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Survivors of VAWG are at high risk of social ostracisation, isolation, discrimination, and further violence and harassment by communities and families. This is especially the case in contexts where sexual violence is considered taboo and where there is a culture of victim blaming. In some cases, where violence has been experienced within the family or communities, survivors may choose to relocate to a different community where they feel safer. In this context, they may lack existing social networks that can help them recover and navigate their lives, while healing from the violence they were…

Survivors of VAWG face compounded risks of violence, abuse and harassment. It is essential that they understand their human rights, including their sexual and reproductive health rights. In many contexts, discussion about sexual and reproductive rights is taboo, making it difficult for women and girls to access this information. Programmes can support survivors to learn about their rights through education and training initiatives. These initiatives should be clear about what their rights are and delivered in a culturally sensitive and age appropriate manner in order to maximise impact and…

Survivors of VAWG are at risk of feelings of isolation and loneliness when returning to communities or starting new lives in new communities. Developing networks of survivors can help ensure survivors are in touch with others who have had relatable experiences, can share the challenges they have faced and work together to overcome these challenges. Engaging with survivor networks can also support survivors to build solidarity, offer opportunities to support other survivors to recover from their experiences and witness progress made by other survivors towards healing, and increases the…

Children and adolescent girls may face different challenges to adult survivors following VAWG. Programmes should ensure that the specific challenges faced by children and adolescent girls are identified during the design phase so that age-appropriate interventions can be implemented. For example, while it may be appropriate for adolescent girls to engage in income-generation, these should not interfere with school attendance, may need to be part-time and may need consent of their legal guardian. In addition, children and adolescent girls may face stigma when returning to school. Programmes…

While women’s economic empowerment initiatives can help protect women from violence, they can also increase risks of violence in some cases. This is influenced by a range of factors, including: social norms around the acceptability of VAWG and the types of work women should do; whether they have control of their income; household dynamics related to economic decision-making; women’s access to social networks; and women’s visibility within the community.

For example, economic empowerment may provide women with more economic autonomy, increased household status, and bargaining power, along…

Programmes might consider funding women’s or family economic empowerment initiatives more broadly, rather than those focused solely on the socio-economic reintegration of VAWG survivors. This is to help avoid stigmatisation and reduce the risk of exclusion, especially for survivors who may not feel comfortable reporting or accessing services. In addition, by focusing on economic empowerment more broadly, these initiatives are better positioned to simultaneously support survivors of VAWG and their families and support other women and girls by establishing protective mechanisms that can reduce…

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…