Aid in Action
Gender Based Violence
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Monday, March 31, 2008
New Approaches:
FP/GBV for Muslim clerics in refugee camps: Refugees find life very stressful because they are crowded into camps and forced to live more closely together than they prefer. Camp leaders and refugees become isolated and new ideas and information are extremely limited. For these reasons, aid agencies have supported discussion groups that bring camp religious leaders into contact with religious leaders who reside in the communities outside the camps. Camp religious leaders need the stimulation and opinions of other religious leaders so that they can provide sound advice on difficult subjects such as use of family planning methods and reducing gender-based violence. Through these discussions, camp leaders become familiar with arguments on both sides of these issues and they improve their skills at working with refugees in the camps.
Formation of gender champions in refugee camps: Living in such close quarters put great strain on refugees in camps. These conditions put strain on the family and often result in increased rates of domestic violence. Training camp residents as “gender champions” diffuses the violence. The training sessions allow men and women to discuss the reasons for gender violence and to assess the remedies available to the couple to solve their differences. The training also builds up community support for individuals who choose not to use violence to solve disagreements.
Introduction of GBV into medical school curricula: Gender based violence is a major problem in Eastern and Central Africa. It affects the reproductive health of women by spreading diseases like HIV/AIDS and STI. Violence also leads to unwanted pregnancies that increase maternal mortality and mobility, and fear of violence prevents women from accessing reproductive health services like family planning services. Physicians do not learn to deal with gender issues and gender based violence medical school and so they do not address the issue clinical m or in public health programs. As a result, the quality of health care provided to women in the region is deficient. Although some work has been done to address these gaps in the training of nurses in the region, there remained a great need to address these issues in the training of medical doctors, in order to improve quality of health care and also to prevent gender based violence as a barrier to reproductive health.
Health Images of Manhood (HIM) for youth in refugee camps. Reproductive health programs have integrated attention to men into services and outreach for several decades. The first programs emphasized couple communication and later programs have focused on men’s needs and frustrations with regard to healthy behavior and cooperative relationships with women. These programs were adapted for young men in refugee camps who face anger and frustration about their uncertain futures, a situation which often makes them aggressive towards others in the camps.
Integration of FP/GBV in refugee camps with a focus on child spacing. Before fleeing their homes, many refugees had resources of land, animals, or trade. They preferred to have large families so that these resources could be managed well into the future. In the camps, refugees are often angry and disturbed about their circumstances which can lead to increased violence and rape of women. To deal with the situation, many cling to the idea that they will soon regain their resources and assume life as it was and this belief persuades them to continue to have many children. Some refugees, however, are interested in spacing their children for the health of the mother and in anticipation of an uncertain future. Introducing discussions about family planning and prevention of gender-based violence in refugee camps allows refugees to face their frustrations, reassess their options, and think in new ways about their future plans and their use of violence as a way of solving disputes.
Training and Future Meetings:
Contact Person:
Ann McCauley
Email: amccauley@usaid.gov
Vathani Amirthanayagam
Email: vathani@usaid.gov
Summary of AfriComNet Practicum by Fungai Machirori