Measures

The international partnership "Together for Girls", to which WHO is a member, conducts national surveys to document sexual violence in a number of countries, promotes evidence-based programming to address sexual violence and has developed a strategy to increase global advocacy and public awareness. WHO contributes through technical guidance on survey development and implementation and capacity building as a follow-up of the surveys. Two research papers were published in 2011 from the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence database, one showing the increased risk of suicide attempts among women who experienced intimate partner violence, and the other showing the risk factors for intimate partner violence across 15 sites. The WHO multi-country study database continues to be analyzed, providing evidence of the risk factors and health effects of violence against women. Hide

WHO is finalizing clinical and policy guidelines for the health sector response to intimate partner and sexual violence. The Guidelines Development Group (GDG), bringing together researchers, practitioners and policy makers, met in September 2011 to review the evidence and develop evidence-based recommendations for the health sector response to these forms of violence. A draft is being reviewed by the GDG and will be finalized by June 2012. A Programming Guide on Addressing violence against women in the context of HIV is also being finalized. Hide

With the support of UN Action, WHO organized, in collaboration with UNICEF and UNFPA, a technical meeting on responding to the psychosocial and mental health needs of survivors of sexual violence. The meeting in November 2011 reviewed the evidence and experiences from the field and made programmatic, policy and research recommendations. Hide

WHO is currently finalizing a systematic review of evidence on effective interventions to address violence against women and HIV for peer-reviewed publication. A systematic review of evidence on the links between violence against sex workers and risk of STI and HIV infection as well as of effective interventions to reduce violence against sex workers is being finalized for peer-reviewed publication. In addition, grey literature is being reviewed and a technical consultation is being convened to document "good practices" in preventing and addressing violence against sex workers in the context of HIV/AIDS in Montreux on January 30-31 2012. The outcomes of the systematic review and the technical consultation will be the basis for developing a section on addressing violence against sex workers in the WHO Guidelines on HIV prevention, treatment and care among sex workers. Hide

WHO also provided technical support and capacity building as part of an interagency workshop on integrating gender-based violence and engaging men and boys for gender equality in national AIDS programmes in Istanbul in which more than 25 country teams comprising of national AIDS programme managers, civil society groups working on violence against women or representing women living or affected by HIV and UN partners participated. WHO is also exploring additional opportunities for capacity development through new e-learning technologies. Hide

UNRWA has installed referral systems in its five fields of operations (Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and West Bank). In Gaza, UNRWA has established 12 one-stop centres located in UNRWA’s heath centres. In the West Bank, a multi-sectoral, community approach to addressing gender-based violence (GBV) has been the core of the referral system. Family and Child Protection Committees made up of representatives from UNRWA departments and community members are in place in 10 refugee camps to promote awareness and prevention of GBV/violence against women (VAW), and provide protection, and access to services. In Jordan, the primary mechanism of the system is to provide assistance to GBV survivors through referral to external partners who would be able to provide more comprehensive support to those seeking assistance. In Syria, the system was developed in Yarmouk and Deraa camps around the Family Support Offices, which consolidated introducing new services (social interventions and case management), while also strengthening relations with external partners to provide services that are not readily available at the offices (psychosocial counselling, sheltering). In Lebanon, the referral is in the early phases of development. Through the system that is being set-up, UNRWA staff will detect and refer GBV victims to its external partners for counselling and support. From January until November 2011, 561 survivors were detected and referred for services, protection and support. Hide

In Lebanon, UNRWA conducted a training on detection, counselling, referral and follow up of gender-based violence and child survivors was conducted in December 2011 for 20 frontline staff members from Relief, Education, and Health sectors (Medical officers, midwives, Gynecologists/Obstetricians, head teachers, school counsellors, teacher counsellors, SWs, CDSSW/WP, CDSW/DP). An in-depth training will be conducted in March 2012 with the same participants. In December 2011, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNHCR concluded an 18-month project funded by ECHO in 9 countries (Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ivory Coast, CAR, Chad, Sudan, occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and Iraq) on Capacity Development around coordination of gender-based violence prevention and response. This project hasenabled 170 Gender-based Violence “Capacity Promoters” from those 9 countries to complete two-week train the trainers workshops on context-specific roll-out of standard good practices for gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response in emergencies, which resulted in over 360 multi-sectoral actors having being trained to effectively address GBV in their contexts. 9 Standard Operating Procedures for GBV prevention and response were updated or developed and principles of good coordination were reinforced in the 9 settings through roll-out of the GBV Coordination Handbook. An online, multi-language Community of Practice was established to foster ongoing learning and information exchange.UNRWA developed data collection and tracking systems to monitor gender based violence in the communities in Gaza, West Bank, Jordan and Syria, and will also establish this system in Lebanon in 2012. The information gathered is allowing UNRWA staff to better understand the prevalence of gender based violence, its impact, consequences, trends and patterns. UNRWA developed a training manual on addressing survivors of gender based violence, which includes identifying, detecting, counselling and referring cases. 1316 UNRWA frontline staff representing the health, education, relief and social services departments in addition to other staff from Gaza, West Bank, Syria and Jordan were trained on this manual. Hide

UNRWA has continued to regularly participate in the various UN taskforces, such as the UN Country Team Gender Taskforce, which aim to build national strategies to end violence against women in Lebanon, Syria and the Occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). In the latter, UNRWA has continued addressing gender-based violence through its participation in interventions and activities within the Millenium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) Gender equality and Women’s Empowerment Project (Joint agency project). Hide

In June 2011, UNHCR published its “Action against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: An Updated Strategy”, which highlights six action areas: protecting children, persons with disabilities and LGBTI persons against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), addressing survival sex, engaging men and boys and providing safe access to domestic energy and natural resources. It also includes recommended actions in three institutional focus areas, in order to strengthen UNHCR’s capacity and expertise in addressing SGBV. This global strategy framework forms the basis for all UNHCR operations to develop five-year, country-specific SGBV strategies, embedded in their overall protection strategy. Hide

In Somalia, UNHCR is working with UNDP on several programmes to improve security and prevent sexual violence. Neighbourhood watch scheme were set up, and cooperation with the police was strengthened to prevent and respond to sexual violence in IDP camps. In Colombia, UNHCR established partnerships with government agencies and civil society organizations to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) at national, regional and local levels, to ensure implementation of prevention and response strategies at all levels. Hide