Sexual violence against women by so-called Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS): protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been significantly increased by the rise of conflict and insecurity in the territories under controlling so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This review aims to provide an understanding of the consequences of ISIS sexual violence against women. METHODS: Electronic databases including MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, JSTOR, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Google Scholar are searched for the articles published from 2014 to 2020. Then, two reviewers will systematically identify the articles which will meet the inclusion criteria. Using a standard checklist, methodological quality of articles is assessed. The findings will be summarized, and a narrative synthesis of data will be reported. DISCUSSION: This systematic review with a narrative synthesis approach will provide the important information about the gap in knowledge and detailed summary of the existing evidence on consequences of ISIS's systematic sexual violence against women. The evidence is useful for the international health organizations to plan and develop clinical guidelines with interest to reduce the consequences of sexual violence in the armed conflict territories. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019124215