D. <strong>Barriers</strong> to <strong>Help</strong>-<strong>Seeking</strong> The circuitous pathway <strong>for</strong> obtaining appropriate care <strong>and</strong> support is compounded by numerous socio-cultural <strong>and</strong> structural barriers that prevent survivors from seeking help when they experience GBV <strong>and</strong> from obtaining appropriate services once they enter the various channels of help-seeking. Socio-cultural barriers are those that are imposed upon a survivor by the values, attitudes, <strong>and</strong> norms that are prevalent within the survivor’s community. These barriers may be due to survivors’ perceptions of the gender roles <strong>and</strong> expectations that govern their identity as Tanzanian women, or may be due to a fear of the social consequences of reporting GBV through official channels or divulging it within their familial <strong>and</strong> social networks. Structural barriers are determined by the systems, processes, <strong>and</strong> legal frameworks in place that govern how <strong>and</strong> where services are provided <strong>and</strong> to whom. Together, these barriers contribute substantially to the low rate of help-seeking observed among women. As illustrated by Figure 3, be<strong>for</strong>e even deciding to seek help from in<strong>for</strong>mal or <strong>for</strong>mal sources, individual survivors confront a number of barriers. Primary among these are a survivor’s personal definition of violence (i.e., whether she conceives of the act in question as a violation of her rights, or as something “normal” that should be endured), the type <strong>and</strong> severity of the violence experienced, <strong>and</strong> her own underst<strong>and</strong>ing of how reporting or help-seeking will be received by others. As noted in the previous section, reporting the violence or help-seeking can be further complicated by a survivor’s age (e.g., Is she “too old” to be believed if she reports being raped), her location (e.g., Are any services available if she did seek help Does the provider have a relationship with the perpetrator), <strong>and</strong> her marital status (e.g., Will she invite even more stigma <strong>for</strong> reporting violence in an unsanctioned relationship Should she accept the violence as part of her marriage). As Figure 3 also illustrates, even among those GBV survivors who can overcome the first layer of barriers <strong>and</strong> decide to seek help, many will face socio-cultural <strong>and</strong> structural barriers that hinder them from accessing services from in<strong>for</strong>mal <strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong>mal providers alike. It is important to note that the diagram above illustrates typical pathways <strong>for</strong> help-seeking, but that the exact entry point <strong>and</strong> steps taken depend on the individual survivor’s profile, experience, <strong>and</strong> decision-making process. The PFGs <strong>and</strong> KIIs revealed that the barriers to help-seeking beyond the survivor’s family <strong>and</strong> immediate social network are particularly challenging. Moreover, <strong>for</strong> the few survivors who do enter the <strong>for</strong>mal help-seeking channels, the research identified a common set of barriers that exist regardless of the type of support or service GBV survivors may seek. As depicted in Figure 3, GBV survivors may have to endure a lengthy, circuitous, <strong>and</strong> often back-<strong>and</strong>-<strong>for</strong>th path in accessing help from <strong>for</strong>mal sources of support. The following sub-sections discuss the barriers identified by study participants in detail. Sub-section 1 describes the common socio-cultural barriers encountered by survivors, subsection 2 analyzes the structural barriers, <strong>and</strong> sub-section 3 discusses specific challenges around different types of support including family <strong>and</strong> social networks, local government authorities, the legal sector, the health sector, <strong>and</strong> civil society. <strong>Help</strong>-<strong>Seeking</strong> <strong>Pathways</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Barriers</strong> <strong>for</strong> Survivors of GBV in Tanzania March 2013 Page 39
Figure 3: <strong>Pathways</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Barriers</strong> to <strong>Help</strong>-<strong>Seeking</strong> <strong>Help</strong>-<strong>Seeking</strong> <strong>Pathways</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Barriers</strong> <strong>for</strong> Survivors of GBV in Tanzania March 2013 Page 40
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