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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.

Patriarchal social norms, practices and attitudes act as a barrier to survivors accessing legal and justice services. For example, families and communities may pressure VAWG survivors to stay silent or to use informal justice systems and to accept decisions that are not in their best interests. In cases of mediation, such decisions could include the expectation for survivors to apologise to the perpetrator and return to living with them, putting them at risk of further violence. Facilitating community discussions around the importance of survivor-centred justice mechanisms is key to creating…

Access to justice programmes should include VAWG survivors in decision-making from the design stage. This can be achieved by engaging with local women’s rights organisations led by or representing survivors. For many survivors, justice means more than punishing perpetrators. It is multi-faceted and subjective. For some, it may be linked to truth, recognition and dignity, for others it may be linked to collective healing, reparations, and accountability. Survivors are best placed to identify their priorities regarding justice and to understand whether and how different systems can support or…

WROs are more effective in addressing VAWG when they collaborate and work together, forging a collective strength that can help withstand the anti-gender backlash they often face. For example, while WROs are engaged as programme partners across all outcome areas of Spotlight Initiative, WROs receive particular support through a dedicated outcome area in Pillar 6 on strengthening women’s movements. This involves activities such as network-building, capacity-strengthening, institutional funding, and working to amplify the influence and agency of WRO’s work on ending violence against women and…