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 necessarily align with the interests and prior expertise of survivors.

By tailoring initiatives to the interests, existing skills, and priorities of survivors themselves, they are more likely to have a positive, empowering and long-term impact. In addition, programmes should ensure that their initiatives are accessible to survivors from diverse backgrounds, including adolescent and child survivors, survivors with disabilities, survivors from the LGBTQI+ community, and survivors from hard-to-reach locations.

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, they might engage with shelters or housing providers to support the provision of a safe environment, social protection programmes to improve survivors’ standards of living, health services to support survivors’ physical and mental wellbeing, education programmes that support their personal and social development, and women’s organisations, communities and families to ensure survivors have access to social and emotional support. 

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 risk of other women experiencing VAWG.

That said, there are examples of survivors accessing financial support and livelihoods training through other VAWG response services, such as safe spaces. The decision on whether initiatives focus solely on supporting survivors or on broader women’s or family economic empowerment should be based on what is most appropriate and feasible in the context and given the resources available. 

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 with a reduction in poverty which can reduce their exposure to VAWG. On the other hand, they can also alter household dynamics and be perceived by male partners as undermining their power and role as head of the household. In these instances, economic empowerment may put women at higher risk of violence, especially in the short term. Thus, all socio-economic interventions focused on supporting women to gain more financial autonomy should involve a comprehensive context-specific risk analysis to identify the risks these may pose to women and girls. Programmes should then work with women and girls to develop strategies to mitigate these risks. 

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 should work with schools in advance of and following their return to challenge stigmatising social norms, and to put in place support mechanisms to reduce the risk of girls being ostracised or subjected to further violence and harassment by students, staff or parents. 

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 likelihood that they feel believed and understood.

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 reach.

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 subjected to.

In all cases, communities and families, including men and boys, are important to the success of survivors’ reintegration. Programmes should work with communities and families to challenge social norms that put women and girls at risk of violence, challenge ostracisation and isolation and promote compassion and empathy towards survivors.