abusive partner after a period in shelters.

Safe and Together

Topic out of scope

This approach aimed at supporting victims-survivors and families affected by domestic abuse has been identified as out of scope as there is a lack of evidence on outcomes relating to preventing violence. The secondary prevention focus of this intervention is beyond the scope of the primary prevention emphasis of this report. For more information see Mitchell, A (2018): ‘Safe and Together Edinburgh’, The City of Edinburgh Council.

Sexual violence interventions

Psychological treatment – for those who have experienced sexual abuse

Topic out of scope

This health-focused intervention is beyond the scope of this justice-focused report. Moreover, the aims of these interventions are wider than preventing or reducing future violence.

Sexual assault referral clincs (SARCs)^[137]

Evidence base out of scope

Interventions aimed at supporting victims-survivors of sexual violence have been identified as out of scope as there is a lack of evidence on outcomes relating to preventing violence. The secondary prevention focus is beyond the scope of the primary prevention emphasis of this report.

Interventions to prevent commercial sexual exploitation

Evidence base out of scope

Due to limited available evidence, on what works to prevent commercial sexual exploitation ^[138] specifically, this report does not go into detail about primary interventions for these forms of VAWG^[139]. Instead, this area has been identified as out of scope due to limited evidence base.

Interventions to prevent stalking and sexual harassment

Evidence base out of scope

Stalking and sexual harassment as forms of VAWG are acknowledged within this report, but due to limited available and robust evidence have not been discussed in detail (see UN 2015 report on preventing VAWG). While they are not mutually exclusive, there are overlapping experiences with the forms of VAWG detailed in this report.

Additional interventions out of scope

Healthy relationship programmes for couples

Evidence base out of scope

There is a lack of evidence on outcomes relating to violence/impact on reducing domestic abuse among adult couples.

Primary prevention interventions focused on children^[140] and/or families^[141] (e.g. family nurse partnerships)

Topic out of scope

Interventions focused upon children and/or families have been identified as out of scope within this report. See Hetherington (2020) Ending childhood adversity: a public health approach, Public Health Scotland for evidence on prevention and public health approaches to ending childhood adversity. A forthcoming Scottish Government report (written by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit) on What Works to Prevent and Reduce Youth Violence will also provide evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions.

Community based interventions

Evidence base out of scope

There is a lack of evidence for high-income countries regarding this broad intervention approach, as well as limited outcomes explicitly relating to violence.

Addressing harmful use of alcohol

Topic out of scope

While an important facilitator of perpetrator use of violence, interventions relating to harmful use of alcohol have been deemed out of scope within this report (WHO 2013a:36)^[142].

Transport interventions to prevent VAWG

Evidence base out of scope

While highlighted by the WHO (2019) framework for VAWG prevention, there is limited evidence about what works within transport settings to make environments safe. See the International Transport Forum’s (2018) report on Women’s Safety and Security: A Public Transport Priority for further information.

Finally, this report does not include the following areas (and associated interventions) highlighted within the WHO (2019) RESPECT women: preventing violence against women report:

• Empowerment of women: evidence from high income countries was limited, or identified interventions were targeted towards low income countries.
• Services ensured: interventions were focused upon reducing VAWG through support and advocacy services, perpetrator interventions, screening in health services and more. Secondary prevention interventions are out of scope for this report.
• Poverty reduced: reducing economic and social inequality has been identified as part of Equally Safe, and the public health approach (i.e. adopting an ecological model to address violence). This report focuses predominantly upon specific interventions to prevent violence while acknowledging that the reduction in poverty overall can play a significant role in preventing VAWG.
• Child and adolescent abuse prevented: as noted above, interventions focused upon children and families have been identified as out of scope for this report. A forthcoming Scottish Government report (written by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit) on What Works to Prevent and Reduce Youth Violence details relevant interventions.

While these areas are important in relation to both preventing and reducing violence against women, they were deemed out of scope for the reasons outlined above.