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22 September 2010

WHO and LSHTM release new manual on preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women

Today in London, United Kingdom, on the occasion of the 10th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, WHO and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine release Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women: taking action and generating evidence. This important new tool for violence prevention researchers, practitioners and advocates provides a planning framework for developing policies and programmes for the prevention of intimate partner and sexual violence. This guide outlines the nature, magnitude, risks and consequences of intimate partner and sexual violence. It outlines strategies to prevent these forms of violence against women and describes how these can be tailored to the needs, capacities and resources of particular settings. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating scientific evaluation into all prevention activities in order to expand current knowledge of what works,

The manual describes interventions of known effectiveness, those supported by emerging evidence, and those that could potentially be effective, but have yet to be sufficiently evaluated for their impact. For instance, school-based programmes to prevent violence occurring in "dating relationships" have been shown to be effective in randomized trials in the USA and Canada. Evidence is emerging for the effectiveness of empowerment approaches which use microfinance combined with gender-equality training or are based on communications and relationship skills training such as the Stepping Stones training package, which has been widely used in low- and middle-income countries. Strategies that aim to prevent intimate partner and sexual violence through reducing the harmful use of alcohol also show promise. A six-step framework for planning, implementing and evaluating such prevention programmes and policies is presented.

This document is primarily aimed at policy-makers, programme planners and donors from public health and related sectors who seek to advance the prevention of intimate partner and sexual violence against women. In addition to the principal audience, other interested parties will include those working in other government sectors such as education, child welfare, social care, criminal justice and departments of women or gender equality; advocates from civil society organizations; local authorities; environmental and urban planners; and researchers.

Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women: taking action and generating evidence is available here

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241564007_eng.pdf (File size: 0.9 MB) .

To order hard copies of the manual, please contact Ms Claire Scheurer (scheurerc@who.int).

For further information, please contact Dr Alexander Butchart (butcharta@who.int), Dr Christopher Mikton (miktonc@who.int) or Dr Claudia Garcia Moreno (garciamorenoc@who.int).

RELATED LINKS

Preventing child maltreatment: a guide to taking action and generating evidence

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2006/9241594365_eng.pdf

Preventing violence a guide to implementing the recommendations of the World report on violence and health

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241592079.pdf

Guidelines for medico-legal care for victims of sexual violence

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/924154628X.pdf

WHO violence prevention

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/en/

New from AIDSTAR-One, the purpose of this technical brief is to assist HIV program planners and implementers in designing, planning, and implementing activities that integrate GBV and HIV prevention, treatment and care, and support programs.

http://www.aidstar-one.com//focus_areas/prevention/resources/technical_briefs/gender_based_violence_and_hiv

from http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/about.html

About the 16 Days

What is the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign?

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by:

• raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels
• strengthening local work around violence against women
• establishing a clear link between local and international work to end violence against women
• providing a forum in which organizers can develop and share new and effective strategies
• demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against violence against women
• creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women

Over 2,000 organizations in approximately 156 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign since 1991!

The Forgotten Men:  An Examination of Sexual Violence Committed Against Males During Wartime and Conflict.  by Seth Rosenblatt

Summary:

Although the international development community has created programming to both prevent gender-based violence (GBV) against females in conflict zones and respond to the needs of female victims, it has failed to acknowledge that males too are also victims of GBV in such settings. Male civilians in several conflict zones, including the former Yugoslavia, Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone have been castrated, have had their genitals mutilated and shocked and have been forced to perform sex acts with other soldiers.  The international community has done little to bring this phenomenon to light and little effort has been made to provide appropriate services to male victims and ensure that GBV against males does not occur.  This paper outlines how confusion and misuse surrounding the definition of GBV excludes the possibility of acknowledging the existence of male victims, outlines conflict zones where there have been documented cases of male victims of gender-based violence, examines what the international community is currently doing to address the needs of male victims, and provides recommendations for program officers and scholars to enact in order to ensure that male victims of GBV are given access to the same services and rights made available to their female counterparts.

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