Sub-Working Group on Clinical Management of Rape (CMR) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

The Clinical Management of Rape and Intimate Partner Violence (CMR-IPV) Sub-Working Group brings together organizations working with health care providers and survivors in humanitarian settings to address challenges in the availability, accessibility and quality of clinical care for rape survivors.

• Provide strategic leadership, and support CMR-IPV programming, in the preparedness, response and recovery phases in humanitarian contexts;
• Focus on the quality of service provision, quality assurance, and increased accessibility and availability of CMR-IPV services in humanitarian settings;
• Engage in the promotion of globally accepted technical standard;
• Advocate for the criticality and importance of prioritizing CMR-IPV services delivery, with allocated funding in humanitarian contexts; and
• Contribute to capacity strengthening, learning and knowledge management.

Sexual Violence and IPV is a global problem and highly prevalent in humanitarian settings. Survivors of sexual violence, particularly of rape and intimate partner violence (IPV), face immediate and long-term consequences, affecting their physical, social, economic, mental health and wellbeing. The dynamics around sexual violence, including IPV, are complex and survivors require access to multiple services including health, psychosocial support, legal support, livelihoods, shelter and protection. The provision of CMR services for survivors of rape and IPV is therefore a time sensitive and a critical health service. Despite the availability of an updated guidance (Clinical management of rape and intimate partner violence survivors: developing protocols for use in humanitarian settings), access to this lifesaving service in humanitarian settings continues to be challenging with inconsistent availability, accessibility and quality of clinical care for rape survivors.

Health care providers are in a unique and privileged position to identify and provide care to survivors through their daily interactions with patients attending health services. When healthcare providers are competent in the detection of silent signs of violence, they are able to safely open dialogue with individuals or patients they deem at risk, and subsequently offer first-line support as well as organizing referrals to needed health services and those beyond health.

• Suhaila Aboud, UNFPA (aboud@unfpa.org)
• Sarah Ashraf, Save the Children (Sarah.Ashraf@savethechildren.org)