THEOUT OFTHE SHADOWSINDEX

Understanding the links between combatting sexual violence against children, child marriage and female genital mutilation

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Out of the Shadows Index measures how stakeholders in 60 countries around the world are responding to child sexual abuse and exploitation. The Index helps elucidate the linkages between ending sexual violence against children, and preventing female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage.

According to the United Nations (UN), an estimated three million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM every year, and 280 million girls are estimated to be at risk of becoming child brides. How can building responses to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation help protect girls from child marriage and FGM?

The Index will be expanded to other countries and repeated in the 60 countries in the coming years.

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(Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change, UNICEF, New York, 2013.)

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Percentage of females aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM

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• Legislation alone is insufficient.

Even though most African countries have strong legislation against child marriage, nine out of the ten countries with the highest rates of child marriage are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Percentages of females who have experienced child marriage

(Source: Girls Not Brides)

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(%)

• Effective reporting mechanisms are part of the solution.

Countries that collect and publish information on the number of reported sexual offenses against children generally exhibit a strong inverse relationship with incidence of child marriage and FGM.

Strength of reporting mechanisms (0-100)

Country Incidence of child marriage

(%)

Incidence of FGM (%)

Scatterplot of reporting mechanisms vs child marriage

(Sources: EIU Index and Girls Not Brides)

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• Institutional commitment is key.

Governments that have national plans of action to combat sexual violence against children—and are devoting resources to execute these action plans— exhibit lower incidence of FGM.

Strength of institutional capacity (0-100)

Country Incidence of FGM (%)

Scatterplot of institutional capacity vs FGM

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(Sources: EIU Index and Unicef)

• Civil society organisations play an important role.

Countries that have more comprehensive civil society services to support victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation also have lower incidence of FGM.

Strength of CSO engagement (0-100)

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Ranking of performance of countries in the Index on the strength of CSO engagement

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(Source: EIU Index)

To learn more about the Out of the Shadows Index and how stakeholders are taking action against child sexual abuse and exploitation, visit outoftheshadows.eiu.com

Out of the Shadows indicators

Environment

1.1) Instability

1.2) Livelihoods

1.3) Social protections

1.4) Consumption of stimulants

1.5) Societal attitudes

1.6) Perceptions of violence

1.7) Attitudes to law enforcement

Legal Framework

2.1) Contextual legal framework

2.2) Age of consent

2.3) Child sexual offenses

2.4) Child marriage

2.5) Child-specific rape laws

2.6) General sex laws

2.7) Exemptions and qualifiers

2.8) Purchasing sexual services

2.9) Procuration of minors

2.10) Visual depiction of minors engaging in sexual activities

2.11) Online grooming

2.12) Protecting child interests

2.13) Internet protections

Government Commitment and Capacity

3.1) International standards or conventions

3.2) National plans and policies

3.3) Resources for legal and enforcement professionals

3.4) Data collection: prevalence

3.5) Reporting

3.6) Government and law enforcement capacity

3.7) Complaint mechanisms

3.8) Access to victim support programmes

3.9) Access to offender support programmes

Civil Society and Media

4.1) Technology industry engagement

4.2) Travel and tourism industry engagement

4.3) Frontline support workers

4.4) Civil society engagement

4.5) Media industry engagement

The Index was developed with data and information from 34 indicators and 132 sub-indicators grouped into four categories that measure the extent to which countries are acknowledging the problem of sexual violence against children, and whether they are implementing measures to address and prevent it.

While the index can help to highlight areas for attention, existing resources and actors such as the INSPIRE package of strategies for ending violence against children, UNFPA-Unicef’s Joint Programme on Eliminating FGM, Girls Not Brides and WeProtect Global Alliance offer detailed guidance and support on implementation of solutions.

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Supported by World Childhood Foundation, Oak Foundation and Carlson Family Foundation