News

Preventing retraumatisation of SGBV survivors in Democratic Republic of Congo

28-05-2019

Maastricht School of Management in collaboration with experts from Living Peace Institute (Goma, DRC) will facilitate trainings in Military and Police Hospitals in North Kivu and the Military and Police Hospitals in South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Institute Superieure du Lac (ISL) is the requesting organisation on behalf of the four hospitals.

The Military Hospital and Police Hospitals in Goma (DRC) and the Military and Police Hospitals in Bukavu (DRC) are four referral hospitals in North and South Kivu for survivors of SGBV including conflict related rape. The staff provides medical care to survivors but they observe the need to include psychosocial support for women and girls who often get rejected by their family and community after they have received medical treatment. At the same time, men and boys as victims of conflict related rape hardly seek medical services.  While police and military men are exposed to various forms of SGBV including conflict related rape, men will hide their suffering. The staff is not sufficiently prepared to work with men and stigmatizing attitudes towards raped men inhibit male survivors to seek help.

Lack of knowledge and limited gender sensitivity of medical staff on causes and consequences of SGBV and rape can retraumatise survivors. Moreover, appropriate knowledge on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of health care providers will contribute to prevention of re-abuse, intimate partner violence and severe health consequences for men and women.

Medical staff members (2 courses per hospital, in total 160 participants) are trained to apply a gender sensitive lens on treatment of SGBV survivors, including male survivors, and to include family/social peer groups of survivors to ensure proper follow up after treatment. At the end of the trainings a conference will be organized in each region (one in North Kivu and one in South Kivu).

The tailor made training will run from July 2019 until June 2020 and will be managed by Dr. Astrid ter Wiel, Associate Consultant at Maastricht School of Management.

Nuffic Orange Knowledge Programme
The Orange Knowledge Programme is a €195-m Dutch global development programme, available in 53 developing countries and managed by Nuffic, a Dutch non-profit organisation for internationalisation in education. Launched mid-2017, it aims to have provided tens of thousands with the possibility to change their future through education and training by mid-2022.

Related news:
Support for SGBC survivors in Burundi

‘Enhancing water efficiency and food security through Egyptian TVETs’

A Triple Helix+ approach towards Inclusive and Conflict-Sensitive Development in Cauca Colombia

MSM will manage project to end impunity on sexual and gender based violence in Uganda

Improvement of agricultural vocational education in Ethiopia

Nuffic grants food & nutrition security tender in Rwanda to Maastricht School of Management