Program Overview

Introduction to the kNOwVAWdata Program

The kNOwVAWdata program is an online course designed to provide professionals with the skills and knowledge required to conduct rigorous and ethical prevalence surveys and other research on violence against women. The program is an adaptation of a face-to-face training course that has been offered by the University of Melbourne, in partnership with UNFPA, ANROWS, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), since 2018.

Program Overview

The kNOwVAWdata program aims to build a global professional workforce that is data literate and skilled in undertaking reliable and ethical VAW research. The program is designed for professionals from all over the world who are involved in the measurement of VAW, including representatives from national statistics offices, women's machineries, and other government agencies, practitioners, researchers, and international consultants addressing VAW.

Course Details

The kNOwVAWdata program consists of four online subjects, each of which can be enrolled in separately. The subjects are:

• Subject 1: Gender Awareness (this is a pre-requisite for all subjects 2-4)
  • Tutorial 1: Thinking about gender and gender inequality
  • Tutorial 2: Violence against women key terminology
  • Tutorial 3: Gender and violence against women
  • Tutorial 4: Causes and consequences of violence against women
• Subject 2: Introduction to Researching Violence Against Women
  • Tutorial 1: Measuring Violence Against Women
  • Tutorial 2: Quantitative measures of VAW
  • Tutorial 3: Conducting qualitative research
  • Tutorial 4: Ethics, risk and safety
  • Tutorial 5: Planning your research
• Subject 3: Working with prevalence data and other quantitative measurement of VAW
  • Tutorial 1: Appropriate survey tools and methodologies for measuring prevalence
  • Tutorial 2: Planning a survey
  • Tutorial 3: Adapting questionnaires for the context
  • Tutorial 4: Building a research team fieldwork logistics
  • Tutorial 5: Managing and analysing data
• Subject 4: From Data to Action: Interpreting and Reporting on VAW for Policy and Practice
  • Tutorial 1: Data literacy reading and interpreting
  • Tutorial 2: Reporting data
  • Tutorial 3: Using data to inform policy
  • Tutorial 4: Managing resistance and backlash
  • Tutorial 5: The study is released what next?

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing the kNOwVAWdata program, participants will have gained:

• Understanding of the pervasiveness of VAW, its characteristics, causes, and impacts
• Understanding of the role of international mandates on VAW
• Understanding of use and limitations of different data sources and the role of statistical surveys
• Understanding of the core UN and SDG indicators on VAW
• The ability to use different tools to measure VAW and to estimate the relevant indicators of VAW
• Understanding the strengths of a dedicated survey on VAW
• The ability to apply the WHO ethical and safety guidelines in survey planning and implementation
• Be able to organize and implement a VAW survey in your country context
• Understanding how to prepare a comprehensive data analysis plan report outline, including the computation of relevant SDG VAW indicators
• Increased data literacy to interpret and explain multiple forms of data on violence against women
• The ability to use data to make recommendations for post-survey action that are country-specific and in line with international best practice
• Understanding the importance of stakeholder involvement in survey planning, interpretation, dissemination, and use of the results
• Understanding how to tell a compelling data story that can be used for advocacy, policies, and interventions

Assessment

Assessment in each subject includes tests and quizzes, short answer activities, and case studies. A Certificate is provided upon satisfactory completion of each subject. Those who participate in all four subjects and wish to receive a Professional Development Certificate will be required to develop an individual or country research manual (VAW Study Protocol). Participants successfully completing all four subjects and a VAW Study Protocol will receive a kNOwVAWdata Professional Development Certificate awarded by the University of Melbourne and are eligible to be included in the UNFPA register of kNOwVAWdata trained specialists.

Delivery Mode

The kNOwVAWdata program is delivered online, and students can study in their own time and location. Course materials can be accessed using a web browser. Opportunities to attend live sessions and interact with other learners are available. Live sessions will be recorded for those who cannot attend.

Fees

The course fee is $2,887.50 AUD (inc GST). Students will have access to all course materials for a full 12 months. Single subject enrollment is available for $962.50 AUD (incl. GST), inclusive of the pre-requisite gender subject. Discounted group rates are available for groups of 20 or more students.

Course Leaders and Contributors

The kNOwVAWdata program is led by Dr. Kristin Diemer, Dr. Cathy Vaughan, and Dr. Henriette Jansen. Contributors to the program include Larissa Fogden, Violeta Politoff, Jeanine Hourani, and Joanne Rowe, as well as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS).