New Award: Essential Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Services in Malawi and Tanzania

We are thrilled to announce a new award in Malawi that aims to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and reach more survivors with comprehensive services. Funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, the project will involve working with partners in seven districts in Malawi and nationally through policy activities. Specifically, EngenderHealth will help to:

• Strengthen civil society and government coordination for GBV prevention and response
• Improve quality care and services for GBV survivors
• Increase the number of men and women reached by GBV prevention programming to address social and gender norms and justification of violence

EngenderHealth will focus on providing technical assistance, strengthening local capacity, and improving coordination among partner organizations to achieve the project goal and objectives.

In Malawi, the lifetime experience of GBV among women ages 15–49 is very high: Demographic and Health Survey data from 2010 showed that 41% of women in Malawi have experienced physical or sexual violence, and GBV survivors’ access to formal care services is very low. Fewer than half of all survivors reported the violence to someone—and of those, fewer than 2% in Malawi sought help from the police (usually the only GBV service option). The vast majority still sought informal support from family, in-laws, friends, and religious leaders.

The Malawi project builds on EngenderHealth’s work to promote gender equality and address GBV, including the GBV prevention and response work in Tanzania under the CHAMPION Project and then in the RESPOND Tanzania Project.