Gender Based Violence

The complex constellation of factors that underlie and reinforce gender-based violence (GBV) warrants a strong multi-level and multisectoral response. This technical brief explores Pathfinder’s experience pioneering a multisectoral approach to GBV prevention and response across two projects in Mozambique, and outlines key lessons learned and next steps. [from abstract]

IPV is important to health systems because of the wide-ranging and serious health effects experienced by exposed women, as well as the unique opportunity afforded to healthcare providers to enquire about violence. [from introduction]

Expectant mothers and mothers of young children are especially vulnerable to intimate partner violence. The nurse-family partnership is a home visitation program in the United States effective for the prevention of adverse child health outcomes, and this study evaluates the effectiveness of this health worker approach on reducing intimate partner violence in The Netherlands. [adapted from author]

This document reports the outcome of an assessment and review of existing approaches to and models of health sector responses to gender-based violence in the Asia Pacific region. [adapted from author]

This document aims to provide practical, non-clinical guidance to help concerned health providers understand the phenomenon of human trafficking, recognize some of the health problems associated with trafficking and consider safe and appropriate approaches to providing health care for trafficked persons. It outlines the health provider’s role in providing care and describes some of the limitations of his or her responsibility to assist. [adapted from introduction]

This study assessed whether brief counselling from family doctors trained to respond to women identified through intimate partner violence screening would increase women’s quality of life, safety planning and behavior, and mental health. [from summary]

This article presents qualitative research used to inform the development of a screening tool as a potential strategy to identify and respond to gender based violence (GBV) for females in humanitarian settings. The findings suggest that routine GBV screening by skilled service providers offers a strategy to confidentially identify and refer survivors to needed services within refugee settings, potentially enabling survivors to overcome existing barriers. [adapted from author]

The objectives of this paper are to identify the factors associated with higher knowledge and confidence in providers at the commencement of a training on post-rape care and to reflect on the implications of this for training and other efforts being made to improve services. [from abstract]

This study evaluated the effect of multimedia training tool to encourage competent, compassionate, and confidential clinical care for sexual assault survivors in low-resource settings on healthcare providers’ attitudes, knowledge, confidence, and practices in four countries. [adapted from abstract]

These guidelines aim to provide evidence-based guidance to health-care providers on the appropriate responses to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women, including clinical interventions and emotional support. They also seek to raise awareness, among health-care providers and policymakers, of violence against women, to better understand the need for an appropriate health sector response to violence against women. [from summary]

This brief outlines the process and findings of a study that compared the attitudes, perceived barriers and enablers of intimate partner violence universal screening among physicians, nurses, and community health workers. [adapted from author]

This report presents findings from a mapping initiative that aimed to capture how faith-based organizations respond to violence against women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region. [from summary]

The aim of this study is to examine the safety and feasibility of community-based medical care for survivors of sexual assault to contribute to building an evidence base on alternative models of care in humanitarian settings. [from abstract]

The need for effective training of primary care physicians in the prevention, detection and handling of intimate partner violence (IPV) has been widely acknowledged, given its frequency in daily practice. The current intervention study aimed to measure changes in the actual IPV knowledge, perceived knowledge, perceived preparedness and detection ability of practicing general practitioners and general practice residents, following an intensive IPV training program. [from abstract]

This study aimed to identify the current role and position of the Moroccan healthcare sector in the prevention of sexual violence against sub-Saharan transmigrants and to use this information for a participatory process with local stakeholders in order to formulate recommendations for a more desirable prevention of sexual violence against sub-Saharan transmigrants by the Moroccan healthcare sector. [adapted from abstract]

This study explores the views and attitudes of health providers in Malaysia towards intimate partner violence and abused women and considers whether and how their views affect the provision or quality of services. [from abstract]

This protocol describes the development and design of MOVE, a study to examine intimate partner violence screening effectiveness for nurses and the sustainability of screening practice. [adapted from abstract]

This online training manual containing background information, handouts, exercises and powerpoint presentations to train health professionals on gender-based violence. [from publisher]

This article is an overview of the role of health services in secondary and tertiary prevention of intimate partner violence. It reviews the effectiveness and limitations of in-service training programmes to identify and care for women who have experienced intimate partner violence and initiatives in developing countries to integrate concerns on gender-based violence into health-care services at different levels. [adapted from abstract]

This guide is meant to help program officers integrate gender-based violence initiatives into health sector portfolios during project design, implementation and evaluation. It focuses on what the health sector can do in each type of health program - from community mobilization to health policy. [adapted from author]

This document provides a strategy for addressing the complex problem of gender-based violence and concrete approaches for carrying it out, not only for those on the front lines attending to the women who live with violence, but also for decision-makers who may incorporate the lessons in the development of policies and resources. [from introduction]

This brief provides insight into the magnitude of gender-based violence, the risk factors and the health effects, as well as the costs to society and impact on economic growth. It outlines some feasible health sector interventions, which would minimize the prevalence and impact on the individual and the society. [from author]

Malaysia has been at the forefront of the development and scale up of an integrated health sector model that provides comprehensive care to women and children experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse. This study explored the strengths and challenges faced during the scaling up of the model to two states in Malaysia in order to identify lessons for supporting successful scale-up. [from abstract]

This study was undertaken to: explore physicians’ and nurses’ experiences, both professional and personal, when asking about intimate partner violence; determine the variations by discipline; and identify implications for practice, workplace policy and curriculum development. [from abstract]

These case studies provide country-level information on the prevalence of gender based violence; the policy framework; health sector response; health worker capacity building; and successes, challenges and lessons learned dealing with gender based violence in the health sector. Countries included are: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. [adapted from author]

The objective of this manual is to provide health care managers with a practical guide to improving the health care response to violence against women in developing country settings.

This study examines the ability of political, legal, health, and communities to respond to gender-based violence in Kigali, Rwanda. [from publisher]

The Twubakane Gender-Based Violence/Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Readiness Assessment is a toolkit to assess the readiness of service providers, service facilities, the community and the policy environment to respond to gender-based violence at antenatal care/prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV service sites and in the community. Each file is a downloadable MS Word document, in English or French, that can be customized for the user’s location. [from publisher]

This study evaluated the feasibility of health worker training on and use of an abuse screening tool for women attending an outpatient department as a health care intervention to address gender-based violence. [adapted from author]

This article reexamines a set of study findings that directly relate to the influence of gender on workplace violence, synthesizes these findings with other research from Rwanda, and examines the subsequent impact of the study on Rwanda’s policy environment. [from abstract]