Global prevalence of violence against women with disabilities: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Violence against women (VAW) is a public health, gender equality and human rights issue, with women with disabilities facing heightened risks due to intersecting discrimination. However, research on violence against people with disabilities often lacks sex-disaggregated data and primarily focuses on intimate partner violence, neglecting other perpetrators like family members or caregivers and leading to potential underestimation of its prevalence.

This protocol outlines the methods for a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the global prevalence of VAW with disabilities, focusing on intimate partner violence by intimate partners, domestic violence and sexual violence by any perpetrator. The review will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and will include population-based quantitative studies focusing on women with disabilities aged 15 and older. 12 databases will be searched, and records will be screened by two independent reviewers. The risk of bias will be assessed. The global prevalence and pooled ORs comparing women with and without disabilities will be calculated.Findings will contribute to global efforts in addressing VAW with disabilities, informing the development of targeted, evidence-based policies and programmes and ensuring that interventions are responsive to their specific needs and circumstances.

Ethics approval is not required, as this review analyses previously published data. Findings will inform ongoing World Health Organization (WHO)/Human Reproductive Programme (HRP) work on strengthening the measurement of VAW with disabilities and will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations and sharing with relevant organisations.

CRD42023427512.