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In alignment with the do no harm principle, it is important for institutions to establish safe referral protocols and agreements with relevant social, health and justice services, including defining clear responsibilities of each service. Procedures between services for information sharing and referral should be consistent, known by agency staff, and communicated clearly to survivors. Not only do these practices support a coordinated response, but they also ensure the needs and wellbeing of the survivor are prioritised, for instance by minimising the number of times that the survivor is asked…

Connecting survivors to effective responses involves mapping what services are available, including initial support, appropriate medical treatment and care, and referral(s) to additional support. Even without specific GBV referral pathways available in an area, other services might meet needs. A comprehensive service directory which maps health, psychosocial, protection, legal, shelter/safe accommodation, livelihoods and other services is therefore vital for providing effective GBV support. All personnel who engage with affected populations should be provided with written information about…

A coordinated response has benefits for individual survivors, the agencies and institutions that respond to violence against women, and for their communities. It is also more effective in holding perpetrators accountable and keeping survivors safe from violence.

For individual survivors, a coordinated response… 

Increases safety by placing survivors at the centre of any intervention or institutional response. 
Provides access to informed and skilled practitioners who share knowledge in a dedicated, supportive environment. 
Recognises survivors’ multiple needs, which can be met…

Some survivors may feel unable to access services due to social stigma. To remove this barrier, programmes can consider offering activities to women and girls more generally, rather than exclusively to survivors of VAWG. This will help ensure that survivors who feel unable to report for any reason are able to access support without indicating that they are a survivor of VAWG. These activities might include healthcare, network building, setting up ‘women’s spaces’ to promote solidarity among women, and economic empowerment activities. This can also help reduce stigma against survivors.

Survivors with disabilities may face various barriers to accessing services depending on the nature of their impairment. A survivor with mobility challenges may face barriers to physically accessing the buildings where services are housed or the transport needed to get there. On the other hand, a survivor with a sight impairment may face barriers to accessing information about where and how to seek support. Some survivors with disabilities may be unable to work and so have limited funds to access services, while others may have a full-time caregiver, doubling the cost of travelling. Programmes…

Ensure all staff within service provision and reporting mechanisms are trained in taking a gender responsive and survivor-centred approach, which includes treating survivors with respect and dignity regardless of their background. Survivors with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities may face substantial social stigma to accessing services, putting them at risk of harassment by service providers. In contexts where homosexuality is illegal, accessing services could also put survivors at risk of arrest.  

Put in place mechanisms to ensure survivors who experience harassment are…

Survivors may be based in areas with few or no GBV response services. For example, survivors in rural locations may have limited access to public transport that can help them get to services in urban centres. Rural areas also tend to have higher levels of poverty, meaning survivors may not have the funds to access services even if they can physically get there. Survivors in rural areas may also have lower levels of literacy or knowledge of their rights and the services available to them. Similarly, displaced people can find it hard to travel to or access services. They may face language…

Programmes can help survivors with low confidence or information about how to access services by training local women, for example members of women rights organisations or paralegals, to help identify potential survivors and offer them support. This support should entail supporting survivors to understand the options available to them and respecting their decision. This support could include accompanying them to services so they are not alone during this process – this can also improve the accountability of service providers as survivor advocates can be trained on the quality of services…

Programmes should consider providing financial support to survivors without financial means to access GBV services. It is important to remember that survivors with dependents or caregivers may need additional funding in order to access services, for example if they need to buy tickets to travel on public transport. It is also important to consider the location of these funds and consider options to locate small funds at community level which survivor advocates can access to provide survivors with transport, shelter and food costs, and to accompany them where appropriate.

Children and adolescents have distinct needs that require different solutions to those of adults. Child and adolescent survivors of GBV may face barriers to accessing information about services and funds to access those services. They may also be particularly fearful of reporting incidences of GBV and seeking help, especially if they do not have a safe place to go to. In the case of the sexual abuse of adolescent girls, they may fear being blamed for the abuse. In addition, services may be designed with adult survivors in mind, meaning children are unable to access them without missing school…