Help-Seeking Pathways and Barriers for ... - EngenderHealth

The Channeling Men’s Positive Involvement in the National HIV/AIDS Response (CHAMPION)
Project is one of the key implementing agencies of this PEPFAR intervention. The overall
CHAMPION Project works to promote and implement research, programs, and policies that
engage men to address pressing public health problems in Tanzania, including GBV. In
concert with other PEPFAR implementing partners in Tanzania, CHAMPION is working to
scale up the response to GBV in the three PEPFAR priority regions of the country: Dar es
Salaam, Iringa, and Mbeya through direct interventions or technical assistance to partners.
As indicated in Table 1 (above), the prevalence of physical and sexual violence in these
three regions is largely on par or higher than the national average.
B. Study Objectives
In order to increase the availability, quality, and utilization of GBV services, CHAMPION and
other partners will need to understand the strengths and gaps in existing support services
as well as community needs and potential barriers to care. This study was designed to
inform the overall design of PEPFAR’s initiative to scale up the response to GBV in Tanzania.
This research was motivated by three key objectives:
1) To understand community perceptions of GBV and related patterns of and barriers to
Help-Seeking;
2) To profile the range of services that currently exist for survivors of GBV in select
districts of Dar es Salaam, Iringa, and Mbeya; and
3) To identify current gaps and opportunities in the provision of services to survivors of
GBV in the target regions.
It is important to note that while the first component aimed to understand community-level
perceptions and needs, the research was not intended to capture the lived experiences of
actual survivors. Rather, the study focused on capturing perceptions, patterns, and barriers
from the perspectives of male and female community members, irrespective of their
experiences of violence. It is also important to note that for the purposes of this research
and in alignment with the focus of PEPFAR programming priorities, (i.e., GBV related to
sexual and HIV-related risks), the definition of gender-based violence used by this study
was:
Violence perpetrated against women, limited to physical or sexual violence perpetrated
by an intimate partner and sexual violence perpetrated by anyone, including strangers,
acquaintances, neighbors, and family members.
The present research did not include questions about childhood sexual abuse or child rape
to ensure the study retained a tight focus and because recent qualitative research has
already been conducted in Tanzania on those topics. 5
5 See UNICEF et al. (2011)
Help-Seeking Pathways and Barriers for Survivors of GBV in Tanzania March 2013
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