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Addressing Gender-Based Violence

Worldwide, one out of every three women experiences gender-based violence (GBV). Studies across multiple global regions have consistently demonstrated that GBV is associated with poor reproductive and maternal and child health outcomes, including death, disability, sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), substance abuse, and depression. Violence during pregnancy has also been associated with a range of negative health outcomes, such as miscarriage, late entry into prenatal care, stillbirth, hemorrhage, and obstetric complications.

MCSP worked to prevent GBV, to identify survivors and link them to care, and to strengthen post-GBV services in facilities through:

  • Skills-building, monitoring quality of GBV services, and mentorship;
  • Mapping the availability of services and gauging provider knowledge, attitudes and practices;
  • Implementing GBV quality assurance standards in health facilities;
  • Integrating appropriate GBV screening into antenatal care and family planning services, and examining the impact of screening on care for women; and
  • Raising community awareness and dialogue about GBV to increase demand for services, reduce stigma against survivors, and to engage whole communities in GBV prevention.

Key Results

  • In Guinea, MCSP established a network of 7 health facilities comprised of 42 healthcare providers, 125 community educators, 10 paralegals and university committees to support GBV survivors. In addition, 180 educational sessions on GBV reached 13,000 people in Guinea, including security forces and local government officials.
  • In Rwanda between October 2016 and March 2018, MCSP reached more than 13,000 survivors with post-GBV care and built the capacity of 173 trainers and 1,500 health providers on GBV, including identification of survivors, empathetic counseling and clinical care, safety planning and referrals. MCSP conducted quality assurance for GBV service delivery through the use of evidence-based standards, improving performance by over 20% in 12 Isange One Stop Centers in the areas of empathetic counseling, special care for child and adolescent survivors, and ensuring privacy.
  • In Nigeria in March 2018, MCSP built the capacity of 41 facilitators (pre-service and in-service providers) in GBV first line support and basic clinical care, who will go on to train their peers. MCSP also mapped the availability of GBV services in Kogi and Ebonyi States, as well as provider knowledge, attitudes and practices, producing a GBV Rapid Assessment Report and GBV Referral Maps.
  • In Ghana, MCSP worked with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to develop an e-learning module for health providers and students on the basics of post-GBV care, which was then adapted and translated into French by MCSP in Madagascar. The module was being administered to community midwives and nurses.
Maternal and Child Survival Program