FAQ

How should the SVAC data be cited?
How is “sexual violence” defined?
Which conflict actors are included?
What types of conflicts are included?
How is prevalence coded?
Why are the prevalence scores sometimes different across the three sources?
Which prevalence score should I use?
What are “interim years”?
What are “post-conflict years”?
When was the dataset updated?
Why are there fewer variables in SVAC 3.0?
Why are there two different SVAC 3.0 datasets available?

Further Reading

  • Carey, Sabine, Neil Mitchell and Will Lowe. 2013. “States, the Security Sector and the Monopoly of Violence: A New Database on Pro-Government Militias,” Journal of Peace Research 50(2): 249-258.
  • Cohen, Dara Kay. 2013. “Explaining Rape During Civil War: Cross-National Evidence,” American Political Science Review 107(3): 461-477.
  • Cohen, Dara Kay and Ragnhild Nordås. 2014. “Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Introducing the SVAC dataset, 1989–2009.” Journal of Peace Research 51(3): 418-428.
  • Gleditsch, Nils Petter, Peter Wallensteen, Mikael Eriksson, Margit Sollenberg and Håvard Strand. 2002. “Armed Conflict 1946–2001: A New Dataset,” Journal of Peace Research 39(5): 615–637.
  • Harbom, Lotta, Erik Melander and Peter Wallensteen. 2008. “Dyadic Dimensions of Armed Conflict, 1946-2007,” Journal of Peace Research 45(5): 697-710.
  • Wood, Elisabeth. 2009. “Armed Groups and Sexual Violence: When is Wartime Rape Rare?” Politics & Society 37(1): 131-161.