4_5_Gender based violence Psychosocial Support in emergencies-_-Psychosocial_2022 (1).ppt

GBV PSS

1. Managing Gender-Based Violence
Programmes in Emergencies
GBV &
PSYCHOSOCIAL
SUPPORT
1

2. Learning Objectives
1.Identify contextually-appropriate, community-
based group psychosocial support activities
2.Identify different factors and approaches for
providing psychosocial support to individual
survivors

3. What interventions are part of a
psychosocial response?
DEFINING
PSYCHOSOCIAL

4. IASC Mental Health & Psychosocial
Support Pyramid

5. Levels of MHPSS Services for Survivors of
GBV
Diagnosis and treatment from
mental health professionals
Basic emotional support from
trained staff, volunteers;
cleansing/healing traditions;
reintegration activities
Encouraging/strengthening
community and family supports;
women’s centres; reintegration
activities
Quality and compassionate health
services, responsive security
services

6. COMMUNITY-BASED
PSYCHOSOCIAL
SUPPORT

7. Community-Based PSS Activities
Do Don’t
Consider culture, always
Assume an approach that worked
in a different setting will work in
this one
Work with communities to
reestablish/ adapt cultural
traditions promoting recovery
Assume that all local practices are
helpful for all people
Identify and strengthen what's
working
Ignore existing support networks
or local capacities
Increase access to information Withhold information

8. Community-Based PSS Activities
Do Don’t
Support women and girls’
safe spaces
Establish WGSS without
community engagement, including
consultations with men
Integrate survivors and vulnerable
women into group/ community
PSS support activities
Target only survivors of GBV for
group/ community PSS support
activities
Facilitate structured PSS groups
Organize group therapy for
survivors

9. Community-Based PSS Activities, Cont.
Do Don’t
Organize women's groups
focused on shared learning,
recreational activities, or
community development
Organize women’s groups focused
on traumatic experiences
Organize life skills sessions, and
other focused activities for
adolescent girls
Undermine school attendance for
school-aged girls
Provide skills & knowledge-
building opportunities, and link
survivors to livelihoods services
Implement livelihoods services
without proper assessments or
capacity

10. GROUP EXERCISE!

11. Group Exercise Questions
•W
hat might be the benefits of this approach?
•W
hat problems might present with this approach?
•W
hat capacity would you need to implement this approach
effectively?
•W
hat alternative approach/es might you consider?
•W
hat information do you need- and where will you find it- to
make a decision?

12. INDIVIDUALIZED
PSYCHOSOCIAL
SUPPORT FOR
SURVIVORS

13. •S
urvivors of GBV can present with a wide range of
reactions, symptoms and difficulties.
•A
person’s reaction is in part influenced by aspects of
the person (e.g., coping skills, age) as well as social
and environmental/cultural factors (e.g., social
support, community and family’s reaction to survivor).
•I
t is important to keep in mind that the person’s
reaction is a normal response to an abnormal event.

14. Possible Psychological/Emotional
Consequences
•Neuropsychological impairment
•Fluctuations/problems in attention, concentration,
memory, judgment, making decisions, planning.
•Post-traumatic stress disorder
•Re-experiencing the event (e.g., nightmares,
intrusive memories of the event)
•Reacting psychologically or physiologically to
reminders of the event (e.g., increased heart rate &
sweating, headaches, feelings of anger, shame,
helplessness)
•Avoiding reminders of the event, social withdrawal
•Hyperarousal (e.g., difficulty falling & staying asleep,
anxiety, increased anger, difficulty with attention &
concentration)

15. Possible Psychological/Emotional
Consequences (contd.)
•Symptoms of anxiety (e.g., intense worrying,
fears, nervousness, irritability, sleep
disturbances, fatigue)
•Symptoms of depression (e.g., deep sadness,
feelings of worthlessness and guilt, thoughts
about dying, low self-esteem, loss of interest,
difficulty concentrating)
•Suicidal thoughts (Includes thinking about
death and dying, wishing one were dead,
having a plan and the means to kill oneself)

16. Possible Psychological/Emotional
Consequences (contd.)
•D
issociation
•There are normal changes in consciousness that everyone
experiences
•Dissociation is a change in consciousness that occurs
during a difficult experience that allows the victim to
distance him/herself from the experience as it is taking
place
•This change in consciousness (dissociation) can then occur
during daily life following the event
•Changes in personality/identity (Change in the way the
survivor sees herself; change in how survivor perceives and
interacts with her environment; person may behave in ways
that are not healthy/adaptive and were not present before
the event; perception of herself as helpless, weak, damaged)

17. Possible Psychological/Emotional
Consequences (contd.)
•S
omatization (physical manifestation of emotional distress)
•O
ther reactions:
•Feelings of humiliation
•Feeling damaged or dirty
•Feeling powerless
•Feelings of guilt, self-hatred
•Low self-esteem
•Difficulty trusting and coping
•Self-blame
•Risk-taking

18. Psychological/Emotional Consequences:
KEY POINTS
•T
he effects of GBV will vary from person to person and depend on individual,
socio-cultural and environmental factors:
•the age and sex of the person
•their relationship to the perpetrator
•their personal and social coping and support mechanisms
•the nature and context of the violence
•the cultural and social meaning of the violence
•the level of social stigma or acceptance
•P
rotective factors that may minimize psychological impact:
•Ability to exercise control and choice in responding to the violence
•Having access to material support and resources to meet needs
•Receiving psychological and emotional support

19. Possible Social Consequences
B
laming the survivor
L
oss of ability to function in society
S
ocial and family rejection and isolation
Ongoing social rejection results in further emotional harm, including
shame, self-hate and depression
The social consequences of disclosure – or fear of those consequences –
will prevent most GBV survivors from ever telling anyone about the incident
GBV prevents survivors from benefiting from aid by restricting their
choices, mobility and limiting their ability to act

20. Psychosocial Support for Individual
Survivors
Do Don’t
Recognize that individuals are
affected by similar experiences
differently
Assume that all survivors of GBV will
demonstrate similar reactions or
symptoms
Provide GBV case management and
integrated PSS support into a care
plan
Conduct single-session
psychological debrief
Help survivors develop their own
plans for services and recovery
Make decisions about services for
survivors

21. Do Don’t
Support families of survivors, when
survivors consent
Work with family members who
perpetrate violence, even if
survivors request this
Support survivors of IPV to develop
safety plans
Mediate between survivors and
perpetrators
Develop systems for outreach to link
survivors to services
Conduct routine home visits
Maximize safe entry points for
services
Limit reporting/ help-seeking to a
single service point

22. Connecting Survivors to Support
•M
aximize entry points
•P
rovide women and girl-focused entry points
•F
acilitate self-reporting, not “identification”
•I
ntegrate survivor support services into broader services
•R
eferrals from other services
•O
utreach

23. Focused Emotional Support for
Survivors
•P
lanned with survivor
•L
inked to GBV Case Management
•C
ontinued relationship with one helper
•S
ource of continued assurance, kindness, attentiveness,
information, referrals.
•Different from professional counseling/ therapy
•A
ttentive to evolving situation:
•Feelings, safety, health, family situation, social engagement,
interest in services

24. “She told me that my rape was not my fault,
that I should feel no shame, that – simple as
it may sound – I hadn’t caused it. No one
causes rape but rapists. No one causes rape
but rapists. No one causes rape but rapists.
It was true. And it had not been obvious to
me. And hearing it from someone else, a
professional, someone who should know,
helped me believe that soon I would believe
it.”
--  Aspen Matis, Girl in the Woods: A
Memoir

25. Support persons must…
•U
nderstand potential psychological, emotional and social consequences
for the survivor
•U
nderstand common relationship and social consequences
•U
nderstand the context in which survivors are reporting (cultural and
other)
•B
e familiar with risk factors that may exacerbate their suffering or
hinder recovery
•B
e familiar with protective factors that may promote recovery
•
Be able to recognize signs that a survivor may need additional support

26. Signs that a Survivor Needs Specialized
Support
•I
f a survivor does not show signs of improved coping or recovery
or show deterioration.
•I
f a survivor is not functioning, not able to care for self or children
•I
f a survivor is believed or known to have a mental health
condition
•I
f a survivor talks of suicide or indicates s/he may be a risk to
herself/himself or others
•I
f a survivor requests specialized mental health services

27. Working with Families of Survivors
•O
nly with a survivor’s consent
•A
pproach family from position of support
•E
ncourage empathy
•P
rovide tips for showing support
•G
BV programme staff should not work with perpetrators
of violence

28. Psychosocial Support
REVIEW

29. Key Points
•C
ommunity-based, group psychosocial support interventions
and focused, individualized emotional support services are
important components of GBV prevention and response
programming.
•M
any social, emotional and psychological consequences of
GBV should be understood as normal, healthy reactions to
abnormal and traumatic events.
•E
xperiences with GBV do not, themselves, constitute mental
health problems. Most survivors of GBV, including conflict-
related sexual violence, will recover without specialized
mental health interventions and benefit most from family
and community-based support.