Promise and perils of surveillance in addressing violence against women

Surveillance in the field of violence against women holds great promise as a tool to establish and track prevalence over time, identify risk groups and factors, and evaluate interventions. Appropriate surveillance systems are population based and can be used as the basis for informed public policy formation and evaluation, and public attitude assessment and analysis. They can also decrease research costs and can be established in all of the systems (legal, health, and social services) that interact with victims. Yet surveillance is not a perfect system. This article examines the issues with surveillance in this field, including its assumptions, prevalence variations, sensitivity and specificity issues, and safety concerns. The conclusion offers some creative approaches to address these problems.