333697
Improving Accountability for Sexual Violence in Post-Conflict Settings: Health Sector Challenges and Opportunities in Kenya, Liberia, Uganda, and Sierra Leone
The Human Rights Center conducted a comparative, qualitative study to identify challenges and strategies in the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of sexual violence in post-conflict settings. Between 2012-2014, 279 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants from government, UN agencies, and civil society organizations in Kenya (n=59), Liberia (n=115), Sierra Leone (n=27), and Uganda (n=78). Through a focus on the health sector, this presentation provides an overview of key challenges in medico-legal evidence collection and utilization in post-conflict settings.
Challenges included: late reporting of survivors to health facilities; limited knowledge among healthcare providers and supplies to conduct forensic examinations and collect evidence; reluctance by healthcare providers to complete police or medical forms and testify in court due to time and capacity constraints; and limited coordination between healthcare staff and police for the timely transfer of evidence.
Findings indicate a need for interventions that facilitate reporting and immediate referrals to health services; training healthcare providers in medico-legal evidence collection; cross-sectoral dialogue among healthcare providers and police; and greater resource allocation for comprehensive post-rape care provision. Evaluations of emerging approaches such as “one-stop centers” for gender-based violence and pre-assembled “rape kits” provided to health facilities are urgently needed. Further, healthcare providers should participate in developing policies and protocols for the documentation and investigation of sexual violence to ensure their role is feasible within the local context.
Learning Areas:
Other professions or practice related to public healthPublic health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health
Learning Objectives:
Explain the role of healthcare providers in the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence.
Describe key challenges in the collection of medico-legal evidence by healthcare providers in Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
List research, policy, and practical measures for improving medico-legal evidence collection and utilization through the health sector in post-conflict settings.
Keyword(s): Sexual Assault, Accountability
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I significantly contributed to the conceptualization, design, and implementation of this multi-country study of accountability for sexual violence in post-conflict settings. This includes desk research, extensive fieldwork in Kenya and Uganda, data analysis, and co-authoring our final, comparative report. Further, my public health research and practice has focused on protection, health, and access to justice for survivors of sexual violence while working with UN agencies and NGOs for the past seven years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.