Jakarta – Few ASEAN countries have reliable statistical data on violence against women although the 2004 ASEAN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women underscored the need for reliable statistics both to assess the size of the problem and to monitor changes, a senior United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) official says.

UNFPA representative for Indonesia, Jose Ferraris, said on Monday that such statistics were important to inform and guide the development of national legislation, policies and programs that could prevent violence against women and protect survivors as well.

"Without timely and accurate indicators, it is impossible to track progress or provide information that compels policymakers to act toward the elimination of violence against women," he told a workshop on "Strengthening National Capacities to Collect Violence against Women Statistics in the ASEAN Region", jointly held by Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, ASEAN Secretariat and the UNFPA today.

The National Commission on Violence against Women recorded that 119,107 reported cases of violence against women took place in Indonesia in 2011.

The workshop aims to address the need for stakeholders, such as national health systems and planning offices, as well as those who work in women empowerment to more effectively integrate the collection, analysis and use of data on violence against women in national plans and programs.

During the workshop, participants from ASEAN's 10 member countries studied various statistical methodologies, in particular the World Health Organization's (WHO) multi-country study methodology, available for measuring violence against women.

Ferraris said the WHO methodology was the gold standard in measuring violence against women and which allowed multi-country comparisons to take place.