Kampala University: Development Studies

KAMPALA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE – JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

P.O Box Juba Tel: +211(0) 954409463/955994228/ +256 783655287
Website: www.ku.ac.ug
Gender Based Violence
A University Professional Course

module
By
Development studies
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Professor Lwettutte Billy International Development Specialist
Violence against women is a very common problem in Africa and can happen to
any woman in any culture. It is a violation of human rights. It is also a public health
problem, though it has not been given due considerations as a public health
problem. It affects every aspect of the woman’s life and has many complex sexual
and reproductive health consequences. In this book, you will learn about the
consequences of the major forms of violence against women. You will also learn
the practical skills on how you can help girls and women who are victims of
violence.
Learning Outcomes for Study
When you have studied this session, you should be able to:
a. Define and use correctly all of the key words that manifest in gender
based violence issues
b. Describe types of gender-based violence.
c. Explain some of the factors that contribute to gender-based violence.
d. Discuss barriers to reporting sexual violence.
e. Describe the sexual and reproductive health consequences of gender-
based violence.
f. Describe your role in the prevention and management of gender-
based violence.
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Gender related terminologies
1. Sex and gender?
Sex is the biological characteristic that defines humans as female or

male. These characteristics do not change from time to time and
are found in every
culture.
Figure 1 The boys play while the girls work in this village.
Gender refers to socially and culturally defined roles for males and females. These
roles are learned over time, can change from time to time, and vary widely within
and between cultures. Gender is not only about girls/women. However, the
traditionally defined gender roles in Africa disadvantage girls and women (see
Figure 1). Now that you understand that gender roles can be changed you will learn
what types of gender-based violence may be occurring in your community.
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Gender-based violence
Gender-based violence (GBV) is any form of deliberate physical, psychological or

sexual harm, or threat of harm, directed against a person on the basis of their
gender.
Figure 2 Woman attempting to escape from a man who is trying to throw her to the
ground and rape her.
Although gender-based violence is not exclusively directed against females, they

do suffer from it the most, which is why the focus of this study session is on
women and girls (see Figure 2). GBV is a violation of fundamental human rights.
Violence against girls and women prevents them from enjoying their rights, such as
those shown in Box 1. Below
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Box 1 Fundamental human rights to which everyone is entitled

without distinction based on race, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinions
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment.
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing.
Everyone has the right to social security and personal development.
Everyone has the right to education.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
When violence occurs against girls and women, it is usually committed by boys or
men. Violence against women stems from the unequal power relations between
men and women. A person with more power has many choices, while a person with
less power has few choices. There are many types of power, such as economic
power (control or access to money and other resources) and physical power
(strength or weapons). The person with less power is vulnerable in many ways.
Women have less power than men and as a consequence are more vulnerable to
violence (see Figure 3).
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Figure 3 Women discussing rights and violence.
The most common form of violence is the violence against girls and women at the
household level. In most communities in Africa, this GBV is accepted as normal
behaviour and there is little awareness of GBV as an issue that needs attention. It is
not treated as a serious crime but as a private matter even though it has serious
consequences for girls and women.
Violence against women and girls takes place throughout their lives, starting in
infancy and continuing to old age. Examples include the preference for a male
child, trafficking for labor and sexual abuse, rape, wife beating, food restriction,
early marriage, marriage to a man who already has a wife, abduction, female
genital mutilation and wife inheritance.
There are various factors that make girls and women vulnerable to acts of violence,
such as:
 They lack power

 They have low status
 They are often less educated
 They are often poor and economically dependent on men and this inequality
places them in a situation where they are easily abused
 Cultural beliefs and values reinforce rigid gender roles and the low status of
women. Most of the violence against girls and women is perpetrated under
the cover of culture
 Limited awareness (among both females and males) about the rights of girls
and women
 Boys and men commonly drink alcohol and use other mind-altering
substances which impair judgment and/or make them violent.
Stop reading for a moment and think about this from your own experience.
What sort of violence against girls and women happens in your community?
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Types of gender-based violence
Table 1 shows that GBV can be physical, psychological or sexual.
Table 1 Types of gender-based violence.
Physical Psychological Sexual

Beating Insulting Harassment (any type of unwanted sexual
attention)
Biting Yelling Touching sexual parts of the girl’s/woman’s
body
Kicking Recalling past Touching in a sexual manner against the will
mistakes of the girl/woman (e.g. kissing, grabbing,
fondling)
Restraining Constant criticism Rape (forced sexual intercourse)
Pulling hair Expressing negative Use of a weapon to force into a sexual act
expectations
Choking Humiliation Forced prostitution
Throwing Denying Sexual trafficking
objects opportunities
Using Discriminating
weapons
Stop reading for a moment and think about this from your own experience. Are any
of these types of violence common in your community?
Although same-sex physical violence (even including stabbing) can be common

among adolescents, the unequal power relationship results in most physical
violence being directed at girls by boys.
Psychological GBV can be hidden, but you might uncover it if you ask some
questions, for example, you could ask a very under-confident young girl whether
she is receiving a lot of criticism from her family for being a girl.
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You can see from Table 1 that sexual violence includes a wide variety of undesired
sexual acts, ranging from sexual harassment, which includes unpleasant sexual
comments or physical gestures, to sexual abuse, which is any type of unwanted
sexual contact (Figure 4) and includes all forms of sexual coercion (emotional,
physical, and economic) against an individual.
Figure 4 An example of sexual abuse: young woman receiving unwanted sexual

contact.
Rape is defined by most African laws as having sex with a woman or girl without
her consent or with consent obtained under threat, force, and intimidation, fear of
bodily harm or misrepresentation. Many adolescents are forced to have sexual
relations with men or boys they know and are assaulted if they refuse to have sex.
If a boyfriend forces his girlfriend to have sex against her will this is called date
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rape while acquaintance rape is committed by someone who is known to the girl,
such as a neighbor, teacher, religious leader, family friend or relative. But
sometimes a stranger commits an act of sexual violence.
All types of GBV can have damaging consequences, as you will learn in the next
section.
Causes of Gender Based Violence
Society
Community Relationship
Individual Perpetrator
 Norms granting men  Poverty, low socio-  Marital conflict  Witnessing marital
control over female economic status,  Male control of violence as a child
behaviour unemployment wealth and  Absent or rejecting father
 Acceptance of  Associating with decision-making in  Being abused as a child
violence as a wayto peers who condone the family  Alcohol use
resolve conflict violence
 Notion of masculinity  Isolation of
linked to dominance, womenand family
honour and aggression
 Rigid gender roles
The principal characteristic of gender-based violence is that it occurs against

women precisely because of their gender. Gender-based violence involves power
imbalances where, most often, men are the perpetrators and women the victims.
During this session we will explore in detail the causes and contributing factors of
gender-based violence, various effects of gender-based violence on victims and
their families, perpetrators and the society as a whole, as well as examine a variety
of possible social responses to the phenomenon.
It is important to remember that psychological explanations for gender-based

violence (i.e. witnessing marital violence as a child, having an absent or rejecting
father, or being abused as a child) often fail to appreciate the role of wider
inequalities in the relations between women and men, and the need to transform
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these. It is not simply the case that if one sees or experiences violence as a child,
one will in turn abuse others. Studies emphasize that girls are three to six times
more likely to experience sexual abuse than boys, yet the vast majority of sexual
abuse is perpetrated by male, not female, adults (e.g. Francine Pickup, in Ending
Violence Against Women: A Challenge for Development and Humanitarian Work,
Oxfam GB 2001).
At the other extreme, the explanation of violence against women solely as the result
of men’s experience of external factors (i. e. poverty, conflict, rapid economic or
political change), fails to take into account that gender-based violence cuts across
socio-economic boundaries. While evidence from women themselves in many
different contexts indicates that poverty and crisis exacerbate violence against
women, in particular domestic violence, poverty is not in itself the cause of
violence against women. Rather, it is one of main factors that may aggravate or
increase the violence that already exists. The fact that not all men in poor
households are violent indicates that poverty is an insufficient explanation of
violence. Exaggerating the role of poverty, in fact, negates people’s agency in
making choices about the way they react to factors outside of their control.
Likewise, conflict and rapid social or economic change affect the extent of gender-
based violence in a society, but they do not cause it. Existing rates of violence
against women do often increase during times of social instability, and new patterns
of abuse can be triggered. Situations like men’s unemployment and women’s entry
into the workforce during times of economic restructuring, or the lack of
opportunities for demobilized soldiers after a war, may pose a challenge to men’s
sense of themselves as powerful. In contexts where individual men feel their sense
of masculinity and power is threatened, and gender-based violence is condoned in
law or in custom, such violence may increase in intensity and frequency, as men
struggle to maintain a sense of power and control.
The gender perspective on violence against women shows us that the root cause of
violence lies in the unequal power relations between women and men, which
ensure male dominance over women, and are a characteristic of human societies
throughout the world.
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Consequences of gender-based violence
Stop reading for a moment and think about this from your own experience. Try to
remember a girl in your community who experienced any form of GBV. What were
the consequences for her?
The effects of violence on women vary widely. It depends on the nature of the
particular incident, the woman’s relationship with her abuser, and the context in
which it took place. Gender-based violence typically has physical, psychological,
and social effects. For the survivors, these are interconnected.
GBV that involves physical violence could lead to a physical injury, from a simple
wound to loss of body parts and even death. There are lots of reported cases of
deaths due to GBV in Africa so you may have thought about such a case from
within your own community.
GBV also causes psychological trauma such as fear, anxiety, self-blame, depression
and suicidal thoughts. It is not usually visible (unlike physical trauma) but
girls/women suffer a great deal from it and the effects can be longer-lasting than a
physical injury (see Figure 5) and affect behavior and interpersonal relationships.
For example, women who are sexually abused during their childhood tend to feel
guilty about the abuse. They develop negative feelings about themselves and lose
self-esteem. These bad feelings about themselves often causes them to engage in
high-risk behaviors and practices. This makes them more vulnerable to STIs
including HIV, unwanted pregnancies and infertility.
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Figure 5 Thiswoman has become depressed after being raped. She feels isolated
and that she has no one who understands her situation.
Sexual violence also contributes to the spread of STIs. For example, a girl or
woman who is raped by an infected person can get infected. She could also have an
unwanted pregnancy leading to a number of negative outcomes including unsafe
abortion. Girls who have experience GBV (particularly when physical and sexual
violence is involved) may make frequent visits to health facilities with various
complaints which could include escalating pain, pelvic and back pain,
gastrointestinal problems, and repetitive episodes of STIs or unintended
pregnancies (Table 2). But they may not tell health workers of the sexual violence
they have experienced and health workers fail to recognize that undiagnosed GBV
is underlying all these complaints and problems, so they do not ask about violence.
Thus, these girls and women do not get the help that they need from the health
facilities.
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Table 2 Effects of gender-based violence.
Physical Psychosocial/mental Sexual and reproductive

Partial or Anger, anxiety, fear Sexual disorders and risky
permanent behaviours
disability
Poor nutrition Shame, self-hate, self-blame Early sexual experiences
(for those who are victims
of childhood sexual abuse)
Exacerbation of Post-traumatic stress disorder Unprotected sex
chronic illness (nightmares, recurrent
distressing thoughts)
Chronic pain Depression Abortions
Gastrointestinal Sleep disorders Bad pregnancy outcomes,
problems low birth weight, neonatal
death
Organ damage Suicidal thoughts Maternal death
Substance abuse Suicide
Social stigma STIs including HIV
Social rejection AIDS
and isolation
Infertility
Chronic pain
GBV has various interrelated effects on health, so it seems strange that girls and
young women do not report the GBV when they come to the health facility.
 The impact on gender-based violence on women’s health:
Gender-based violence has been linked to many serious health problems, both
immediate and long-term. These include physical and psychological health
problems:
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 Physical
 injury,
 disability,
 chronic health problems (irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders,
various chronic pain syndromes, hypertension, etc.)
 sexual and reproductive health problems (contracting sexually transmitted
diseases, spread of HIV/AIDS, high-risk pregnancies, etc.)
 death
 Psychological
Effects can be both direct/ indirect
 Direct: anxiety, fear, mistrust of others, inability to concentrate, loneliness,

post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, etc.
 Indirect: psychosomatic illnesses, withdrawal, alcohol or drug use.
 Economic and social impact:

 Rejection, ostracism and social stigma at community level;
 Reduced ability to participate in social and economic activities;
 Acute fear of future violence, which extends beyond the individual survivors to
other members in community;
 Damage to women’s confidence resulting in fear of venturing into public
spaces (this can often curtail women’s education, which in turn can limit their
income-generating opportunities);
 Increased vulnerability to other types of gender-based violence;
 Job loss due to absenteeism as a result of violence;
 Negative impact on women’s income generating power;
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 The impact on women’s family and dependants:

 Direct effects:
 divorce, or broken families;
 jeopardized family’s economic and emotional development
 babies born with health disorders as a result of violence experienced by the
mother during pregnancy (i.e. premature birth or low birth weight);
 increased likelihood of violence against children growing up in households
where there is domestic violence;
 collateral effects on children who witness violence at home (emotional and
behavioral disturbances, e.g. withdrawal, low self-esteem, nightmares, self-
blame, aggression against peers, family members, and property; increased
risk of growing up to be either a perpetrator or a victim of violence)
 Indirect effects:
 Compromised ability of survivor to care for her children (e.g. child
malnutrition and neglect due to constraining effect of violence on women’s
livelihood strategies and their bargaining position in marriage)
 Ambivalent or negative attitudes of a rape survivor towards the resulting
child.
 The impact of violence on the perpetrators:

 sanctioning by community, facing arrest and imprisonment;
 legal restrictions on seeing their families, divorce, or the break up of their
families;
 feeling of alienation from their families;
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 minimizing the significance of violence for which they are responsible;

deflecting the responsibility for violence onto their partner and failure to
associate it with their relationship;
 increased tension in the home
 The impact of violence on society:

 burden on health and judicial systems
 hindrance to economic stability and growth through women’s lost productivity
 hindrance to women’s participation in the development processes and lessening
of their contribution to social and economic development.
 constrained ability of women to respond to rapid social, political, or economic
change.
 breakdown of trust in social relationships
 weakened support networks on which people’s survival strategies depend.
 strained and fragmented networks that are of vital importance in strengthening
the capabilities of communities in times of stress and upheaval
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Social Responses to Gender-Based Violence/ Solutions to GBV
In a logical framework format, construct a GBV roadmap to address the social

challenges resulting from this scourge in your communities.
Health Care - Training health care providers to recognize and respond to gender-
based violence is one of the most important ways of identifying and assisting
victims. Not just obstetrician/gynaecologists but all health care professionals must
learn to recognize the signs: hospitals (especially emergency room staff); public
and private health clinic staff; general/family practitioners; internists;
paediatricians; psychiatrists; nurses and the staff of family planning clinics
Victim Assistance Services - These are services created or incorporated to respond

to gender-based violence, such as: battered women shelters; homeless shelters;
financial assistance programs; women's police stations or services; victim advocacy
programs; rape crisis, domestic violence and suicide prevention hotlines; legal
services; runaway programs; social welfare programs; psychological support
services (including individual counselling and support groups) and teen sexuality
programs/health services.
Support Groups - While support groups can fall under the heading of victim
assistance services, they merit special mention because they are not always
externally organized services. Support groups can be a important way for victims
themselves to organize pro-actively and take charge of their own situation. Beyond
emotional support, group members can also provide one another with a sense of
security and even, if needed, a place to go.
Working with Perpetrators - Working with the perpetrators of violence (batterer-

intervention programs) has been a controversial and occasionally successful
response. While victim assistance services are a useful Band-Aid to address an
existing problem, this approach targets efforts at the source of the problem,
attempting to change violent men's behaviour.
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Exploring Masculinities - Programs which address masculinities attempt to

explore what "makes a man". The central idea is to educate boys from the earliest
age that violence (against anyone) is wrong, that the prevailing definition of
masculinity in any society is not the only alternative, and that even though they are
physically different, girls are entitled to the same rights and opportunities as men.
Media Information and Awareness Campaigns - The media is a key conduit for
making GBV visible, advertising solutions, informing policy-makers and educating
the public about legal rights and how to recognize and address GBV. Newspapers,
magazines, newsletters, radio, television, the music industry, film, theatre,
advertising, the internet, posters, leaflets, community notice boards, libraries and
direct mail are all channels for providing information to victims and the general
public about GBV prevention and available services
Education - School systems are instrumental to stopping GBV before it starts.

Regular curricula, sexuality education, school counselling programs and school
health services can all convey the message that violence is wrong and can be
prevented, suggest alternative models of masculinity, teach conflict-resolution
skills and provide assistance to children/adolescents who may be victims or
perpetrators of violence. Integrating GBV as a subject into psychology, sociology,
medicine, nursing, law, women's studies, social work and other programs enables
providers to identify and tend to this problem.
Faith-Based Programs and Services - Religious counselling, support groups,

education programs, study groups and assistance programs can address GBV with
their participants/worshippers. Most religions emphasize the importance of peace
and tolerance. Framing a discussion of GBV in the context of religious tenets is
one way to foster awareness and discussion of the problem. It may also be a way to
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identify and assist victims who do not feel comfortable talking to a health care
provider or police officer
Legal Responses - The criminalization of all forms of GBV - domestic violence,

rape, sexual harassment, psychological violence etc. has been an important step in
eliminating it. What remains is the consistent application of these laws, the
implementation of penalties, and a greater focus on rehabilitating convicted
perpetrators. Other legal responses to GBV have included: legal aid services;
training of police and judicial personnel; women's police stations; legal advocacy
and lobbying; training of family, criminal, immigration and juvenile court lawyers
and bar association advocacy.
International Conferences and Conventions - The international community has

come together to address gender-based violence through a variety of conferences,
conventions and agreements. Though these do not have the same binding force as
domestic law, international conventions such as the Declaration on the Elimination
of Violence Against Women can be demonstrative of a state's willingness to
acknowledge the problem of GBV and seek solutions. International conventions
also hold states accountable to an international and externally monitored standard.
International conferences on GBV bring together groups and actors from all over
the world, giving them the opportunity to share their own experiences, and learn
from others.
Community Networks and Interventions - A number of studies have shown that

involving entire communities in recognizing, addressing and working to prevent
GBV is one of the surest ways of eliminating it. To be optimally effective,
community networks must bring together all of the responses outlined above,
integrating members from all sectors of the community: families; businesses;
advocacy groups/civil society; public services such as police, fire fighters and
medical examiners; social services such as welfare, unemployment, public housing
and health; education; the media and officials from national, state/provincial and
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local/municipal governments. Community interventions must send a clear message

about what gender-based violence is, the different forms it can take, why it is
wrong and how to prevent it.
Barriers to reporting sexual violence
Stop reading for a moment and think of your experience in your community. What
inhibits victims from reporting rape?
Reasons for not reporting GBV include:
Fear of stigma and discrimination. Someone who has been raped may be seen by
others as unclean. She will be blamed for what has happened to her and may
experience discrimination.
Blame. Society expects girls and women to be able to avoid sexual violence
including rape. If any form of sexual violence occurs, society often blames the
woman for the way she behaves and dresses, saying that the rape is her fault
because she has provoked sexual desires in boys and men.
Fear of disbelief. Many girls do not think anyone will believe them, particularly if
they have been abused by someone they know. For this reason, many people who
have experienced sexual violence, including children, remain silent.
Fear of revenge. Many girls and women who are raped are intimidated by their
attacker, who threatens that he and his family and friends will cause her further
harm if she makes a police report. They may even make death threats.
Ineffective policing. Even when young women who have been raped do report the
case to the police they may not achieve much. They are not often protected by the
police and if the wrong doer is not imprisoned they may be in greater danger than
before.
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Health workers’ attitudes. People who have experienced sexual violence can
recover from the trauma if they find someone who will acknowledge their
experience and provide support. One way they could heal is through hearing
encouraging words from healthcare providers. However, health workers are not
usually understanding and supportive when someone who has been raped seeks
care from health facilities. They often tend to be judgemental. This is why many
girls who experience GBV will seek practical help for health issues but will not talk
about the violence that has caused them to attend at the health post.
It is important that you as a Health Extension Practitioner recognise these effects

and offer help. In the next section, you will learn what roles you can play to prevent
and manage GBV in your community.
Your role in preventing gender-based violence
Look at the list of factors that make GBV likely (Section 2). How can you help to
make girls and women in your community less vulnerable?
Educating women and involving community members, particularly men, are good
ways to prevent GBV in your community.
Educated women are less likely to have undesired life outcomes. Providing girls
with educational opportunities improves their status in the community. You can
help by encouraging parents to send their daughters to school and by encouraging
girls to go to school and to continue with their schooling. Girls and women often
lack information on reproductive health issues, but education gives them necessary
knowledge. You could also involve women as members and leaders of community-
based health committees.
Involving boys and men in fighting GBV will have a lasting effect. As you have
already learned, it is usually boys and men who inflict violence on girls and
women, so any effort to abolish GBV without their engagement will not be
successful. Ensure that you talk to them about GBV (Figure 6). Help young boys to
understand that boys and girls are different but equal and everyone deserves equal
respect.
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Figure 6 A Health Extension Practitioner talking to a group

of girls and boys about GBV.
As most types of GBV are carried out under the cover of culture and tradition, and
are deeply rooted in the community, addressing this issue requires engagement of
the community as a whole. You can use various methods to mobilize the
community and improve their awareness and behavior. Community conversation is
a good medium to fight GBV. It is also useful to get an influential community or
local leader to tell community members of the advantages of improving women’s
health by fighting GBV and to explain that Africa’s ministers and religious leaders
want all Africans to have full and equal rights (Figure 7).
There is more discussion on the use of community conversation in Study Sessions

of this Module.
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Figure 7 A village meeting to discuss the importance of respecting the rights of

girls and women.
In the next section, you will learn about the care that should be given to victims of
sexual abuse.
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Care and support for survivors of sexual abuse
Survivors of sexual abuse are persons who have lived through sexual violence.
Table 6.2 showed the effects that they might experience as a result of the abuse.
Immediately after a violent act there may be physical indicators which show that a
girl has just been sexually abused (see Box 6.2).
Box 2 Physical indicators of recent sexual abuse in young women
Difficulty in walking or sitting
Torn, stained, or bloody underclothing
Pain or swelling in genital area
Lacerations of the hymen, labia or perineum
Bruises or bleeding in external genitalia, vaginal or anal areas.
As the girl is likely to have washed and changed her clothes before coming to see
you, most of these physical signs that could indicate the presence of sexual abuse
will not be there. However, if you do suspect GBV, ask in a straightforward way
‘Have you been forced to have sexual intercourse when you did not want it?’ If you
say ‘Have you suffered GBV’ the girl may not understand what you mean.
Addressing sexual abuse may seem overwhelming to you, but there are a lot of
things you can do. Many adolescents are reluctant to acknowledge a history of
abuse. Some of them may only disclose their experience over a period of time. You
need to ensure confidentiality and reassure the girl that any course of action will
only be taken with her permission. Ensuring confidentiality, listening and asking
questions in a non-judgmental way encourages the girl to reveal if there is a history
of sexual abuse. If there is, ask whether it is still going on. Does she still have
contact with the abuser? How old is he and what is his relationship to her? What is
the nature of the abuse? What type of coercion was used?
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If she says she was raped, give her emergency contraception if it has been less than
120 hours since the rape occurred. Rape is a medico legal case. It needs
investigation and care at a health center or hospital. Anyone who has been raped
should seek care within five days of the violence so that good quality and strong
evidence can be collected for the legal process. A complete medical history and
physical examination is needed for every rape case. In addition, evidence collection
and laboratory investigation for both the legal process and the provision of medical
care is required. Depending on their condition, someone who has been raped may
need the following: care for acute injures, psychosocial care and support,
prevention of pregnancy after rape through emergency contraception, post-
exposure prophylaxis for HIV, prophylaxis for STIs, and a follow-up. You should
counsel anyone who has been raped to the best of your ability but if possible refer
her to legal or social services that deal with sexual abuse.
Evidence needs to be well recorded and reported to the police. This should be done
by a skilled person. For this reason, it is important that you refer a rape case to the
nearest health centre or hospital. However, this doesn’t mean that there is nothing
you can do about it yourself. In addition to emergency contraception you may be
able to give a screen for STIs and a pregnancy test.
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Figure 6.8 It is important to counsel anyone who has experienced GBV in a non-
judgemental manner.
Under most African laws, rape is a crime and not only the person who has been
raped but also their relatives and any other knowledgeable person has a duty to
report it. Therefore, you have a duty to encourage and help them to report the case
to the police, in addition to the care and support you give them.
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Guidance and Counseling

As a prerequisite for coagulated practical skills of gender based violence, you need
to have some background knowledge to guidance and counseling as well as human
growth and development and the different stages that a child goes through whilst
growing up. These stages are infancy, early childhood, adolescence and early
adulthood. The knowledge about these areas make it possible for you to see the
relevancy and application of Guidance and Counseling into gender based violence
to help children overcome life challenges and associated problems that face them
both inside and outside the school environment. You also need some background
knowledge about the Social, Moral, and Personality development and the general
socialization processes that influence young people as they interact with their
environment. This interaction between the child and the environment can impact
positively or negatively which determines their future life and marital behavior, a
salient prerequisite for GBV in our communities.
We live in a world full of rapid changes. These changes are coming about because
of the technological developments taking place every now and then. Traditional
cultures, beliefs, values and social relations in the traditional societies are being
eroded very quickly by foreign cultures, through television, internet, magazines,
music and other toxic influences. All these rapid changes are living young people
confused, uncertain, and alienated. This state of affairs can be very devastating
emotionally.
These rapid changes leave us all confused to extent that we do not know what to
do, or the next step to take. This is when your knowledge and skills in counseling
become very handy to all of us. How all of us, including your students will change
will depend on your ability to conduct guidance and counseling, notwithstanding
our differences in terms of interest, personality, cultural background and life
circumstances. So you as a counselor and GBV specialist, you have embarked on
another journey—a journey to help people, especially the learners to deal with
changes that come suddenly and unexpectedly into their lives.
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Your positive and prompt contributions will in the end make them live
independent, happy and effective life. Before you can do that, you need to acquire
the knowledge, skills and mental set of a committed guidance and counselor in the
school where you will be working.
Professional Codes of Conduct (Some ethical considerations)

Guidance and Counseling is an interactive relationship that takes place between the
Counselor and that client (in this case between you the counselor and the GBV
victim). It becomes important that some issues related to codes of conduct in
counseling relationships are highlighted here for your benefit.
The following ethical codes of behavior are necessary for you to know them,
because they are going to help you to do conduct counseling professionally.
Adherence to these codes of conduct is of paramount importance and a foundation
of successful practice:
1. Confidentiality. You are mandated to maintain all matters arising
during any counseling of a client confidential. All advice given should
not in any way be disclosed nor discussed with another person.
2. Tolerance. It is important that you practice tolerance with your
client, and unnecessary duress on the client is totally unacceptable.
Request for counseling is voluntary and therefore is improper to
force the services on a client.
3. Objectivity. The need to be objective in counseling
relationship is important. You need to be impersonal in your
dealing with the client, and be objective with your view, offer
options that are clear and understood by the client, merits and
demerits spelt out very clearly, so that the client is very clear
of the kinds of decisions he/she is going to make. Counselor’s
views should to be imposed on the client.
It should be noted that GBV originates from infancy so it is so imperative that GBV
professionals invest their efforts to the following cases in growing infants
Drop outs. In many large metropolitan school districts, over 25 percent of students
do not complete their high school education. Premature school termination is
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becoming an increasingly more difficult problem as more careers require education

well beyond the high school level. Counselors are in a unique position to assist
students with career guidance and help them establish meaningful goals including
the completion of a basic education.
Teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy continues to be a societal concern. Precipitating

factors are visible prior to middle school. Counselors are often the liaison with
community agencies that work to prevent student pregnancy and assist with
students who do become pregnant.
Substance abuse. Drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, continue to be a serious

problem for youth. Despite national efforts to eradicate these problems, many
students still find their way to these mind altering chemicals. Counselors are trained
to understand the effects of different drugs and can assist with interventions or
community referrals. The counselor is also essential in developing substance abuse
prevention programs in a school.
School violence. School violence can range from bullying to gunfire. Counselors
have training to assist teachers and students in cases of violence and to establish
violence prevention programs. Counselor leadership in making teasing and bullying
unacceptable school behaviors is a powerful way to provide a safer and more
inclusive environment for students.
Diversity. Tolerance of diversity is an important goal in a multicultural society.

School counselors help all students to be accepting of others regardless of sex, age,
race, sexual orientation, culture, disability, or religious beliefs.
Child abuse. Many states have mandatory reporting laws concerning child abuse.
Students in all grades are susceptible to abuse by others, and the counselor is often
the first person to discover these deplorable acts and then report them to the proper
authorities.
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Terrorism. Terrorism is becoming an increasingly difficult problem in the world of

the early twenty-first century. Children are affected, directly and indirectly, by both
massive and small-scale acts of terrorism. Counselors are able to ascertain the
extent to which a student or teacher may be adversely affected by terrorist acts. In
these cases the counselor can either intervene or direct the person to more intensive
interventions.
+211912484651
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References
Population Reports/CHANGE, No. 4, Volume XXVII, December 1999, available

at http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/l11edsum.stm
Pickup, F., Williams, S., Sweetman, C. Ending Violence Against Women: A

Challenge for Development and Humanitarian Work, Oxfam GB 2001
OutLook: Violence Against Women: Effects on Reproductive Health , Vol.20, No.

1September 2002, available at http://www.path.org/files/EOL_20-1.pdf.
Pan American Health Organization, Women, Health and Development Program,

Fact Sheet: Social Responses to Gender-Based Violence, available at
http://www.paho.org/English/HDP/HDW/socialresponsesgbv.pdf
Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings:

Focusing on prevention of and response to sexual violence in emergencies, Inter-
Agency Standing Committee, 2005.
IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency

Settings, IASC, 2007.
Guidelines for medico-legal care of victims of sexual violence. WHO. 2003.
Clinical Management of Rape Survivors. Developing protocols for use with
refugees and internally displaced people. WHO. 2005.
Women, Girls, Boys & Men - Different Needs Equal Opportunities (IASC Gender
Handbook). IASC. 2007.
Gender E-learning course
UNHCR Protection of Women materials
United Nations Secretary-General’s Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection
from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13).
Sexual and Gender-based Violence against Refugees, Returnees, and Internally
Displaced Persons: Guidelines for prevention and response, UNHCR, 2003.
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www.bhf.co.ug
Vann, B. Gender-based Violence: Emerging Issues in Programs Serving Displaced

Populations. RHRC, 2002. http://www.rhrc.org/resources/gbv/vann_toc.html
Vann, B. Gender-based Violence: Emerging Issues in Programs Serving Displaced
Populations. RHRC, 2002.
Ward, J. If Not Now, When? Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee,
Internally Displaced, and Post- Conflict Settings. A Global Overview. RHRC
Consortium, 2002. http://www.rhrc.org/pdf/gbvintro.pdf
Heise, L, Pitanguy, L., Germain, A. Violence against Women: The Hidden Health
Burden. World Bank Discussion Paper 255, 1004. http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1999/04/28/000009265_
3970716144635/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf?bcsi_scan_A8AA4F79F19141A2=
K4rTNzrpHKZ6PU++rKYEpycAAABG72ME&bcsi_scan_filename=multi0page.p
df
Heise, L., Ellsberg M., and Gottemoeller, M.. Ending Violence against Women.
Population Reports. Series L. No. 11. Baltimore, Maryland: Population Information
Program, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. 1999.
http://www.infoforhealth.org/pr/l11/violence.pdf
El-Bushra J, Sabl I.M.G. Cycles of Violence. Gender Relations and Armed

Conflict. Acord, Nairobi, 2005
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/DPAS-6MQL5N?OpenDocument
+211912484651
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www.bhf.co.ug

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KAMPALA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE – JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

Gender Based Violence

A University Professional Course

Learning Outcomes for Study

Gender related terminologies

1. Sex and gender?

Sex is the biological characteristic that defines humans as female or

Gender-based violence (GBV) is any form of deliberate physical, psychological or

Although gender-based violence is not exclusively directed against females, they

Box 1 Fundamental human rights to which everyone is entitled

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

Everyone has the right to social security and personal development.

Everyone has the right to education.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Figure 3 Women discussing rights and violence.

 They lack power

Types of gender-based violence

Table 1 shows that GBV can be physical, psychological or sexual.

Table 1 Types of gender-based violence.

Physical Psychological Sexual

Although same-sex physical violence (even including stabbing) can be common

Figure 4 An example of sexual abuse: young woman receiving unwanted sexual

Causes of Gender Based Violence

The principal characteristic of gender-based violence is that it occurs against

It is important to remember that psychological explanations for gender-based

Consequences of gender-based violence

Table 2 Effects of gender-based violence.

Physical Psychosocial/mental Sexual and reproductive

 The impact on gender-based violence on women’s health:

Effects can be both direct/ indirect

 Direct: anxiety, fear, mistrust of others, inability to concentrate, loneliness,

 Economic and social impact:

 The impact on women’s family and dependants:

 The impact of violence on the perpetrators:

 minimizing the significance of violence for which they are responsible;

 The impact of violence on society:

Social Responses to Gender-Based Violence/ Solutions to GBV

In a logical framework format, construct a GBV roadmap to address the social

Victim Assistance Services - These are services created or incorporated to respond

Working with Perpetrators - Working with the perpetrators of violence (batterer-

Exploring Masculinities - Programs which address masculinities attempt to

Education - School systems are instrumental to stopping GBV before it starts.

Faith-Based Programs and Services - Religious counselling, support groups,

Legal Responses - The criminalization of all forms of GBV - domestic violence,

International Conferences and Conventions - The international community has

Community Networks and Interventions - A number of studies have shown that

local/municipal governments. Community interventions must send a clear message

Barriers to reporting sexual violence

Reasons for not reporting GBV include:

It is important that you as a Health Extension Practitioner recognise these effects

Your role in preventing gender-based violence

Figure 6 A Health Extension Practitioner talking to a group

There is more discussion on the use of community conversation in Study Sessions

Figure 7 A village meeting to discuss the importance of respecting the rights of

Care and support for survivors of sexual abuse

Box 2 Physical indicators of recent sexual abuse in young women

Difficulty in walking or sitting

Torn, stained, or bloody underclothing

Pain or swelling in genital area

Lacerations of the hymen, labia or perineum

Bruises or bleeding in external genitalia, vaginal or anal areas.