Advanced Search

Service providers working with VAWG survivors are likely to be exposed repeatedly to distressing situations which can cause secondary trauma and burnout. In order for staff to be able to provide high quality care to survivors, they must have access to a supportive environment and care for themselves. When developing a culture of self-care, start by considering the following:

Work with staff to identify self-care suggestions. For example: being intentional about the media and information sources we engage with; prioritising time to engage in activities that bring us joy; looking after our…

Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces should be established for and run by women. They should include women and girls from diverse backgrounds in the leadership, design, implementation and monitoring of these spaces. Women and girls’ preferences should inform the opening hours and location of the space and the types of activities that will be undertaken. These could include access to medical care, economic empowerment activities, and access to justice services. Programmes should engage with networks of WROs to understand the needs of women, the barriers they may face to accessing Safe Spaces, and to…

Survivors - and women and girls at risk - may require multiple services to support their recovery and protection. Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces should work with other service providers to establish comprehensive referral mechanisms to ensure survivors know where to access the support they need. Services they are likely to need access to include but are not limited to:

Medical care: Survivors may need urgent medical treatment, mental health services, and sexual reproductive health services. This could be to treat injuries, test for and treat sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and to…

VAWG survivors - and women and girls at risk of violence - are not a homogenous group. They come from diverse backgrounds and life experiences and are therefore likely to face different barriers to accessing services. All response programmes should work with a range of survivors during the design phase and throughout, to conduct an intersectional analysis of their different needs and the barriers that they face. Depending on context, programme teams should consider the specific barriers that may be faced by survivors with disabilities, child and adolescent survivors, survivors who have been…

Survivors of VAWG are at risk of re-traumatisation and other mental health challenges which can be triggered by insensitive service delivery. Staff in Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces need to be trained in a survivor-centred approach: to put the safety and comfort of survivors at the forefront of service delivery, ensure survivors know they are believed, avoid intrusive questioning, ensure survivors have access to support at all stages and allow survivors to engage at their own pace.

Programmes seeking to establish Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces should start by mapping existing services, the needs of survivors and gaps in service provision. Mapping existing survivor support services helps ensure that Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces are adequately linked up to other services, with clear referral pathways for survivors, that they are not duplicating existing services, and that they are better placed to fill gaps in service provision.

Increasing women’s representation and leadership within formal and informal justice systems is crucial to ensure more empathetic, inclusive and effective responses that address the specific needs and experiences of women and girl survivors. Programmes can support women’s representation and leadership by:

Working with local women’s rights organisations to identify opportunities to increase women’s representation and decision-making within informal systems.
Promoting understanding at community level and among justice sector actors about the benefits of increasing women’s representation in…

Survivors of GBV are at high risk of backlash and violence from perpetrators, communities and families for reporting and seeking accountability for GBV abuses. For example, in Rwanda, women who testified in the Gacaca Courts were often subjected to harassment and threats, before, during and after they testified in the courts. Programmes can support survivors to access justice services safely by providing accompaniment for survivors accessing legal and justice services, conducting follow-up visits for survivors in their homes or safe houses, and funding women and girls’ safe spaces. Programmes…

Programmes should work to reduce the financial costs associated with accessing justice, including travel costs, fees for medical examinations, hiring lawyers, engaging with police, attending court, and loss of income while engaged in formal justice processes. They could also offer online services to reduce the cost of travel to and from legal services. Within informal justice systems there may be expectations for families to pay back a woman’s dowry when women file domestic abuse complaints. These costs can make accessing legal and justice services prohibitive for survivors.

Programmes…

We can support survivors to understand and claim their rights by conducting awareness raising campaigns. These campaigns should:

Take a gender transformative approach, avoiding stereotypes about survivors as “victims”, and emphasising their agency.
Ensure awareness campaign materials are inclusive of those with limited literacy, or sensory impairments.
Protect those organising and engaged with these campaigns from backlash.