PERSONAL MONITORING AND EVALUATION SERIES
QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION METHODS FOR GENDER-BASED
VIOLENCE IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO
Working document
Judicael ELIDJE
------------------------------
I.
Introduction
a)
Basics on gender
The term gender refers to the social differences
between females and males throughout the life cycle that are learned, and
though deeply rooted in every culture, are changeable over time and wide
variations both within and between cultures. “Gender” determines the roles,
power and resources for females and males in any culture. Most of the time,
confusion exists about the term “gender” because, for many people, it evokes
the specific issues regarding only women, related to sexual and reproductive
health matters or gender-based violence. However, gender equality or equality
between women and men refers to the equal enjoyment by females and males of all
ages and regardless of sexual orientation of rights, socially valued goods,
opportunities, resources and rewards[1].
Apart from
gender equality, there is another key concept which is gender equity. In fact,
gender equity is the quality of being fair, just and right to men and women. It
includes fairness and justice in the distribution between women and men of
responsibilities, access to resources, control over resources and access to
benefits. The concept of gender equity deals with how men and women are able to
use these opportunities to achieve a fair and just balance between them[2].
International
laws and conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979, the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women in 1993 and the Plan of Action of the
1995 Beijing World Conference on Women, aim at promoting and achieving gender
equality and equity. Despite the fact that these international rules guarantee women
and men equal rights in the enjoyment and fulfilment of all human rights, women
and girls continue to face inequalities in all societies. In addition, armed
conflicts and naturals disasters often exacerbate discrimination and
equalities.
This is what
the 2000 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325[3]
on women, peace and security tries to deal with. This resolution provides a
useful framework from which to develop and improve policy and programming on
gender, peace security and development issues. One of the most important things
pointed out by this resolution is the opportunity given to civil society to
demand accountability from their governments and raise public and political
awareness on the issue of sexual violence and beyond. Moreover, in the last
decade, the issue of violence against women has moved from the shadows to the
foreground of commitments to attain sustainable development. Women’s rights
advocates have mobilized within and across countries and regions to secure
significant changes in national, regional and international standards and
policies addressing gender-based violence[4].
b)
Overview of sexual and gender-based violence
(SGBV)
It has been
generally admitted, both within academia and among practitioners, that the
roots of sexual and gender-based violence lie in gender relations, which
worldwide are marked by the domination of men and the subordination of women.
This means that crimes against women are not considered as severe as those
against men and the worldwide violent behaviour against women and girls remains
unchanged. The pervasive character of domination pattern of gender relations
causes that in spite of a variety of forms, violence against women is universal
regarding its geographical scope and omnipresence with concerns to its
manifestation from level of the house to the transnational arena[5].
Sexual and
gender-based violence is therefore considered as a dramatic violation and
denial of human rights and human dignity. This kind of violence perpetuates the
stereotyping of gender roles that stymies human development[6].
Sexual and gender-based violence involves men and women with women usually, but
not always, being the victim. It stems from unequal power relationships within
families, communities and states. This type of violence is generally directed
specifically against women for diverse reasons, and affects them
disproportionately.
The
magnitude of the problem is difficult to determine. Even in normal situations,
SGBV are often unreported or underreported. The factors contributing to
under-reporting-fear of retribution shame, powerlessness, lack of support,
breakdown or unreliability of public services, are all exacerbated in
humanitarian settings or refugee situations. The World Bank estimates that less
than 10% of sexual violence cases in non-refugee situations are reported[7].
In spite of this underestimation of reported facts related to SGBV, the Inter
Agency Standing Committee mentions that at least one third of the world’s
female population has been either physically or sexually abused at some time in
their life. The available data, though little research has been conducted on
this issue, suggest that in some countries nearly one in four women may
experience sexual violence by intimate partner, and up to one-third of adolescent
girls report their first sexual experience as being force[8].
In the
context of armed conflict and displacement, SGBV is a well known and high risk
problem. It has become even more pronounced in conflict and post-conflict
states of Africa including Burundi ,
Chad , the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Somalia
and Sudan
In front of
this deplorable situation, the international community supported by the civil society
take a stand and say no to the guilty silence. The Brussels Call to Action to
Address Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond in 2006 showed a strong
commitment to fight against the deep root causes of sexual and gender-based
violence. In fact, the representatives of governments, the European Commission,
civil society and the United Nations, expressed their deep concerns about the
fact that the response to sexual violence in conflict and beyond is grossly
inadequate when compared to the scope of the phenomenon and agree with the
report of the independent experts on women, war and peace “that the standards
of protection for women affected by conflict are glaring in their inadequacy,
as is the international response.” They also recognized the urgency of
addressing sexual and gender-based violence as a priority. They acknowledged
that effective prevention and response require long-term, holistic and
coordinated efforts by multiple stakeholders that address the health,
education, economic, legal, psychosocial and security concerns of affected
populations[9]. The
United Nations Security Council at its 5916th meeting on 19 June 2008 adopted
the Resolution 1820. The resolution clearly focuses sexual violence and other
forms or gender-based violence used during wars. It recalls its condemnation in
the strongest terms of all sexual and other forms of violence committed against
civilians in armed conflict, in particular women and children[10].
Sexual and
gender-based violence is broad concept. According to UNHCR SGBV guidelines, Sexual and gender-based violence and violence against women (VAW) are terms
that are commonly used interchangeably. Both terms refer to violations of
fundamental human rights that perpetuate sex-stereotyped roles. SGBV and VAW
deny human dignity and the self-determination of the individual and hamper
human development. They also refer to physical, sexual and psychological harm
that reinforces female subordination and perpetuates male power and control.
However,
the term gender-based violence (GBV)
is used to distinguish common violence from violence that targets individuals
or groups of individuals on the basics of their gender. GBV has been defined by
the CEDWA committee as violence that is directed at a person on the basis of
gender or sex. It therefore includes acts that inflict physical, mental or
sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations
of liberty.
The term violence against women refers to any act
of gender based-violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical,
sexual and psychological harm to women and girls whether occurring in private
or in public. Violence against women is a form of gender-based violence and
includes sexual violence.
Sexual violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse, refers to any act, attempt or threat
of a sexual nature that results, or is likely to result, in physical,
psychological and emotional harm. Sexual violence is a form of gender-based
violence.
According
to IASC GBV guidelines, gender-based violence is an umbrella term for any
harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, and that is based on
socially ascribed differences between males and females. The nature and extent
of specific types of GBV vary across cultures, countries and regions. Some
examples of GBV include sexual violence including sexual exploitation, sexual
abuse and forced prostitution; domestic violence; trafficking; forced and early
marriage; harmful traditional practices.
The WHO
ethical and safety guidelines rather enhance sexual violence and gives to this
terms a wide content. Actually, it defines sexual violence as any sexual act,
attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts
to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion,
by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting,
including but not limited to home and work. Sexual violence includes rape which
is defined as a physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration, even if
slight, of the vulva or anus, using a penis, other body parts or an object.
Sexual violence also takes many forms which includes apart from rape, other
forms such as sexual slavery and sexual trafficking, forced pregnancy, sexual
harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse as well as forced abortion.
A survivor
or a victim is a person who has experienced a gender-based violence. The terms
victim or survivor could also be used interchangeably. The term victim is often
used in the legal and medical sectors. On the other hand, the term survivor is
generally preferred in the psychological and social support sectors because it
implies resiliency.
To
summarize, most of the concepts used here overlap each other and refer to
almost the same issues. For the following part, we will use sexual violence as
the key word to hint at a part of SGBV. Sexual violence is the most widespread
form for SGBV used in Democratic Republic of Congo
III.
Sexual
violence in Democratic Republic
of Congo
Since its
independence in 1960, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has endured a
number of conflicts over its immense natural resources and the control of
territory. The last wave of conflicts broke out in 1998 and armed conflicts are
still present ten years after. Despite several peace agreements signed since
this time, violence continues and thousands of people are daily suffering from
their consequences. Among these consequences, sexual violence is one of the
awful situations faced each day by women, men, girls and boys. The armed
conflicts have attracted widespread attention in view of both the high
incidence and extremely cruel nature of the acts of sexual violence committed.
Sometimes, terms such as “epidemic, sexual terrorism and the war within the
war” have been used to describe these acts. Sexual violence has been committed
by all parties to the conflicts, seemingly as part of military strategy on all
sides[14].
In spite of the progressive stabilization process started in 2002 with the
Comprehensive and Inclusive Agreement signed in Sun City ,
the phenomenon is evolving and exacerbated by the impunity. For example, the
reported cases of incidents between 2004 and 2008 through United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) data collection system shows that on the average, 1300
reported incident cases of sexual violence occurred each month (graph 1).
Graph 1: Incident reported cases of sexual
violence between 2004 and 2008[15]
The first
Demographic and Health Survey carried out in 2007 estimated at 4,2% of women
which were forced to have sexual intercourse against their during the last 12
months before the survey and that 16,0% of women who ever in their lifetime
were force to have sexual intercourse[16].
The extent of sexual violence is DRC is unacceptable and it is fuelled by
impunity. In fact, in consideration of total impunity due to the collapse of
legal and judicial systems, we are observing a change in the perpetrator
profile. It means that, apart from the Eastern part of country currently facing
military operations against rebels groups where men in uniformed are the main
perpetrators, civilians are more and more involved as the perpetrators in the
western part of the country (graph 2).
Graph 2: Evolution of the profile of sexual
violence perpetrators between 2005 and 2008[17]
Consequences
of sexual violence are damageable for survivors. Survivors are at high risk of
severe and long-lasting health problems, including death from injuries and
suicide. Health consequences can include unwanted pregnancy, unsafe
self-induced abortions, infanticide, and sexually transmitted infections
including HIV/AIDS. Psychological trauma, as well as social stigma and
rejection, is also common. Unfortunately, most tribes tend to wrongly blame the
victim in case of sexual violence, which increase psychological harm and
vulnerability. Moreover, the victim is insecure, threatened, afraid,
unprotected and at risk of further violence. The fear and the permanent threat
to be abducted in the farms and the possible use of women as sexual slaves
compelled whole community to be totally dependent to external food aid. This
situation has increased the economic and social vulnerabilities of thousands of
Congolese people.
In front
this extent of sexual violence, a coordination mechanism was raised in 2003
under the leadership of UNFPA. This coordination mechanism called Joint
Initiative was an initiative which gathered together Government institutions,
United Nation agencies and National and International NGOs as well. The main
goal of the Joint Initiative was to establish an inter-agency and multisectoral
programme to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence against
women, men, young people and children that takes into account an appropriate
referral and reporting mechanism based on an effective partnership. The
different actors worked on the establishment and the functioning of a
multisectoral approach which was the framework upon which actions to prevent
and respond to sexual and gender-based violence were built (graph 3).
Graph 3: Multisectoral approach framework
established by the Joint Initiative[18]
Through the
Joint Initiative coordination mechanism, there was an increasing interest of
development partners expressed by funding several projects. The two main ones
are joint projects implemented together by 3 UN Agencies (UNFPA, UNICEF and
UNOHCHR) funded by the Belgian Cooperation and the Canadian Cooperation. The
results achieved with the Joint Initiative are numerous in the different
sectors. The Joint Initiative set up inclusive coordination bodies both at
national and provincial levels. Most of the projects used the multisectoral
approach as basis of their intervention. In the same line, data collection
systems as well as referral pathway and networks were established. The Joint
Initiative advocated for a specific law to fight against impunity which was
voted in July 2006.The highest military and police hierarchy was also involved
as part of the solution through a comprehensive training and sensitization programme
on sexual violence and its consequences. Efforts made are considerable though
enough remain to be achieved if the actors want to change the current trend. Since
2007, the government come from the first democratic elections took the lead of
the fight against sexual violence by its Ministry of Gender. The new
institution started working on a new framework slightly different to the Joint
Initiative with the support of different actors. The new thematic group chaired
by the Ministry of Gender will in one hand facilitate a strong implication of
legal, judicial, military and police authorities in the fight against sexual
violence and the other hand will reinforce the commitment of central government
as well as other political and administrative authorities implied in the fight
against sexual violence.
IV.
Methodology
a)
Ethical and safety considerations related to data
collection on the sexual violence issue[19][20].
Information
on the nature and scope of sexual violence is increasingly demanded by
governments, NGOs, UN organizations and humanitarian workers. When collected,
analysed and reported correctly, data on sexual violence can serve many
purposes, including drawing political attention to the issue and mobilizing
resources for comprehensive gender-based violence prevention and response
programmes. Any data collected on sexual violence must respect established
ethical and safety principles, such as security, confidentiality, anonymity,
informed consent, safety and protection from retribution, and protection of the
data itself. The UN Action against sexual violence in conflict is a group of 12
UN agencies which role consists on advocating at high level and raises
awareness during conflict about the consequences of sexual violence. They
propose a set of advices that needed to be known by everyone working on data
collection in sexual violence. Some of these advices formulated in terms of “Do
and Don’t” are:
ü
Do verify the information wherever possible.
ü
Do examine how the data match other information
coming from the field and consider how contextual factors influence data
quality.
ü
Do assess the quality of the data.
ü
Do keep in mind the audience and possible use.
ü
Don't share data that may be linked back to an
individual or group of individuals.
ü
Don't take data at face value: assess original
sources, including their quality/reliability.
In the
other hand, the World Health organization also worked on a set of interrelated
ethical and safety recommendations that apply to the collection of information
on sexual violence and specifically in emergencies. The eight safety and
ethical recommendations are:
ü
The benefits to respondents or communities of
documenting sexual violence must be greater than the risks to respondents and
communities.
ü
Information gathering and documentation must be
done in a manner that presents the least risk to respondents, is
methodologically sound, and builds on current experience and good practice.
ü
Basic care and support for survivors/victims must
be available locally before commencing any activity that may involve
individuals disclosing information about their experiences of sexual violence.
ü
The safety and security of all those involved in
information gathering about sexual violence is of paramount concern and in
emergency settings in particular should be continuously monitored.
ü
The confidentiality of individuals who provide
information about sexual violence must be protected at all times.
ü
Anyone providing information about sexual violence
must give informed consent before participating in the data gathering activity.
ü
All members of the data collection team must be
carefully selected and receive relevant and sufficient specialized training and
ongoing support.
All these
advices and ethical and safety recommendations will guide us in the choice of
our interview type as well as the interview method.
b)
Choice of interview type
Using
qualitative methods is necessary to complement quantitative methods in order to
better understand the phenomenon under study. Qualitative methods are
particularly appropriate when you are trying to understand the opinions and
behaviours of people[21].
Qualitative research used multiple methods that are interactive and humanistic.
Although generally following the ruses of normal conversations, interviews also
have distinctive features. A normal conversation can drift along with little
goal, but in interviews, the researcher gently guides the discussion, leading
it through stages, asking specific questions, and encouraging the interviewee
to answer in depth and at length[22].
Babbie and Mouton[23]
mentions that the interview process should be completed in seven stages which
are:
i)
thematizing: clarifying
the purpose of the interviews and the concepts to be explored;
ii) designing: laying out the process through which you
will accomplish your purpose, including a consideration of the ethical
dimension;
iii) interviewing: doing the actual interviews;
iv) transcribing: writing a text of the interviews;
v) analysing: determining the meaning of gathered
materials in relation to the purpose of the study;
vi) verifying: checking the reliability and validity of
the materials;
vii) Reporting: telling others what you have learned.
In addition to that, qualitative research gives an opportunity to further
investigate, generate information and increase knowledge. The unanticipated nature
of that type of research could be helpful sometimes to highlight what people
really think and really do than answers in a formal survey situation. The
choice of completely open-ended ad hoc conversations with interviewees is
allowing them to be interested in talking freely about the topic under study. The
distinguishing feature of qualitative interviews is their continual probing and
cross checking of information and a cumulative building on previous knowledge
rather than adherence to a fixed set of questions and answers[24].
Interviews
involve active participation by participants and create sensitivity to the
participants in the study. In order to better understand how to improve the
prevention and response mechanisms to sexual violence, the unstructured
interview method has been chosen. The reasons evoked for this choice are
mentioned in the next lines.
Unstructured interviewing seems to be the most widely used method of data
collection in cultural anthropology. In this approach, the researcher has an
idea in mind of the topics to be covered, and may use a topic list as a
reminder, but there is minimal control over the order in which the topics are
covered, and over the respondents’ answers. Unstructured interviewing is
informal and conversational, and the aim is to get the informants to “open up,”
and to let them express themselves in their own terms. The key to successful
unstructured interviews is learning how to probe effectively, which means that
it is important to stimulate an informant to produce more information without
injecting the researcher’s words, ideas or concepts into the conversation[25].
According to Annabel, unstructured interview is normally non-directed and
a flexible method. There is no need to follow a detailed interview guide. Each
interview is different. Interviewees are encouraged to speak openly, frankly
and give as much detail as possible. The interviewers ask questions that
respondents would be able to express their opinions, knowledge and share their
experience. In an unstructured interview the researcher has to be a good
listener and note new or interesting data the interviewee gives. It requires
good communication and facilitation skills[26].
My aim is to allow participant to be free and relate whatever they want
for each subject that would be discussed. I will want to be directive in order
to guide maybe some answers. This method will facilitate the collection of
information and will give the opportunity to get another understanding of the
issues chosen in the questions.
c)
Interview questions
In order to follow some of these stages, few questions have been designed
to address some issues of sexual violence. These questions are related to
specific issues about sexual violence in Democratic Republic of Congo that
needed to be addressed in a coordinated manner. The questions are subdivided in
five themes which are respectively coordination mechanism, Multisectoral
approach and referral pathway, data collection system, national ownership and
impunity. The set of questions are:
i.
Coordination mechanisms
ü What are the current coordination mechanisms at both
national and provincial level?
ü How do these coordination bodies function?
ü What are the gaps and how could they be improved?
ii.
Multisectoral approach and appreciation of
referral pathway
ü What could be your appreciation of the functioning
of the multisectoral approach among different actors?
ü How could the prevention and response be improved?
ü How can the referral pathways be improved?
iii.
Data collection systems
ü What is your appreciation of the current data
collection systems?
ü How could the data collection system be improved?
iv.
National ownership
ü How could you qualify the role and the leadership of
ministries at both national and provincial levels in the coordination bodies?
ü What should be the role of government in line with
Paris Declaration?
v.
Impunity
ü According to you what could be the appropriate
strategy to fight against impunity?
V.
Key
findings, strengths and weakness of interviews
a)
Interviews
Three people were interviewed as required. Two of them are from UNFPA and
one is from UNDP. Time for each interview carried out ranged from 19 minutes to
43 minutes. The three interviews have been recorded with a recorder appliance
and filmed with a cell phone in order to increase the chance to capture
required information. All the interviewees are currently working on sexual
violence. The questions were not literally read. The idea was to explain the
questions as much as possible in order to allow the interviewees to better understand
what I was looking for. Each interview started with warm greetings, a brief
introduction of me and the interviewees, the topic and the reason why I was
undertaking this work. The three interviews were done French and then translated
in English for the purpose of the exercise.
b)
Some key findings after the interview
The best interview was at the same time the longest one. The interviewee
is from UNFPA. The second and weak one was the shortest. The interviewee is
from UNDP. It is of course not related to the length of each of them, but it is
based upon my appreciation about the quality of information I learned from them
and how I managed the interview process.
i.
Coordination mechanisms
The first interviewee showed a very good understanding of coordination
issues and gave a detailed description of coordination mechanisms existing for
sexual violence in DRC both at national and provincial level. She started from
the genesis, I mean the beginning of the coordinated effort to fight against
sexual and showed the different steps set up to reach the current coordination
bodies. She also made a clear distinction between development coordination
mechanisms and those used by the humanitarian community. The answer given
should at the time allow anyone who does not have any information about
coordination bodies of sexual violence a clear picture of the situation. One
key recommendation coming from that interview was ensuring the coordination
among donors in order to harmonize their approaches. She said that “we very often talk about coordination among
UN agencies and NGOs, but one gap is to push donor to improve their own
coordination. Even if they started, they need to go further than now”.
In the other hand, the second interview showed only the provincial
coordination bodies without mentioning any present development. The answer was
too narrow and not really meaningful.
ii.
Multisectoral approach and appreciation of
referral pathway
Both interviews acknowledged that the setting up of the multisectoral
approaches as well the referral pathway and network was one of the greatest
achievements of the Joint Initiative. It allowed the different actors to take
care of thousands of survivors in different sectors. It also strengthened the
coordination mechanisms and facilitated the update of mapping of interventions
and interveners. However, the good interview recalled that prevention
activities are still remaining insufficient regarding the efforts put in the
response. She proposed a set of strategies to do so.
For the prevention aspects, the second interview focused on sensitization
as the only appropriate strategy for prevention. She said that “in order to improve prevention within
communities, advocacy and sensitization were done but the effects remained only
in mains cities and towns. But we need now to go beyond especially in remote
areas to sensitize people”.
iii.
Data collection systems
The first interviewee enhanced the fact that the only reliable data
collection system covering the whole country currently is the one setting up by
UNFPA at the beginning of the Joint Initiative. She underlined that even if
those data collection systems have been working, they did not reach the total
participation of field actors. She moreover revealed that several organizations
conditioned the sharing of their data by a funding. This lack of cooperation
undermined sometimes the efforts made and the credibility of data available. The
size of the country coupled with lack of infrastructures and logistical means
did not facilitate the flow of information among actors. She quoted that “we have serious logistic issues which did
not make easy the well functioning of data collection system. Members from
territorial synergies are very far from cities and that distance complicate a
good work in collecting data. We should also think about focusing the
interventions in data collection only in place where funds are available”.
While the second interview gave a small aspect of data collection system,
her focus was only put in data collection tools and how the actors should work
to keep on wide spreading their use among reluctant organizations.
iv.
National ownership
National ownership remains a key issue to deal with if we want to take a
stand in the fight against sexual violence in DRC. This is in conformity with
Paris Declaration on the alignment and aid effectiveness. The first interviewee
pointed out the fact a real appropriation will come after a long process.
Actually, the government to reach this final point should clearly indicate its
vision with appropriate strategies to overcome the problem. She also added that
during this process, the development partners should give a technical and
financial support to the government. She mentioned at the same time that
national ownership on this specific issue does not seem to be currently among
the first priorities of the government in this post-conflict and reconstruction
contexts. She said that “the ministry of
gender does not weigh too much among the ministries”.
The second interviewee focused her intervention on national ownership on how
to build capacity and reinforce the legal and judicial systems.
v.
Impunity
The weak point of the fight against sexual violence is the legal aspect
as said by both interview. To truly fight against impunity, said the first
interviewee, a real change must be operated through an in-depth reform of the
legal and judicial systems. This process will take long and intermediate
actions have to be done first. Before that happen, transitional justice,
customary laws and legal public judgements have to be used as transitory
measures. The second suggested two main measures to fight against which are the
reviewing of the law and the sensitization of grassroots communities especially
in avoiding social arrangement about sexual violence. She evoked that “fighting against impunity needs to start at
grassroots levels. In fact, the community encourage indirectly the perpetrators.
They seek for friendly arrangements with perpetrator”.
c)
Strengths and weaknesses of the two interviews
chosen
Carrying out the three interviews was a very good exercise and a
meaningful learning process. Most of my previous experience in interviewing
people was face-to-face interview with a structured questionnaire and closed
questions. I have also conducted focus group. This trial allows me to learn
about my strengths and my weaknesses in conducting these interviews.
Strengths
in conducting these unstructured interviews
·
Development of my listening skills
As required in the document read, to conduct a good unstructured
interview, the interviewer needs to have good listening skills. During these
interviews, I have only talked to give an idea about the topic that should be
discussed. I spoke in each interview less than 3 minutes. I also adopted an
active listening position with appropriate body movements. This situation makes
the interviewee to feel at ease and so express themselves freely.
·
Learning and gaining of new knowledge
I have been working in the area of sexual violence since 2005. The issue
is passionate because of daily challenges that need creative and thoughtful
approaches. However, I found the interviews fruitful because I gained different
perspectives from each interviewee. Each interview had a specific understanding
of each question asked. For example, the interview considered as the best one
gave a specific direction on the fight against impunity. She said: “...there is clearly need to change things.
A lot of things must be done. The legal reform should take into account several
aspects. This reform should consider the existing constraints in terms of human
resources, size of the country, the facilities and availability of justice
personal in order to have a logical system which will be simple and very close
to the population...”
·
Flexibility and uniqueness of each interview
I have prepared a set of questions on the different topics. I did not read
at all the questions. I used them to guide my explanations depending on the
interviewee. In the other hand, the interviewees had also time to develop their
ideas and give details as much as possible. The answer for the first question
for the best interview took 14 minutes because the interviewee covered a wide
aspect of the question. Each interview was quite different and unique. I
enjoyed the first interview even if it took long.
·
Giving facts and examples to better explain
During the interview, examples and facts have been often used to underlie
the explanations. These elements made the interview as a living conversation. Specifically,
the second interview gave several examples on how communities are dealing with
the issue of impunity. She said that: “In
some cases, when the perpetrators is influent and has financial means, he is
trying to negotiate with the family members and convince them to withdraw their
complaints”.
·
Data validity
This opened data collection method increase the validity of data
collected. The interviewees shared their experiences on sexual violence. It was
genuine and fact-based.
Weaknesses
in conducting these unstructured interviews
·
Translation and transcription from French to English
I personally get used to work on quantitative methods. In those cases,
there are few biases in the analysis process once data have been collected and
encoded whatever the language used before. However, in this particular case, I
found very difficult to work and think in French before translating and
transcribing in English. This situation made me work twice. In the other side,
the translation from French to English favoured the loss of pieces of
information because it was difficult to translate word by word, the statements
of the interviews.
·
Great amount of time is required
You need time to catch up appropriate information from the unstructured interviews.
On the average, the interview took 30 minutes. That is why the floor for opened
and free discussions is given. On the other side, it means that both interviewer
and interviewee should have time to talk. This is unfortunately not always the
case in real life. So, before choosing this method, the researcher needs to be
sure that people involved or target groups will be fully available.
·
More as member of the audience than actor when
carrying out an interview
The aim of this method is to allow the interviewee to express himself
with only little guidance. In my case, I did not find very well the second
interview. She did not properly answer to the questions. But, according to this
interview method, I have to be a good listener and only talk when necessary to
ask questions or to have better explanation. For that purpose, I was almost
obliged to listen to irrelevant and inconsequential answers and waited until
the end of each question. Then after, I tried to formulate again the questions.
·
Difficulties to code, gather and analyze the data
As a research method, output coming from unstructured interviews should
be unpacked and analyzed. In this specific case, it was very difficult to
perceive the main trend resulting from these interviews. Apart from this
aspect, the triangulation with other sources of information will not be easy
because of the inconsistency of answers sometimes.
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[2] Distance Learning Courses on
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Results, Module 1: Understanding Gender Concepts, UNFPA 2005
[3] www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf
[4] Combating Gender-Based Violence: A Key to Achieving the MDGS
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[12] Guidelines for Gender-Based Violence interventions in humanitarian
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[13] WHO Ethical and safety
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[14] Sexual violence in armed conflict.
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[15] Brief note on Sexual Violence in
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[16] Demographic and Health Survey,
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2008.
[18]
Adapted from Sexual and
Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced
Persons, Guidelines for Prevention and Response, chapter 1 UNHCR, May 2003
[20] WHO Ethical and safety
recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in
emergencies, part 3: the recommendations, World Health Organization, 2007
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Rubin I.S., Sage, 1995
[23] Babbie E & Mouton J (2001) The
Practice of Social Research. Oxford : South Africa
[24] Qualitative
methods, Dr. Linda Mayoux
[25] www.rocare.org
[26] Using interviews as research
instruments, Language
Institute Chulalongkorn
University
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