Humanitarian Actors Trained to Provide Disability Inclusive Sexual, GBV Services
According to gender experts, Gender Based Violence (GBV) refers to any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, based on socially ascribed differences between males and females. It includes acts that inflict physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion, and other deprivations of liberty.
In any violent humanitarian crisis, the rate of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) increases as it is used as a weapon of war by warring factions. The situation is not different in the Northwest Region with the ongoing violent socio-political crisis that is plaguing the English-speaking part of the country. The violence has left persons with disabilities in particular more vulnerable to SGBV because of their impairments and associated factors and barriers like social isolation, negative attitudes, dependence on others for daily care and lack of education which expose them to SGBV.
The CBM funded Disability Inclusive Humanitarian Action (DIHA) in health and protection sectors for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in the Northwest Region is implemented by the CBC Health Services. One of the strategies to realizing the project’s outcome is improving services for protection of SGBV and case management of victims.
The DIHA Project implementing partners (CBC Health Services in the Northwest region and the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon in the Southwest Region) offer sexual and gender-based violence services and also network with other humanitarian actors/organisations to enhance effective services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
It is against the above background that the CBM Country Office Humanitarian team and the CBC Health Services organized 2 separate workshops for sexual and gender-based violence staff of 30 local humanitarian organisations, the CBC Health Services and the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC). The workshops took place in Bamenda and Bafoussam on March 15 -16 2022, and March 17-18, 2022 respectively.
The workshops were organized to improve the capacities of participants on disability inclusive SGBV services, protection, sexual and gender-based violence case management and mental health and psychosocial counseling. The expected outcome is improved and effective services to survivors of SGBV within the context of the ongoing crisis.
During the Bamenda workshop, the main facilitator said SGBV has devastating consequences on its victims especially those with disabilities including health complications, shame, self-blame, depression and death. She called on participants to be intentional in preventing it through education and awareness raising as well as offering effective SGBV services to survivors while taking into consideration the specific needs of persons with disabilities.
The facilitator in Bamenda, Kongnyuy Jita Bocheti who works with UNFPA Northwest region outlined the root causes of GBV to include: gender inequalities, power imbalance between victims and perpetrators, and disregard for human rights with contributing factors being alcohol and drugs.
Meanwhile, Gender Expert, Singeh Helen Jokem, Lead facilitator at the Bafoussam workshop, highlighted six types of GBV being sexual assault, psychological and emotional abuse, rape, physical abuse, denial of opportunities and resources and obnoxious traditional practices. She revealed that SGBV is largely committed by individuals who witnessed it or were victims of it in childhood. She noted that humanitarian actors ought to assume that GBV is occurring and threatening affected populations; treat it as a serious and life-threatening problem and take urgent measures to prevent and manage victims.
One of the major expectations of the participants after the training is to use the survivor centered approach to providing services to victims of gender-based violence as it puts them at the center of decisions concerning the SGBV services provided to them. In this light they were told to uphold four principles in working with gender-based violence survivors: right to safety, confidentiality, dignity and self-determination and non-discrimination. This strategy, they were assured, will create a supportive environment, ensure safety and dignity to promote a survivor’s recovery, and reinforce the survivor’s capacity to make decisions about possible interventions. They were told to have as qualities; warmth, empathy, respect, genuineness and self-awareness as SGBV service providers.
According to the two workshop facilitators, persons with disabilities can be included in SGBV programmes through partnerships with SGBV and disability organizations, and capacity development of SGBV practitioners on disability inclusion. They also stressed that intentionally taking measures to ensure persons with disabilities access SGBV services, recruitment of persons with disabilities and ensuring representation of persons with disabilities and their families in meetings and committees will enhance disability inclusion.
During the workshops, participants also received knowledge on setting up and implementing quality SGBV case management services, mental health and psycho social support to victims/survivors of gender-based violence and safety and security tips during humanitarian emergencies.
At the end of the workshop, participants expressed their gratitude to CBM and the CBC Health Services for the workshop as they gained new knowledge that will improve their SGBV services. One of the participants, Ndze Eleen, Founder of the Beacon of Light Association (BELA) said she was delighted to have participated in the workshop as it gave her the opportunity to gain knowledge on disability inclusion and the survivor centered approach to providing SGBV services. She said she was going back to immediately put measures in place for persons with disabilities to start benefitting from her organisations’ services in addition to making her SGBV services survivor centered.
