Prioritise access to healthcare for GBV survivors

As we mark the 16 days of activism campaign against Gender Based Violence (GBV), we appreciate the government through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and Ministry of Health for the tremendous effort in policy and programme development and implementation with regard to prevention and response to GBV.  

Despite government initiatives and programmes to facilitate the utilisation of SGBV services in Uganda, there is still evidence of barriers and several gender disparities which persist in access to sexual and reproductive health services for survivors of sexual gender-based violence. 

The 2021 Annual Police Crime Report and an assessment by Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) of cases reported before and during the pandemic in various districts, indicate an increase in sexual offences reported.

When faced with SGBV, survivors are advised to report to public health facilities urgently as a referral mechanism for medical examination and management and to fill in Police Form 3 appropriately.

However in the course of our interventions we have observed that some health facilities are not survivor centred, and lack appropriate good quality care for survivors of sexual violence.

Survivors are also unable to access services 24 hours a day, as most health service providers work half day and are hardly available over the weekends. We have had to contend with unethical health service providers who solicit funds at a fee of Shs50,000 from survivors for medical examination and the form.

A majority of survivors cannot afford it and end up only reporting the cases to police without seeking medical attention yet sexual abuse can lead to numerous health adverse health conditions.

These include disability due to injury, HIV/Aids, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortions, mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, and an increased risk of ideated or attempted suicide, among others. 

During the Generation Equality Forum, an international initiative in favour of gender equality, held in Paris on June 30 to July 2, 2021 the government of Uganda committed to eliminating GBV by scaling up comprehensive, accessible, and quality services for survivors. The commitments included; Supporting the collection of forensic evidence on GBV, violence against children (VAC), especially  capital offences; Effective implementation of GBV/VAC legislation with adequate resourcing and budgets; Provision of timely medical services including emergency contraceptives, post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and STI treatment to GBV/VAC survivors; Development of a national guideline for health service providers on identification and management of victims/survivors of GBV; Training health facility staff to handle GBV/VAC cases including collecting of forensic evidence; Establishment of additional 20 shelters across the county for GBV/VAC survivors; Provide training and support to all service providers within the Criminal Justice systems dealing with GBV/VAC matters (including police, prosecutors, magistrates, intermediaries, court preparation officers, health care providers and policy makers); and Programmes for counseling and psychosocial support to young girls that got pregnant during the COVID 19 lockdown.

We call upon the government  to fulfill these commitments, and end gender based violence. 

Ms Judith Nakalembe is a programme  officer at Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD).