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The successful reintegration of survivors of VAWG requires engagement from multiple stakeholders. The Nexus Institute identifies the following key components of successful reintegration:

a safe and stable environment 
a reasonable standard of living
physical and mental well-being
personal, social, and economic development
social and emotional support.  
Programmes seeking to promote the reintegration of survivors should engage with service providers, CSOs, WROs and survivor organisations, along with other programmes that can support survivors with these components. For example…

Following their experience of violence, it is important that survivors are able to recover a sense of autonomy, agency and choice. Therefore, interventions focused on supporting survivors develop skills for navigating society should put the priorities of survivors at the forefront with co-creation processes that make survivors a fundamental part of the decision-making process. For example, livelihoods initiatives should recognise that survivors may not all want to make a livelihood in the same way. Initiatives should try to avoid assuming that one set of skills, such as sewing, will…

As mental health is impacted by a range of factors at different levels, it is crucial to address it from a holistic and multi-stakeholder perspective which acknowledges and embraces the complexity of deeply rooted power structures, social norms and beliefs around mental health and violence against women and girls. This can be done by identifying, monitoring, preventing and responding to protection threats and failures identified through MHPSS assessments, and working with social protection, legal measures and community mobilisation to address them. For example, some threats could be best…

In order for MHPSS interventions to work most effectively, ensure that appropriate assessments and consultations are being held with local experts and civil society organisations to assess existing coordination structures and local MHPSS needs and resources to guide programming. An assessment should provide an analysis of threats to and capacities for mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, as well as an analysis of relevant resources to determine when a response is required and, if so, the nature of the response. Some key actions include:

Ensuring that assessments are coordinated with…

Programmes that are designed with close involvement from key stakeholders are likely to be more relevant, acceptable and sustainable in the long term. The proliferation of stand-alone services, such as those dealing only with rape survivors or only with people with a specific diagnosis, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), can create a highly fragmented care system. Building on and strengthening existing resources and wider systems also helps to promote the sustainability of MHPSS initiatives, and tend to carry less stigma, for example working with:

Existing community support…

Mental health support to survivors of VAWG deals with extremely sensitive issues and service providers should be survivor-centred in their work and apply a “do no harm” approach in order to minimise and avoid any further harm. MHPSS service providers can reduce risks of harm in various ways, such as:

Participating in coordination groups to learn from others and to minimise duplication and gaps in response.
Designing interventions on the basis of sufficient information.
Committing to evaluation, openness to scrutiny and external review.
Developing cultural sensitivity and competence in…

At present, there is limited evidence about the effectiveness of Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces in the Global South, particularly in areas that are not densely populated. This does not mean they don’t work, but rather that there are flaws in tracking correlations with recurrence of victimisation and perpetration. Thus, Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces should establish effective monitoring, learning and evaluation processes, which will help them to adapt their approaches to better serve survivors, learn lessons and produce evidence in impact. Seeking feedback from survivors who use the services, as…

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…