16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
What USAID Is Doing | Resources and Reports | For More Information
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Gender-based violence both reflects and reinforces inequities between men and women and compromises the health, dignity, security, and autonomy of its victims. It encompasses a wide range of violent acts that include:
Domestic violence
Using rape and other forms of
sexual violence as a weapon of war
Female genital mutilation/cutting
Dowry-related violence
Child marriage
Trafficking girls and women
Honor crimes
Bride kidnapping
Forced marriage
Wife inheritance
Sexual harassment
Date rape
Forced sterilization or other coercive
reproductive practices |
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Source: IRIN/OCHA, © 2005,
Georgina Cranston, photographer
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What Are the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence?
Starting November 25 through December 10, 2008, the Offices of Population/ Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS, and Women in Development will join the world community in observance of the The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. An international campaign designed to raise awareness of the violence faced by women and girls around the world, it provides a forum for organizations to come together and address the obstacles gender-based violence poses to issues of health and development. Gender-based violence can profoundly effect unmet need for family planning, HIV/AIDS, maternal morbidity, poverty, vulnerability in armed conflict, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), among other health issues.
By speaking up for support services for survivors, calling for greater prevention efforts, pressing for legal and judicial reform, and using international human rights instruments to address the issue, the 16 Days of Activism plays an important role in promoting international cooperation to end violence against women.
This year's theme calls for overcoming challenges and obstacles to gain long-overdue results in the struggle to end violence against women by paying particular attention to the social attitudes and policies that continue to condone and perpetuate abuses.
The dates of the 16 Days of Activism are highly significant. It begins on the International Day Against Violence Against Women on November 25, 2008, and ends on International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2008. This 16-day period also includes other significant dates, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day on November 29, 2008, and World AIDS Day on December 1, 2008.
What USAID Is Doing to Stop Gender Violence
- The Capacity Project – Rwanda
Workplace violence against women is more common in female-dominated professions, such as nursing, than in other jobs.
The USAID-funded Capacity Project studied violence in Rwanda’s health sector – including forms, causes, victim and
perpetrator characteristics, and consequences – and found that gender discrimination and inequity contribute significantly to
the problem. Almost 40 percent of health workers surveyed had been victims of some form of workplace violence in the
previous year, with verbal abuse most prevalent, followed by bullying, sexual harassment, physical assault, and sexual assault. The
findings suggest that promoting gender equality at health workplaces can reduce levels of violence, so The Capacity Project is
working across public and private sectors to develop a national workplace safety policy for Rwanda that directly addresses
gender discrimination.
- The Twubakane Project – Rwanda
The Twubakane Project assessed health care facilities in Rwanda to determine if three services – GBV, antenatal care (ANC),
and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) – could be integrated effectively in three districts of the
country. It found that PMTCT clients face multiple “moments of risk” for emotional, sexual, economic, and physical violence
before, during, and after ANC or PMTCT consultations, and recommended that the Ministry of Health (MOH) implement a
decentralized model of integrated GBV/ANC/PMTCT service delivery. Follow-up activities included helping the MOH revise
sexual violence protocols to address all the forms of GBV Rwandan women face and become more client-friendly; providing
service providers in the study sites with GBV sensitization and skills training; providing health facilities with GBV-related materials
and a community resources directory; developing facility protocols for counseling and referral of clients who live with violence;
supporting community mobilization to prevent GBV at the local level; training police and judges; strengthening collaboration
between the health and criminal justice systems; and linking PMTCT service sites with microenterprise projects to support
women’s economic independence.
- GBV and Contraception Use – Bolivia
A USAID-supported study in Bolivia found that GBV negatively impacts a woman’s use of contraception. It found that women
are deterred from using family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services not only by fear of intimate-partner violence
but also by stigma from health care providers and other community members who might judge them adversely for using
contraception. Based on this finding, Bolivian policymakers and health professionals plan to advocate for greater attention to
providing RH services to women who are victims of intimate-partner violence. The police, judiciary, schools, social services, and
eight USAID/Bolivia implementing partners currently are engaging municipal governments in improving their response to GBV
within the context of FP/RH services.
- BRIDGE – Multiple Countries in Africa
The USAID-funded BRIDGE program recently held an intensive two-week workshop to help participants develop skills for policy-level communication and advocacy about issues surrounding GBV. Program officials, researchers, and women’s advocates from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Rwanda, and Senegal worked on improving their communication strategies to advocate for better policies and programs. Subsequently, participants are now leading campaigns against GBV in their own countries and reaching increasing numbers of policymakers and civil society leaders. BRIDGE also convenes activities and disseminates information to help field-based programs better develop, implement, and monitor GBV programs.
- Healthy Images of Manhood (HIM) – Kenya and Tanzania
Healthy Images of Manhood (HIM) is an innovative community-based approach to engaging men to mitigate GBV, counter stigma, and reconsider rigid roles that prevent them and their partners from using FP/RH and HIV services. This comprehensive, USAID-funded health education intervention encompasses a training workshop and the development of action plans for outreach activities, a supportive supervision system, ongoing monthly sessions for capacity building, and a monitoring and evaluation system that provides data for planning and decision making. The HIM approach has been applied in the Kakuma refugee camp in the North Eastern Province of Kenya to create 30 young male “gender champions” working to sensitize and mobilize the community on GBV and reproductive health. It was also used in a work-based setting at Unilever Tea Tanzania Limited to decrease sexual violence and increase men’s use of health services, especially HIV care and treatment.
Resources and Reports
USAID Issue Briefs
Relevant USAID Global Leadership Priority Technical Areas in Family Planning
Program Resources
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Through USAID's Health Programs: A Guide for Health Sector Program Officers – September 2008 [PDF, 1.5MB]
This publication provides USAID program officers with specific recommendations to integrate gender-based violence initiatives into their health sector portfolios.
Violence Against Women and Girls: A Compendium of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators – October 2008 [PDF 676KB]
This publication provides a set of monitoring and evaluation indicators for program managers, organizations, and policymakers who are working to address violence against women and girls at the individual, community, district/provincial, and national levels in developing countries.
Addressing Gender-Based Violence from the Reproductive Health/HIV Sector: A Literature Review and Analysis – May 2004 [PDF, 582KB]
This report provides a literature review and analysis of programs in developing countries that have addressed or challenged gender-based violence with a link to the reproductive health/HIV sectors.
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Source: IRIN/OCHA, © 2005,
Georgina Cranston, photographer |
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The ‘So What?’ Report: A Look at Whether Integrating a Gender Focus into Reproductive Health Programs Makes a Difference to Outcomes – 2004 [PDF, 864KB]
This Interagency Gender Working Group publication reviews the evidence that integrating gender into reproductive health programs makes a difference to both reproductive health outcomes and gender outcomes. The document presents evaluated programs in the areas of FP/RH, HIV/AIDS, MH, Harmful Traditional Practices, and work with youth. A new edition is forthcoming in December 2008. View a summary [PDF, 996KB] of this report.
A Manual for Integrating Gender into Reproductive Health and HIV Programs: From Commitment to Action – November 2003 [PDF, 534KB]
This reference manual focuses on the "how" of gender integration. Program managers and designers of new programs will find it an invaluable tool for integrating gender concerns into program design, implementation, and evaluation, thereby improving reproductive health through equitable gender relations. An updated manual will be available at the beginning of 2009.
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Fourth Annual Report to Congress (Prevention Chapter)
The prevention chapter of the PEPFAR Fourth Annual Report to Congress contains information on how the U.S. Government is incorporating gender into its global HIV/AIDS program.
SysteMALEtizing Resources for Engaging Men in Sexual and Reproductive Health – July 2006 [PDF, 832KB]
This brochure describes many of the key resources for working with men and provides a framework for distinguishing among varied programs, illustrating the range with strong examples.
New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage: A Global Analysis of Factors and Programs – April 2007 [PDF, 1.2MB]
Published by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), this report is for policymakers and development practitioners working on or planning a future program to prevent child marriage. The program scan offers a better understanding of what programs currently exist and how to expand efforts.
Abandoning Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: An In-Depth Look at Promising Practices – December 2006 [PDF, 1.6MB]
Funded by USAID, this collaborative new work on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) attempts to answer the number-one need identified by development experts surveyed on FGM/C: the need for more information on evaluated case studies that illustrate what is working and why.
CD-ROMs on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C)
Abandoning Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Information from Around the World
This CD-ROM, available in English and French, is a collection of data and research on FGM/C from a wide variety of sources.
FGM/C Data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), 1990-2004
A compilation of FGM/C data collected by the MEASURE DHS project from 17 African countries and Yemen. This CD-ROM also contains the survey module used in DHS questionnaires to collect FGM/C data and several DHS publications relating to FGM/C.
FRONTIERS CD-ROM Available on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
"Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Publications on Research in FGM/C," an English/French electronic library by the Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS), is available through the Population Council.
For More Information
USAID's Office of Women in Development
The Office of Women in Development works in the areas of gender integration, economic growth, education, and legal rights to promote a stronger, more productive role for girls and women in developing countries. Visit the 16 Days of Activism Web site
The Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG)
Established in 1997, IGWG is a network comprising USAID cooperating agencies, NGOs, and the USAID Bureau for Global Health. The IGWG promotes gender equity within population, health, and nutrition programs with the goal of improving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes and fostering sustainable development.
Center for Women’s Global Leadership
The Center for Women’s Global Leadership, founder of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, was created in 1989 to study and promote how and why women lead and to develop programs that prepare women of all ages to lead effectively.
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