Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in their role as a co-lead of the Action Coalition on gender-based violence to highlight older women’s experiences of gender-based violence; and what plans they have to prioritise collecting data about violence against older women in low- and middle- income countries.

The UK is committed to working with our Action Coalition co-leads to ensure our joint objectives focus on tackling all forms of violence against women and girls and reaching the most marginalised, including older women.

We recognise that there is a knowledge gap in understanding the different forms, causes, and consequences of violence against older women. To help fill this gap, DFID is investing £6 million to support the UN Women-led flagship programme initiative on gender data – Making Every Woman and Girl Count – and the joint UN Programme on Violence Against Women and Girls data. These programmes are working to improve the production, availability, accessibility and use of quality data and statistics on gender equality and gender-based violence. This includes developing new global methodologies and standards for capturing older women’s experience of violence, including agreeing a minimum set of questions for women over 50 to be added to existing surveys or modules. We will ensure the Action Coalition draws on this learning from Making Every Woman and Girl Count.

DFID’s Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan (March 2019) also sets out our commitment to improve the quality, quantity and availability of inclusive and disaggregated data, including by age, in DFID and across the global system.