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

E. Increase Access to Justice for Survivors of GBV
The research also revealed numerous challenges that survivors face when attempting to
access the justice system and seek legal remedy in response to gender-based violence. The
most prominent challenges include the current penal code and the complex and circuitous
GBV reporting mechanisms. For example, the PF3 was found to be a barrier to both the
reporting of GBV and the provision of medical care to survivors. It is important to note that
the new management guidelines for GBV explicitly state that a survivor who seeks
treatment without a prior police statement should receive the care required. 36 The study
data, however, show that this change has not yet begun to influence reporting or helpseeking
among survivors. This is not surprising, as the new guidelines have not yet been
widely disseminated.
If dissemination and implementation efforts are successful, this change should reduce the
PF3’s role as a barrier to help-seeking. This is one of several promising steps the GoT has
taken towards creating a more supportive policy environment for responding to GBV.
Awareness about the prevalence of violence has grown over the last decade, due in part to
two large-scale studies that provided sobering evidence of the high prevalence of GBV in
Tanzania. As a result of this increased attention, national policies have been updated and
adapted to better respond to the needs of survivors. Also encouraging was the creation in
2008 of Gender and Children’s Desks at police stations in Dar es Salaam, each of which
receive specialized training on GBV. 37 In spite of these advances in the legal framework,
there remain a number of important opportunities within current national policies to
mobilize and reaffirm the country’s commitment to preventing and responding to GBV.
1. Strengthening the legal structure for responding to GBV
a. Scale up advocacy efforts to have coerced sex by partners (including marital
rape) as offenses in the penal code;
b. Reconsider the requirements for the PF3, for example, consider whether this form
can be provided at the clinical site, and/or be completed by a broader range of
medical providers (including those working at private facilities) [See example of
Uganda’s recent changes to address similar PF3 challenges 38 ];
c. Address cost as a barrier to seeking and receiving appropriate legal support
[Example of Kivulini model of eliminating fees for GBV cases within the WRCs 39 ];
36
See National Management Guidelines for the Health Sector Response to and Prevention of Gender-based
Violence p. 10. “Survivors that experience violence should report to any of the facilities that offer GBV
services (health care facility, police, drop in centre, safe house, social welfare centre). If the survivor reports
to a health care facility first; he/she should be treated without making a prior police statement and later
report to a police station/post. If the survivor reports to the police first he/she should from there go to a
health care facility.”
37 Betron. (2008).
38 Some information about the PF3 as a barrier to help and justice seeking and the changes to the
requirements for this document can be found here: http://mail2.unfpa.or.ug/pub/GBVKaramoja.pdf
39 http://www.kivulini.org/advocacy
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