Exploring the use of geographic methods to understand sexual- and gender-based violence: a scoping review

Geographic methods of inquiry are being increasingly employed to discern and visualize geographical patterns associated with increased risk of sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV). As such, this scoping review systematically collated academic literature and subsequently synthesised (1) the time trend of studies employing geographic methods to understand SGBV, (2) the context in which geographic methods are being used to understand SGBV (i.e. objectives), (3) study characteristics, and (4) the methods and data sources used. A total of six databases were searched: Gender Studies, PsychINFO, Scopus, PudMed, Cochrane, and Campbell. Following title-abstract (n = 3354) and full-text screening (n = 159), 42 studies met data extraction criteria. From our review, there is clear momentum in the use of geographic methods to understand trends in SGBV. The majority of studies stated objectives aligning with assessing risk of SGBV (n = 35, 83.3%), while the remaining aimed to assess SGBV service availability. As research expands, there is notable focus on urban and suburban areas and a dominant dependence on institutional data sources (e.g. hospitals and police data), which hold certain caveats when it comes to structural barriers to SGBV data collection, such as fear of reporting and historic distrust in institutional services. Dovetailing the employment of big data sources with community-facilitated SGBV data collection methods may be a promising avenue for neighbourhood-specific efforts to inform policy and practice.