Gender Based Violence

The Women’s Health and Gender Directorate and the Gender Focal Point of the National Department of Health and the South African Gender-Based Violence & Health Initiative co-hosted a two-day workshop to initiate a process of developing an appropriate health sector response to gender-based violence. It was held from the 26-27th March 2001 with 43 participants from all provinces, national government as well as NGO stakeholders. This document is a report of the conference and the issues discussed. [from executive summary]

Health workers play a key role in screening for and treating the consequences of gender-based violence, and female health workers may themselves experience GBV, compromising their ability to work. Training health workers to identify, treat and respond effectively to GBV is essential for the health sector and the communities that health workers serve. The Capacity Project conducted a search of existing training modules and training support materials on GBV, particularly those intended for health care personnel. The purpose of this activity was to identify and review existing GBV training modules that could be adapted and/or integrated into pre-service education or in-service training curricula in developing countries. [adapted from author]

Based on the experiences of an IPPF/WHR regional initiative to integrate services for victims of gender-based violence into reproductive health programs, this manual provides tools and guidelines for program managers working in developing countries. Topics include: planning a program, implementing routine screenings, providing specialized and emergency services, building reference networks, and legal advocacy. Also includes practical tools to determine provider attitudes to gender-based violence, establish support groups, establish legal definitions and responsibilities, and monitor the quality of care.

This module is designed to improve the awareness, knowledge and skills of health professionals on gender-based violence. Gender-based violence has long remained a feature of family and social life, about which society has preferred to remain silent. GBV takes many forms and affects a large number of women from all parts of the world at different points in their life cycle, from infancy and childhood to adulthood and old age. Health professionals are in a unique position to identify the problem, contribute to its prevention and assist victims. This is because health facilities are probably one of the few public institutions that most women interact with at some point in their lives - for pregnancy and delivery-care, for contraception, for health-care for their children or for their general health needs.

The objective of this study was to explore knowledge, attitudes and practices of health workers in Mulago hospital towards domestic violence prevention and management, especially violence during pregnancy. Many respondents had poor knowledge of domestic violence management or prevention. Though they believed counseling survivors was necessary, none of the in-depth interviewees had counseling skills or had ever referred patients or survivors for such counseling. Lack of technical competence, negative attitudes and institutional constraints were cited as main barriers to provision of optimal care to survivors. [from abstract]

This report is intended to study the scope and extent of sexual harassment faced by women workers in Mexico. It is part of a series of similar reports for the International Labor Rights Fund’s Rights for Working Women Campaign, with the aim of preventing violence in the workplace against women in developing countries. This study provides background on occupational conditions affecting women wage workers and the legal framework of existing protections for them, highlight certain findings from research data, and provides recommendations on how the problem of sexual harassment should be addressed in Mexico.

Health care providers can help solve the problem of violence against women if they learn how to ask clients about violence, become better aware of signs that can identify victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, and help women protect themselves by developing a personal safety plan. Everyone can do something to help promote nonviolent relationships. [author’s description]

This paper describes the nurses’ attitudes and beliefs regarding gender-based violence, as well as their experiences of such abuse - both as professionals, and as members of their families and communities. It then situates these observations within emerging international efforts to raise awareness and capacity to address domestic violence within the nursing profession. Finally, in light of these findings, this paper raises key questions and concerns which need to be examined within emerging strategies which envision health care workers as one means of addressing violence against women in South Africa. [author’s description]