Addressing GenderBased Violence: A Critical Review of Interventions

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Addressing Gender-Based Violence A Critical
Review of Interventions

• Andrew Morrison
• Gender and Development Group (PRMGE)
• World Bank
• September 30, 2008

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Outline

• Risk factors
• Sectoral good practices
• Health
• Education prevention
  control
• Justice
• Urban development
• Beyond sectoral approaches
• Conclusionspolicy recommendations

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Risk factors for violence occur at many levels
Community
Relationship
Society
Individual
SourceHeise 1998
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Correlates of violence against women
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Health sector
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A graduated response to violence

• First, do no harm
• Decide on how to screen for violence
• Undertake explicit efforts to address abuse
• Inside health institutions
• Via referrals

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Identifying abused women what is the best
strategy?

• Ask all women about abuse at all visits
• Ask only when there are signs of violence
• Screen routinely in strategic programs
  (emergency, reproductive health, mental health,
  etc.)

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Health sector plans and protocols should

• Avoid secondary victimization (do no harm)
• Specify policy/instruments for screening
• Offer free consultations/treatment for victims
• Expedite referrals among health institutions
• Enhance coordination between clinics/hospitals
  and social services/criminal justice
• Increase focus on prevention using public health
  approaches

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• Education
• sector

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Alarming statistics from Africa

• Six country study Between 16 and 47 of girls
  in primary and secondary schools report sexual
  abuse or harassment
• Botswana 20 of students pressured by teachers
  for sex
• Cameroon 8 of all sexual abuse of girls was
  accounted for by teachers
• South Africa 37.7 of rape victims identified
  teacher or principal as the rapist
• South Africa Girls more likely to be assaulted
  by male classmates than teachers

Sources Leach (2003) and Medical Research
Council, 2000
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but little information from LAC

• To our knowledge, only two studies
• Brazil 8 of students (5th to 8th grade) had
  witnessed sexual violence within school
• Ecuador 22 of adolescent girls reported being
  sexually abused in school (one-school survey)
• No national policies or regulations on harassment
  or sexual abuse in schools

Sources Abramovay and Franco, 2004 Leon, 1994
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Why does VAW in schools matter?

• Impact on girls school attendance
• Impact on girls performance in school
• Sexual and reproductive health issues
• Boys behavior may set lifelong pattern of abuse
  and predation
• STDs and AIDS

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Elements of a policy response in education

• Measure and document levels of violence against
  girls in schools
• Reform laws and policies of the education sector
• Reform institutions of the education sectors

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• Justice
• sector

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Strengthening access to justice

• Ratification of international conventions
• Improving institutional response of police,
  judiciary, forensic medicine and legal aid
• Womens police stations
• Protective/restraining orders civil remedies
• Batterers treatment programs

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• Multi-sectoral
• approaches

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Beyond sectoral approaches.

• One-stop shops
• National plans for prevention of violence against
  women
• Integration into national crime prevention
  strategies

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Conclusions Recommendations

• Dearth of high-quality evaluations
• No single intervention can address all important
  risk factors need to intervene at different
  levelsindividual, community, institutional, etc.
• Some risk factors can be addressed quickly and at
  relatively low cost
• There is systematic underinvestment in prevention
  programs that confront underlying attitudes and
  beliefs that promote violence

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Conclusions Recommendations

• One-stop shops are desirable, but costly and most
  appropriate for urban areas of middle-income
  countries
• Some interventions from developed countries are
  of questionable efficacy and inappropriate for
  developing countries mandatory reporting by
  health sector, batterer treatment programs,
  shelters