Gender-based violence: stop looking for 'proof' and put survivors first
Too often after a crisis, providing donors with data is a prerequisite
for funding. How can we save the time and resources wasted on
verifying incidents of violence?
Tuesday 18 February 2014 17.07 GMT
Women queue at a camp in Central African Republic, where IRC are
providing GBV services. Photograph: Jerome Delay/AP
Aisha Bain in Washington, DC
Time is a luxury and those without money, safety and security don't
have it. What the current situation in Central African Republic, the
crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012 and the response to the
Haiti earthquake in 2010 have in common is that lives were lost, and
bodies and minds irreparably damaged, by the wasting of precious time
looking for 'proof' of violence against women and girls.
International research conducted in countries hit by crises has
provided ample proof that gender-based violence (GBV) occurs in each
and every emergency. As conflicts and natural disasters rupture the
social fabric of community support systems, civilians, especially
women and girls, are at risk of exploitation and abuse.
This research has resulted in internationally accepted standards that
recognise we have enough information to safely assume that GBV is
occurring in every emergency, every time, and therefore we must act
swiftly to provide lifesaving assistance to survivors of violence.
Yet, the focus is still on searching for 'proof' of GBV and the
prevalence of 'how bad the situation really is' before supporting
services in the first stage of an emergency. The United Nations asks
for data, international donors ask for data, non-governmental
organisations are pressured to deliver data. When it comes to GBV,
some predicate humanitarian aid on data.
This translates to GBV services being relegated to later stages of an
emergency, causing delays of months, and often not funded to the scale
needed. With five days to prevent unwanted pregnancies, three days to
prevent HIV, and sometimes only a matter of hours to treat critical
injuries - delaying lifesaving care can be too little, too late.
We at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have found that women
and girls do not come forward to disclose the violence they have
experienced until specialised services are in place, and only then if
they are trusted to be safe and confidential. Time and again, when
services are established, women and girls seek help, sometimes the
very same day those services are put into place. This is our evidence.
The response of the international humanitarian community to the crisis
in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of 2012, reveals
that a swift response and adequate funding for services is not assured
even in places where there have been extensive prevalence studies
indicating epidemic-levels of violence against women and girls.
Governments, UN agencies and aid organisations must prepare ahead of
emergencies to ensure services are available immediately for survivors
of violence. When the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
reignited at the end of 2012, the IRC was able to respond immediately
because we had invested in healthcare training, made sure post-rape
kits were available and trained local organisations. At the onset of
this crisis, community-based counsellors used shovels and plastic bags
to bury sensitive case files to protect identities.
Once you establish services, survivors of violence will access them,
and in the process of providing tthe specialised care they need,
critical information can be gathered on the type of violence faced by
women and girls, as well as details on perpetrators, locations and
motives. Service-based data gives a picture; an important and informed
picture that may not be there otherwise. Collected safely and
ethically, service-based data can inform us what services and
programmes we need to respond to, mitigate, and prevent such violence
from occurring.
It can also never be stressed enough that this is not just about data
collection - these are not just percentages, statistics, and figures -
there is a survivor behind every number. How we use that information?
It can save lives, help women and girls heal and recover from this
violence and trauma, and restore dignity.
What would the women and girls we help think about the time and
resources wasted on verifying incidents of violence? Services save
lives and limited resources need to fund what works. Our mantra must
become "survivors first, services first."
Aisha Bain is a women's protection and empowerment advocacy adviser
for the International Rescue Committee. Follow @IRCUK on Twitter
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/feb/18/gender-based-violence-service-based-data
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