Gender based violence training and advocacy

Gender-based violence (GBV) is described by UNICEF as physical, sexual, mental or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females. It is seen as one of the most pervasive human rights violation which includes violence, coercion and deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private.

1 in 3 women and girls globally experiences GBV

It is believed that approximately one in three women and girls worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. These number increases in crises periods like armed conflict and natural disasters where sexual violence may be used as tool of warfare, and girls and women may be forced to trade sex for food, money and other resources needed for survival.

Girls make up 97% GBV cases between 2005 and 2020

UNICEF further reports that between 2005 and 2020, parties to conflict raped, forcibly married, sexually exploited, and committed other grave forms of sexual violence against at least 14,200 children. This sexual violence disproportionately affects girls, who were 97 per cent of cases from 2016 to 2020.

Training and advocacy to address the unique needs of victims of GBV

The gender based violence training and advocacy programme of SCDTL is aimed at addressing the unique needs of girls and women, while providing them with essential supports. Survivors of gender-based violence are sometimes victim-blamed or ostracized from their families and communities. That is why SCDTL, in association with partners and patrons, provides GBV survivors with counselling, psychosocial support, clinical health services and access to safe spaces where they can participate in support group activities and gain access to critical information on their rights and treatments.