Measuring sexual violence stigma in humanitarian contexts: assessment of scale psychometric properties and validity with female sexual violence survivors from Somalia and Syria.

Background: Valid measures of sexual violence stigma that can be readily incorporated into program monitoring and evaluation systems are needed to strengthen gender-based violence (GBV) services in humanitarian emergencies. This study sought to assess the psychometric properties, construct validity, and measurement invariance of sexual violence stigma scales among female Somali GBV survivors in Kenya and Syrian GBV survivors in Jordan to identify an abbreviated scale that could be used across humanitarian contexts.

Methods: We administered measures of sexual violence stigma to 209 female survivors of sexual violence aged 15 and older in Kenya and Jordan.