Sub-Working Group on Clinical Management of Rape (CMR) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
Addressing challenges in the availability, accessibility and quality of clinical care for rape survivors in humanitarian settings.
Overview
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.
Priority Objectives
- 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.
Why It Matters
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.
Leadership
- Suhaila Aboud, UNFPA (aboud@unfpa.org)
- Sarah Ashraf, Save the Children (Sarah.Ashraf@savethechildren.org)
Featured Resources
All Relevant Resources
Forensic Medical Examination after Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: A Scoping Review of the Literature
This review summarizes the knowledge on the forensic medical examination (FME) of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in peer-reviewed studies. Scientific literature focusing on this topic is scarce and limited attention is given to CRSV-specific sequelae compared to physical and psychological ones. High-quality research focusing on forensic medical examination of torture, including CRSV, could serve to document operational methodologies and as a guideline to professionals conducting FME.
Using Vignettes to Gain Insights Into Social Norms Related to Voluntary Family Planning and Gender-Based Violence in South Sudan
This cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted in five counties in South Sudan used vignettes as a qualitative method to explore social norms related to family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) and decisions related to contraceptive use and gender-based violence. The study identified restrictive social norms related to FP/RH, including entrenched, dominant gender roles (i.e., requiring male consent to use contraceptives) and risks for the woman and her provider if she accesses FP/RH services, recommending that programmes working to promote the use of FP/RH services in South Sudan to consider the challenges presented by social norms.
Foundational Principles for Applying the Concepts of Consent, Assent, Dissent and Evolving Individual Capacity to Ensure Trauma-informed Documentation, Justice, and Reparations Processes for Child Survivors of Sexual Violence
These foundational principles provide key considerations for professionals to use when developing and implementing consent and assent processes for child survivors of sexual violence that respect children’s right to be heard and evolving capacity within trauma-informed justice and reparation processes. This document was developed by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in collaboration with a community of practice made up of global experts from the medical, psychological, legal, ethical and human rights sectors.
Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in Crisis Settings
These materials are designed for use by clinical trainers conducting brief refresher face-to-face training workshops on providing long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) services and family planning counseling, particularly in crisis settings or with limited resources. The target audience for this training is health care providers already familiar with LARCs, including insertion and removal of intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants.
A Proposal for a Follow-Up Algorithm for Survivors of Sexual Violence in the Context of a Humanitarian Crisis
Sexual violence is a continuum of actions that constitute a violation of consecrated Human Rights and that has consequences in the short, medium and long term. This issue is aggravated in situations of conflict, forced migration and natural disasters, which is why the UN has considered it one of the priorities to be primarily addressed in a crisis. In order to systematize the good practices for approaching survivors of sexual violence, the group of authors proposes the application of this algorithm as a working tool, in accordance with the standards stipulated by the World Health Organization, IAWG and UNFPA.