Lindsay Stark
Biographic Data
| ID | 3582681 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lindsay Stark |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lindsay |
| FAMILY NAME | Stark |
| SIGNATURE | STARK L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Washington University in St. Louis |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8775-9735 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 93 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 73 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 93 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Between justice and mediation
Evaluating the Impact of Rental Assistance on Self-Reliance and Well-Being Among Displaced Populations
Background Housing insecurity is a central but understudied determinant of self-reliance and psychosocial well-being among forcibly displaced populations. This study evaluates the relationship between a nine-month rental assistance program on self-reliance and multiple dimensions of well-being among female-headed Venezuelan migrant households in Colombia. Methods To construct a matched control group, 517 treated and 549 eligible untreated househo…
A systematic review of infectious disease outbreaks and violence against women and girls
Infectious disease outbreaks (outbreaks) are increasing across the globe due to climate change, urbanisation and changes in land use, and many of their response measures impact risk factors for violence against women and girls (VAWG). We conducted a systematic review to consolidate existing evidence on the impact of any outbreaks, and their public health responses, on the change in magnitude of VAWG and mechanisms facilitating violence among wome…
Parenting under the triple burden of violence, depression, and poor diet quality
Parenting while experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), depression, and poor diet quality can contribute to child health inequities. Syndemic theory offers a framework to understand how maternal conditions can lead to inequitable child health outcomes, such as diarrheal disease: a risk factor for childhood mortality and stunting. This study uses the 2022 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey to test an intergenerational syndemic model address…
Feasibility, acceptability and implementation of a whole-family mental health intervention for displaced adolescent girls in Colombia
Adolescent girls affected by displacement face substantial mental-health risks. The Sibling Support for Adolescent Girls in Emergencies (SSAGE) is a 12-week, gender-transformative, family-based program designed to improve adolescent girls' mental health in humanitarian settings. This mixed-methods pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessed SSAGE's feasibility, acceptability and potential effects among 186 Venezuelan migrant and Colombian re…
Pathways to self-reliance
ESGL shows preliminary promise in maintaining or improving economic self-reliance among forcibly displaced women in urban Colombia. A fully powered RCT is needed to confirm these initial findings and examine potential mental health effects. Future research should also assess longer-term impacts and optimize delivery in urban humanitarian contexts
Beyond shelter
Urban refugees in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often face housing insecurity, undermining their ability to achieve self-reliance and well-being. Few studies have evaluated the impact of housing interventions in these contexts. This study offers preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of a 9-month rental assistance program targeting female-headed Venezuelan migrant households in Colombia. Using pre-post data from 517 participants, we…
Supporting self-reliance for displaced and host populations
OBJECTIVE: To examine household-level patterns of self-reliance among forcibly displaced and host populations using the Self-Reliance Index (SRI) and identify opportunities for strengthening humanitarian programming, policy frameworks and service delivery systems that support sustainable well-being. METHODS: This secondary analysis draws on data from 7850 households collected by 10 organisations across 16 countries between 2020 and 2024. The SRI …
Acculturative Challenges and Opportunities Among Arab-Speaking Mena Refugees in the United States
The study identifies acculturative challenges and opportunities experienced by Arab-speaking MENA refugees in the United States. The research team conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with refugee parents (11 fathers and 13 mothers) in Arabic. The findings reveal two main categories: (a) acculturative challenges and (b) opportunities and hopes for a better future in the United States. Refugees described several acculturative challenges, includ…
Understanding linkages between self-reliance and mental health among forcibly displaced women in Colombia
This study explores the relationship between household-level self-reliance and mental health outcomes—specifically, depression symptoms and resilience—among forcibly displaced women in Colombia. Using baseline data from 348 women participating in an entrepreneurial program with a gender lens, we employed multiple regression analyses to examine self-reliance, measured via the Self-Reliance Index (SRI), and its association with depressive symptoms …
A Relational Approach to Understanding Psychosocial Wellbeing, Including Suicidal Ideation, Among Mena-Background Adolescents
Adolescent refugees from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region face significant acculturation challenges and stressors in the United States. This qualitative study draws upon the integrated motivational-volitional model to understand MENA-background adolescents’ psychosocial wellbeing and suicide risk in three U.S. cities. Local service providers served as key informants ( n = 27), sharing in-depth reflections on supporting newcomer stud…
Setting Research Priorities To Support Arabic-speaking Newcomer Students Resettled in the US
Forced displacement, household composition, and mental health
Findings underscore the significance of household gender composition in relation to the mental health and self-esteem of forcibly displaced adolescent girls. Findings highlight the potential protection of a gender-transformative approach within family-centered interventions to improve forcibly displaced girls' well-being
She Is a Guest in My House
Traditional values and beliefs perpetuate gender inequalities and marginalize women in many societies worldwide by limiting their access to economic resources and decision‐making abilities. In‐depth interviews were conducted among 53 young women and men to explore the barriers to asset development and decision‐making autonomy among adolescent girls transitioning into young women in southern Uganda. Five themes emerged from the participants’ narra…
Gender-based violence syndemics in global health
Measuring and assessing refugee success in the USA
To better understand the factors that impede and facilitate refugee success, it is important to clarify how success is operationalized in research and evaluations. This scoping review examined quantitative methods used to measure refugee success in the USA, mapping the domains and parameters studied, data collection methods, and contexts of reception and exit. Fifty-two articles met the eligibility criteria. Findings revealed variability in popul…
Improving psychosocial well-being and parenting practices among refugees in Uganda
Caregivers play a critical role in mediating the impacts of forced displacement on children; however, humanitarian programming remains hampered by a lack of evidence-based programming. We present findings from an evaluation of a group-based curriculum delivered over the course of 12 sessions, journey of life (JoL). A waitlist-control quasi-experimental design was implemented in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement (intervention n = 631, control n =…
Women’s collectives and social support
Findings underscore the critical role of women's collectives in providing diverse forms of social support to foster empowerment, agency, and resilience among forcibly displaced women. By centering the voices of participants and employing survivor-centered approaches like photovoice, this study amplifies the perspectives of women within these collectives, contributing to more inclusive and responsive humanitarian interventions. Future research sho…
How Refugees Conceptualise Success
The global refugee system prioritises self-sufficiency as a prime objective, but refugees may have different views of their success. To assess how refugees across varying contexts of exit and reception conceptualise success, this study draws on in-depth interviews with 36 adult refugees from Iraq and Democratic Republic of Congo resettled in Denver, Colorado, and St Louis, Missouri. This article makes four main contributions to the refugee resett…
Investigating Mechanisms Between Child Marriage, Intimate Partner Violence, and Psychological Distress in Malawi and Uganda
One in five women aged 20–24 years are first married before adulthood. Using the Violence against Children Surveys from Uganda and Malawi, we decomposed the total relationship between child marriage and psychological distress into an indirect relationship via intimate partner violence (IPV) and a direct relationship (above and beyond IPV). In Uganda, delaying marriage during adolescence reduced the probability of IPV and psychological distress in…
Meaning-focused coping as a cultural process
Methodological and Ethical Implications of Using Remote Data Collection Tools to Measure Sexual and Reproductive Health and Gender-Based Violence Outcomes among Women and Girls in Humanitarian and Fra…
Purpose: This systematic review investigates the methodological and ethical implications of using remote data collection tools to measure sexual/reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) outcomes among women and girls in humanitarian and fragile settings. Methods: We included empirical studies of all design types that collected any self-reported primary data related to SRH/GBV using information and communication technology, in the…
The Economic Cost of Violence Against Women and Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Evidence demonstrating the economic burden of violence against women and girls can support policy and advocacy efforts for investment in violence prevention and response programming. We undertook a systematic review of evidence on the costs of violence against women and girls in low- and middle-income countries published since 2005. In addition to understanding costs, we examined the consistency of methodological approaches applied and identified…
Danger Zone or Newfound Freedoms
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls across the globe faced increased reliance on the digital space to access education, social support, and health and gender-based violence (GBV) services. While research from the last three years has explored how women and girls navigated and responded to their new virtual reality, minimal evidence has been generated from low-resource settings where access to technology may be limited. Further, no studi…
The pandemic only gave visibility to what is invisible”
This analysis highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing forms of structural violence prevalent throughout Brazil. Findings stress the urgency with which the Brazilian government and international organization must act to support community driven programs that strive to address the most basic human needs
He always thinks he is nothing
Protection and well-being of adolescent refugees in the context of a humanitarian crisis
Safety, trust, and disclosure
The limits of top-down approaches to managing diversity
Measuring violence against women amidst war and displacement in northern Uganda using the “neighbourhood method”
BACKGROUND: Gender-based violence is viewed as a significant problem in conflict-affected regions throughout the world. However, humanitarian organizations typically have been unable to reliably estimate the incidence of rape, intimate partner violence and other forms of sexual abuse in such settings. Such estimates are required to inform programming in contexts such as northern Uganda. METHODS: We sought to establish incidence rates for gender-b…
Norms, Repertoires, & Intersections
The school participation effect
Little is known about the differential experiences with violence among girls in conflict-affected societies based on their involvement in formal education. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls between the ages of 10–14 across 14 sites in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prevalence of three forms of violence was estimated across four levels of participation in formal education, and multivariable mixed effects logistic re…
Navigating support, resilience, and care
The disconnect between community-based child protection mechanisms and the formal child protection system in rural Sierra Leone
Efforts to strengthen national child protection systems often encounter problems of low utilization rates by local people. A rapid ethnographic study in two districts of Sierra Leone documented local views of harms to children and which mechanisms people used in responding to and preventing the harms. Key harms included teenage pregnancy out of wedlock, out of school children, heavy labor, and maltreatment of children who do not live with their b…
A qualitative study of community-based child protection mechanisms in Aceh, Indonesia
The study described in this article explores the functioning of existing community-based child protection mechanisms in two districts in Aceh, Indonesia and identifies issues that need to be addressed for improved prevention and response programming for children experiencing violence, abuse and exploitation. Ninety-six in-depth interviews and 23 focus group discussions were used to document child protection threats and local means of support. The…
Children and fighting forces
It is 10 years since the adoption of the Cape Town Principles and Best Practices on the Prevention of Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and on Demobilization and Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa. The field of programming for the reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups has made significant strides in this period. However, important gaps in the knowledge base remain. This paper examines em…
Hope for a better tomorrow”
We explore how Arab adolescents enact critical consciousness to improve their lives and better their community. Eleven first- and second-generation Arab adolescents participated in a Photovoice study and were asked to reflect on and take photos that represented their well-being, daily life, and sense of belonging and community. The participants discussed their photos over multiple group reflection sessions. Thematic analysis highlights how Arab a…
Opportunities and Obstacles for Achieving Language Equity among Adolescents Resettled from the Middle East and North Africa
Adolescents resettled to the US from conflict-affected countries in the Middle East and North Africa region face a range of acculturative challenges, including language barriers, that may affect their wellbeing. This qualitative study aims to understand the variety of approaches US schools use to support the education of Arabic-speaking students. Utilizing Ruíz’s influential typology of language orientations, our analysis reveals a range of schoo…
Innovative methods to analyse the impact of gender norms on adolescent health using global health survey data
Violence, Well-Being and Level of Participation in Formal Education among Adolescent Girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Child marriage is a well-recognized barrier to education, and exposes girls to an increased risk of violence along with other negative health and developmental outcomes. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls selected from 14 communities in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Data from 350 girls (ages 13-14) were analyzed using mixed effects logistic regression models. Findings revealed that child marriage was associated w…
How Narratives of Fear Shape Girls’ Participation in Community Life in Two Conflict-Affected Populations
Numerous social factors shape girls' lives in conflict-affected settings, affecting their vulnerability to gender-based violence (GBV). Qualitative research methods were used to examine spaces of perceived safety and risk for girls living in two conflict-affected populations: camps in Ethiopia hosting primarily South Sudanese and Sudanese refugees and communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Three major themes emerged: (a) challenges …
Meaning-focused coping as a cultural process
We Are Here for the Future of Our Kids
Every year, thousands of young refugees and their families face challenges as they adjust to schools in the US. This article explores how families resettled to the US from conflict-affected, Arab-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, such as Iraq and Syria, view education, and how parents support their children’s education following the experiences of resettlement. To centre the voices and lived experiences of these famil…
Forced Sex and Early Marriage
This mixed-methods study uses baseline data from a program evaluation in the Democratic Republic of Congo to examine two outcomes of interest: self-reported exposure to forced sex and belief that a girl's community would force her to marry her hypothetical rapist, for married and unmarried 13- to 14-year-old girls ( n = 377). Married girls are more likely to report both outcomes. Qualitative in-depth interviews with girl participants ( n = 30) an…
Sealing the Past, Facing the Future
This paper reports on an evaluation of a program in Sierra Leone that sought to support the community reintegration of young women and girls formerly associated with armed groups and forces. In the absence of baseline data, we used locally-derived indicators of reintegration and village timelines to conduct a retrospective cohort study of the progress of 142 girls and young women towards achievement of community reintegration following their expe…
Children and fighting forces
It is 10 years since the adoption of the Cape Town Principles and Best Practices on the Prevention of Recruitment of Children into the Armed Forces and on Demobilization and Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa. The field of programming for the reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups has made significant strides in this period. However, important gaps in the knowledge base remain. This paper examines em…
Sealing the Past, Facing the Future
This paper reports on an evaluation of a program in Sierra Leone that sought to support the community reintegration of young women and girls formerly associated with armed groups and forces. In the absence of baseline data, we used locally-derived indicators of reintegration and village timelines to conduct a retrospective cohort study of the progress of 142 girls and young women towards achievement of community reintegration following their expe…
Measuring violence against women amidst war and displacement in northern Uganda using the “neighbourhood method”
BACKGROUND: Gender-based violence is viewed as a significant problem in conflict-affected regions throughout the world. However, humanitarian organizations typically have been unable to reliably estimate the incidence of rape, intimate partner violence and other forms of sexual abuse in such settings. Such estimates are required to inform programming in contexts such as northern Uganda. METHODS: We sought to establish incidence rates for gender-b…
A Systematic Review of Prevalence Studies of Gender-Based Violence in Complex Emergencies
Current methods to estimate the incidence of gender-based violence in complex emergencies tend to rely on nonprobability samples. Population-based monitoring is undertaken relatively infrequently. This article provides a systematic review of published literature that represents attempts to quantify the magnitude of gender-based violence in emergency settings. Searches adopted a Boolean procedure, which led to initial selection of material that wa…
The disconnect between community-based child protection mechanisms and the formal child protection system in rural Sierra Leone
Efforts to strengthen national child protection systems often encounter problems of low utilization rates by local people. A rapid ethnographic study in two districts of Sierra Leone documented local views of harms to children and which mechanisms people used in responding to and preventing the harms. Key harms included teenage pregnancy out of wedlock, out of school children, heavy labor, and maltreatment of children who do not live with their b…
A qualitative study of community-based child protection mechanisms in Aceh, Indonesia
The study described in this article explores the functioning of existing community-based child protection mechanisms in two districts in Aceh, Indonesia and identifies issues that need to be addressed for improved prevention and response programming for children experiencing violence, abuse and exploitation. Ninety-six in-depth interviews and 23 focus group discussions were used to document child protection threats and local means of support. The…
Measuring the incidence and reporting of violence against women and girls in liberia using the 'neighborhood method
Violence against women and girls is widespread in the areas studied. Programming needs to address the fact that this violence is primarily occurring in the household, where most incidents go unreported outside the immediate family or social circle. Police and hospital reports severely under-represent these known perpetrators. Inter-interviewer variance and differences in reports for self and neighbors for some outcomes caution the precision and v…
Thriving beyond survival
BACKGROUND: There are an estimated 35 million unregistered children in Indonesia. To understand ways to best leverage existing health system-related resources and ensure greater protective measures for these vulnerable children, this study explores the predictive relationship between the utilization of perinatal health services and birth certificate ownership in two Indonesian provinces. METHODS: This study employed a cross-sectional design with …
Economic Dimensions of Child Protection and Well-being
Family structure and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents in rural Sierra Leone
Orphanhood is common in sub-Saharan Africa, and is a critical issue shaping global assistance for children. Care arrangements for children are often fluid, and many 'orphaned' children have a surviving biological parent. This study examines the protective effects of family-level factors on early sex and pregnancy in rural Sierra Leone. A survey of 530 adolescents in 2 districts in Sierra Leone was analysed to evaluate associations between living …
The limits of top-down approaches to managing diversity
Measuring Physical Violence and Rape Against Somali Women Using the Neighborhood Method
This study was conducted to estimate prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) among female Somalis in Ethiopian refugee camps and host communities, compare prevalence in camps and communities, and compare prevalence in flight and in camp. Systematic random sampling was used to select households in Awbare camp (n = 85), Awbare town (n = 76), and Kebribeyah camp (n = 83). GBV was common and overwhelmingly domestic. Prevalence was higher in Awbare …
He always thinks he is nothing
Assessing the impact of microfinance programming on children
This paper presents an evaluation of the long-term impact of microfinance programmes on Acehnese children during the post-tsunami recovery. The study, conducted from June to August 2010, examined the impact of microfinance programming six years after the tsunami. The sample consisted of 185 microfinance participants, with a comparison group of 192 individuals who did not participate in microfinance programmes. All respondents were parents, interv…
Implementation of Audio-Computer Assisted Self-Interview (Acasi) among adolescent girls in humanitarian settings
Financial and time investment to ready ACASI was substantial in order to properly contextualize the approach to these specific humanitarian settings, including piloting of images, language assessments, and checking both written translations and corresponding verbal recordings. Despite challenges, we conclude that ACASI proved feasible and acceptable to participants and to data collection teams in two diverse humanitarian settings
Assessing the use of the neighborhood method to estimate the prevalence of child separation
This pilot showed that, for measuring separated children in North Kivu, the results from neighbor households significantly underestimated the prevalence of separation when compared to data collected from respondents directly. Reliability was mixed. Although the neighborhood method did not yield valid results in this setting, given the potential the method holds to save scarce resources in humanitarian settings, additional pilots to refine and eva…
Creating opportunities through mentorship, parental involvement, and safe spaces (Compass) program
Clinical Trials NCT02384642 (Registered: 2/24/15) & NCT02506543 (Registered: 7/19/15)
And then they left’
International child protection work has undergone a paradigm shift, moving from addressing issues such as trafficked children, street children and child labour separately to a more integrated systems approach. As a young nation still marked by conflict, South Sudan offers insight into how the interplay between a fragile national child protection system in a conflict‐affected country and the efforts of international humanitarian actors can promote…
Violence against children in humanitarian settings
Navigating support, resilience, and care
Prevalence and associated risk factors of violence against conflict–affected female adolescents
BACKGROUND: Over half of displaced civilians in humanitarian emergencies are children, and these settings pose unique threats to children's safety with long-lasting consequences. Our study broadens the limited evidence on violence against adolescent girls in emergencies by estimating prevalence and predictors of violence among adolescent girls aged 13-14 in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and aged 13-19 in refugee camps in the…
Latent class analysis of violence against adolescents and psychosocial outcomes in refugee settings in Uganda and Rwanda
The present results support the existing evidence-base concerning the association between violence and adverse mental health outcomes, while identifying differences in patterns and associations between refugee youth in two different contexts
The effect of gender norms on the association between violence and hope among girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Findings support the utility of gender norms-transformative programming in increasing resilience of girls who have experienced sexual violence in humanitarian contexts
How Narratives of Fear Shape Girls’ Participation in Community Life in Two Conflict-Affected Populations
Numerous social factors shape girls' lives in conflict-affected settings, affecting their vulnerability to gender-based violence (GBV). Qualitative research methods were used to examine spaces of perceived safety and risk for girls living in two conflict-affected populations: camps in Ethiopia hosting primarily South Sudanese and Sudanese refugees and communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Three major themes emerged: (a) challenges …
How gender- and violence-related norms affect self-esteem among adolescent refugee girls living in Ethiopia
Findings suggest shifting collective norms around gender inequity, particularly at the community and peer levels, may sustainably support the safety and well-being of adolescent girls in refugee settings
Medicine (57 works) · Psychology (50 works) · Sociology (47 works) · Political science (39 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (38 works) · Environmental health (28 works) · Intimate Partner and Family Violence (27 works) · Psychiatry (27 works) · Poison control (25 works) · Nursing (23 works)