Protection, Support and Services for Victims/Survivors

OHCHR’s country office in Uganda spearheaded discussions with regard to reviewing the current policy in relation to the Police Form 3 (PF3). The law requires “a competent/qualified health professional” to collect and document evidence of sexual violence as per PF3. This has generally been interpreted to mean that only a doctor can carry out this process, while doctors are scarce in most health centers and districts. Hide

OHCHR offices allocated small grants to groups of women and human rights NGOs to provide legal aid for victims of domestic violence. OHCHR Colombia financially supported the follow-up to the 2008 Constitutional Court’s order on assistance to female internally displaced persons who are victims; investigations of sexual violence, and prevention of sexual violence; and the reformulation of the Government’s and Attorney General’s Office’s programmes for the protection of victims and witnesses. OHCHR’s Regional Office in Central Asia, based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan funded a 10-month project on legal aid to victims of domestic violence, through the allocation of a small grant to the Association of Crisis Centers of Kyrgyzstan. The Regional Office also funded an NGO project on legal aid to victims of domestic violence in Tajikistan, including awareness-raising among government officials and general public and the opening of a telephone hotline for victims of violence. Hide

In a meeting held by WHO in March 2009 the implementation and evaluation of health sector interventions was reviewed and an outline for guidance to the health sector, with a focus on resource poor settings, was developed. Hide

WFP has been actively involved in joint UN initiatives to deliver services to victims of gender-based violence. WFP provides food assistance for medical rehabilitation of victims and, through income-generating activities, supports the victims/survivors to become economically independent. Hide

UNRWA Gaza and West Bank Field offices continued counseling sessions for victims of gender-based violence through the Community Mental Health program (CMHP). Hide

UNRWA Lebanon field office developed their field intervention on violence against women in a workshop the 14th of July 2009. A referral system was drafted coordinating services for women victims of violence. Hide

In Syria, UNHCR and the Syrian Women Union are supporting a new centre for Iraqi refugee women at risk, particularly female teenagers who are involved in commercial sex work. Hide

In Liberia, UNHCR and its partners supported the establishment of a new community health department and organized community health committees and volunteers. The volunteers participated in awareness-raising sessions on primary health care, reproductive health, sexual and gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. Strong coordination on sexual and gender-based violence is also on-going between UN agencies, the government and NGOs, and response mechanisms to sexual and gender-based violence are being put in place and strengthened. Hide

Action-oriented research on successful intervention modalities for Nigerian minor victims of trafficking was carried out by UNICRI in various Italian regions. Current modalities of services and assistance towards minor victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation were evaluated in several Italian regions in order to develop successful interventions. Hide

Technical cooperation was carried out by ECLAC with the Ministry of Health in Chile to elaborate a new clinical guide for health services’ attention to adult victims of domestic violence. Hide