Guinea

Gender-based violence (GBV)—interpersonal violence resulting from normative gender roles and unequal power relationships between genders—is a pervasive problem worldwide. Sexual violence in particular is associated with significant health risks, including unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV infection. 

While GBV has long existed in Guinea, both Guineans and international observers were shocked by the brutal rapes perpetrated against women and girls during a peaceful demonstration on September 28, 2009, at the facility now known as "September 28th Stadium" and elsewhere in Conakry. Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 109 women and girls were raped that day in public, gang-raped, and/or abducted and raped repeatedly over a period of days. As is the case with many countries in Africa, health, psychosocial, and protection systems in Guinea are stretched thin. While systems to respond to rape and other forms of GBV exist, survivors frequently encounter access barriers, including cost, a referral system that is not yet fully coordinated, and limitations in service quality.

Addressing the Needs of Rape Survivors
In Guinea, RESPOND works with the Ministry of National Solidarity and the Promotion of Women and the Ministry of Health and the Reproductive Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene to provide support and services to GBV survivors of the political violence on September 28, 2009, and to implement a broader strategy for a comprehensive response to GBV in three regions (Conakry, Kissidougou, and Labé). The 12-month project began in January 2011 and is being implemented in partnership with two local nongovernmental organizations: CONAG-DCF (Coalition National de Guinée pour les Droits et la Citoyenneté des Femmes) and AGUIAS (Association Guinéene d'Assistantes Sociales). The project was granted a 12-month no-cost extension for one year in September 2011. 

The project has three main objectives:

1. To provide ongoing medical care, psychosocial services, and social/economic reintegration support to GBV survivors of the September 28, 2009, violence. CONAG-DCF hired a medical officer to conduct individual interviews with survivors to assess their needs and make referrals to hospitals, a psychiatrist, AGUIAS social workers, and local organizations that offer productive capacities training, financial management training, and microenterprise credit.For the duration of the project, RESPOND will cover the cost of these services at referral sites and organizations.
2. To build the capacity of local partners to implement effective GBV prevention efforts. RESPOND provides CONAG-DCF with technical assistance to establish and train community-level GBV prevention committees in Conakry. The training curriculum for committee members guides participants in exploring key concepts, attitudes, and values related to gender norms and gender equality; defining GBV; and developing action plans to address GBV in their communities. Once trained, committee members will carry out GBV prevention activities in their respective communities, with a focus on prevention of sexual violence and domestic violence.
3. To improve the health sector's response to GBV in RESPOND's three intervention regions. RESPOND has identified service availability and service quality gaps at health facilities through a baseline assessment. The project has also developed a GBV training curriculum for health care providers based on previously developed curricula and on the findings and recommendations of the baseline assessment. The curriculum addresses the medical and psychosocial care of GBV survivors, as well as processes of informed consent, data collection, referrals, and maintenance of data that promote and protect the safety, autonomy, and confidentiality of GBV survivors. RESPOND is using this curriculum to train health care providers and staff who interact with GBV survivors.