National Consultant to Lead Primary Data Collection for Formative Research to Inform Design of a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention Programme, UNFPA Bangladesh

The Position:

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains one of the most widespread human rights violations globally and in Bangladesh. The latest nationally representative Violence Against Women (VAW) Survey finds that intimate partner violence (IPV)—violence perpetrated by husbands—is the most prevalent form of GBV, affecting approximately three in four women (76%) in their lifetime and one in two (49%) in the past 12 months. Non-partner violence also takes place within marital households, frequently involving in-laws and extended family members, highlighting the broader household and relational dynamics that compound and overlap with IPV. 

Qualitative research highlights the central role of harmful social and gender norms in sustaining violence. A pervasive culture of silence and stigma surrounds GBV, with nearly two in three survivors of IPV (64%) never disclosing their experiences and most survivors forgoing formal health, legal, and other protection services. Deeply entrenched norms that legitimize male authority within households and sexual entitlement in marriage, normalize marital violence as discipline, restrict women’s autonomy and decision-making, and enable in-law control within patrilocal family systems continue to reinforce unequal power relations. Risk analysis further identifies dowry practices, young age, partners’ limited education, infidelity and substance abuse, and women’s residence in slums or city corporations as factors that significantly increase the likelihood of IPV.

The availability of updated nationally representative data, growing recognition of the magnitude of IPV, and a robust global evidence base on effective prevention strategies together create a timely opportunity to adopt an evidence-informed GBV prevention agenda in Bangladesh. In this context, UNFPA is expanding its efforts on GBV prevention as the most sustainable and upstream approach to addressing this public health and human rights crisis, by developing a multi-component, gender-transformative programme with a primary focus on IPV. The programme is designed to be integrated into government systems, interlinked with GBV response services, and to address the multiple drivers and risk factors of violence across individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. UNFPA Bangladesh is accordingly commissioning formative research to generate qualitative evidence that can directly inform intervention design and implementation.

 

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

 

Job Purpose:

The rationale for this formative research is to generate in-depth, context-specific understanding of the normative, relational, community, and structural factors that sustain IPV, alongside insights into operational and implementation factors critical for programme effectiveness. It primarily examines the prevailing social norms, gender–power relations across households and communities, and service systems that shape IPV dynamics for women, men, and families, with particular emphasis on heightened vulnerabilities associated with early marriage, pregnancy, income earning, patrilocal residence, dowry payments, poor mental health, and substance abuse. Finally, the study aims to generate practical implementation-related insights, including participation motivations or constraints, culturally appropriate messaging, perceived participation risks and mitigation measures, and considerations for engaging national systems.

The research will rely primarily on qualitative methods, including in-depth and key informant interviews and focus group discussions,

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