Table 1

Approaches to remote data collection

Study and location	Participants	Violence questions included	Types of remote data collection	Who collected data	Remote consent	Safeguarding in the context of remote data collection
Violence against children
1. CoVAC study, Uganda (Qualitative) Context of Violence in Adolescence Cohort study, Uganda	Young people aged 16–19 years.	Effects of COVID-19 on daily lives, on relationships in families, with friends, on schooling/work and impacts in their communities; discussion about their coping strategies, sources of support and views on lockdown measures.	Phone interviews (n=34).	Trained interviewers with prior experience working with the study population and in the study site, individually assigned to each participant to build a relationship over time.	Participants had given prior consent for the study. Consent for interview sought over the phone and researchers filled in written consent forms.	Counsellors on staff for phone counselling. Predefined referral pathways. Links to local child protection systems.
2. CoVAC study, Uganda (Quantitative) Context of Violence in Adolescence Cohort study, Uganda	Young people aged 15–27 years.	Physical, emotional and sexual violence from a caregiver, intimate partner, at work; witnessing violence.	Phone interviews (n=2355).	Trained interviewers with prior experience working with the study population and in the study site.	Participants had given prior consent for the study. Consent for interview sought over the phone and researchers filled in written consent forms.	Several counsellors on staff for phone counselling and in-person counselling. Predefined referral pathways. Links to local child protection systems.
3. Bantwana programme study, Uganda Parenting & protecting children from violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, qualitative, Uganda	Caregivers belonging to positive parenting groups. Key stakeholders (including community development officers, case workers, teachers and local council representatives).	Impact of the pandemic on caregivers’ lives and parenting practices and on social norms that underlie violence; approaches being used to prevent and respond to violence against children before and during lockdown; whether being involved with the Western Uganda Bantwana programme helped them with parenting during lockdown.	Phone interviews (n=87).	Experienced interviewers who received refresher training on ethical conduct and safeguarding.	Consent for interview sought over the phone and recorded using digital recorders.	Predefined referral pathways. Links to local counselling and child protection services.
4. CCSS-Z study, Zimbabwe Child-friendly Catholic Schools Study, Zimbabwe	Adult Catholic school stakeholders (teachers, headteachers, parents, priests). External stakeholders (national Catholic education actors, NGO actors, local government education actors).	Violence against children in the community; teacher violence in schools, a child protection policy and intervention to prevent violence; and alternative discipline approaches in schools.	Face to face interviews (n=16), phone/video interviews (n=2).	Trained interviewers with prior experience conducting research into violence and conducting remote methods, but no prior experience with the study population.	Consent for phone/video interviews sought over the phone and recorded using digital recorders (consent was a three-stage process).	Predefined referral pathways with Childline Zimbabwe, with capacity for in-person referrals for children. Phone numbers offered for referral services for adults.

Violence against women
5. Maisha Fiti study, Kenya	Female sex workers aged above 18 years.	Physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence ever and in the past 6 months from intimate partners, clients, police and others; measurement of gang rape, police arrest and police demands for sex to avoid arrest.	Phone interviews (n=26).	Trained interviewers with prior experience working with the study population and in the study site.	Participants had given prior consent for the study. Consent for remote interview sought over the phone and recorded using digital recorders.	Tele-counselling and telemedicine provided over the phone.
6. Natsal study, Britain British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (pilot of remote study), Britain	Men and women aged 18–59 years in Britain.	Emotional, physical IPV in the past 12 months, ever experienced sexual violence.	Face-to-face (n=74), phone (n=47) and video (n=7) interviews all combined with an online self-completion questionnaire for more sensitive questions (which include questions on violence).	Trained interviewers with prior experience conducting face-to-face interviews for Natsal and/or other sensitive surveys.	Interviewers made contact with sampled participants in-person and agreed mode of interview. Participant preferred mode of interview was face to face; however, video or telephone interviews were offered to participants who did not wish to participate face to face. Verbal consent was obtained immediately before the start of the interview and recorded electronically by the interviewer.	Information leaflet provided (on paper and electronically) with websites and phone numbers for relevant services. A Disclosure of Harm Policy was in place.
7. HERA study - Nepal Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse, Nepal	Healthcare providers, in five health facilities in outreach centres of Dulikhel Hospital in province 3. Key stakeholders (eg, municipal health section, women’s referral centres), women who have experienced domestic violence.	Domestic violence against women by partners or any other family member.	Health providers: interviews with web-based questionnaire using KOBO toolkit (n=35), most significant story interviews (n=30). Survivors of violence: colour-coded audio computer assisted self-interview on tablets (n=45).	Trained interviewers and trained healthcare providers.	Consent was sought verbally and audio recorded. For healthcare providers, the consent form was attached to the online questionnaire.	For survivors, trained healthcare providers linked them to the focal person of related sectors via telephone (eg, focal person of one stop crisis management centres and lawyer via hotline). Researcher and participant safety and distress protocol .
8. HERA study – Brazil Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse, Brazil	Healthcare providers, healthcare managers in eight primary health clinics in the west and south regions. Key stakeholders (eg, municipal health departments, women’s referral centres) and women who have experienced domestic violence.	Domestic violence against women by partners or any other family member.	Interviews on Google Meet (55 healthcare providers, 12 managers and 5 survivors), online case discussions with a team of healthcare providers (38 meetings).	Trained female interviewers.	Consent form sent to healthcare providers before the interview and verbal consent was sought.	Referral list made and updated based on which services were operational in-person or remotely. Researcher and participant safety and distress protocol .