Sexual violence against women by so-called Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS): protocol for a systematic review

Shadab Shahali,Shahrooz Shariati,Ali Montazeri

doi:10.1186/s13643-020-01496-2

Abstract

BackgroundViolence against women and girls (VAWG) has been significantly increased by the rise of conflict and insecurity in the territories under controlling so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This review aims to provide an understanding of the consequences of ISIS sexual violence against women.MethodsElectronic databases including MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, JSTOR, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Google Scholar are searched for the articles published from 2014 to 2020. Then, two reviewers will systematically identify the articles which will meet the inclusion criteria. Using a standard checklist, methodological quality of articles is assessed. The findings will be summarized, and a narrative synthesis of data will be reported.DiscussionThis systematic review with a narrative synthesis approach will provide the important information about the gap in knowledge and detailed summary of the existing evidence on consequences of ISIS's systematic sexual violence against women. The evidence is useful for the international health organizations to plan and develop clinical guidelines with interest to reduce the consequences of sexual violence in the armed conflict territories.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42019124215

Highlights

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been significantly increased by the rise of conflict and insecurity in the territories under controlling so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
This systematic review with a narrative synthesis approach will provide the important information about the gap in knowledge and detailed summary of the existing evidence on consequences of ISIS's systematic sexual violence against women
The evidence is useful for the international health organizations to plan and develop clinical guidelines with interest to reduce the consequences of sexual violence in the armed conflict territories

Summary

Introduction

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been significantly increased by the rise of conflict and insecurity in the territories under controlling so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The term sexual violence can include many different crimes ranging from sexual humiliation to multiple or gang rape and forced prostitution [1, 2]. It was defined with World Health Organization as “any sexual act attempts to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work” [3]. Direct impacts include sexual assault and rape, forced marriage, sexual slavery, disability, and Shahali et al Systematic Reviews (2020) 9:239 the difficulty of accessing health care. Indirect impact includes honor killings, prostitution, rape, abduction, and trafficking [10]

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