Recorded presentation

Adriana Ortega Ortiz, JD¹, Deborah L. Billings, PhD², and Claudia Moreno Uriza, BA¹. (1) Ipas Mexico, Pachuca 92, Colonia Condesa, Mexico DF, Mexico, (2) Research and Evaluation, Ipas Mexico, Pachuca 92, Colonia Condesa, Mexico City, 06140, Mexico, (52-55) 5211 8381, debbieb@ipas.org.mx

Background: Comprehensive services for sexual violence survivors are not widely available in public sector health institutions throughout Mexico, thus Ipas Mexico has worked with health care personnel in Ministry of Health facilities in three states of Mexico to train teams of professionals who can provide such services. Key to the training process is increasing health care providers’ understanding of legal and human rights frameworks, particularly those that apply to gender-based violence and legal abortion in the case of pregnancy from rape.

Purpose: Present the experiences and impact of lawyers translating legal and human rights concepts for health care personnel in the context of training in the provision of comprehensive services for sexual violence survivors.

Methods: Baseline information about health care providers’ knowledge of law and human rights was collected through pre-training. We systematized key approaches for translating legal and human rights concepts for health care personnel used in trainings. Post-training evaluation was conducted through the application of questionnaires with participants and key informant interviews.

Results: Prior to training, less than 15% of participants had received information about legal aspects related to sexual violence and legal abortion. Post-training, the majority had a solid understanding of relevant legal and human rights frameworks and how to apply them in their work. Commonly noted was that participants were willing to provide care to survivors of sexual violence, including legal abortion, post-training.

Conclusions: Strategies for improving health care providers’ legal literacy is key to an effective strategy for creating comprehensive services for survivors of sexual violence.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe an innovative approach for translating legal and human rights frameworks for health care providers trained in comprehensive care for sexual violence survivors.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the approach in terms of health care providers’ increased legal literacy.

Keywords: Sexual Assault, Human Rights

Related Web page: www.ipas.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation