Gender-based Violence Awareness Week

This post is definitely VERY delayed but I wanted to share a little bit about an event I helped to plan in October - Gender-based Violence Awareness Week. I was really excited to be a part of the awareness week, which was in the Western province of Rwanda. The week started on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 with an official launch at the district football (soccer) stadium.

The goal of the launch and the subsequent sector-level GBV sensitization campaigns was to strengthen the delivery of comprehensive services, such as HIV testing and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), to victims of sexual violence by creating awareness in the community about GBV and the newly initiated Gisenyi One Stop Center.  The Mayor of the District, the CDC Country Director, the Inspector General of the Police, and the Governor of the Western Province were all there and spoke on the importance of addressing gender-based violence in Rwanda. The ICAP Country Director also addressed the crowd on the importance of timely arrival to health facilities, the One Stop Center services at Gisenyi District Hospital, and ICAP’s commitment to combating gender-based violence.  The guest of honor was the Minister of Health and she spoke on the about Rwanda’s “zero-tolerance” policy for gender-based violence.

The launch also included musicians, traditional dancers, skits, and a soccer match so there was a lot going on and a lot to plan for the event! It ended up being a little too hot, but overall a very successful day. After the launch I joined the regional team in traveling to different sectors in the District and educating community members on GBV and the importance of referring patients immediately to the health care facilities.

Here are some highlights from the launch and the sector awareness week activities:

Me, Eugenie and Chantal in our official shirts and mishananas.

Members of the community, the police, and moto drivers marched from town to the stadium to promote the launch.

Kitoko, a Rwandan pop star, performing during the launch.

Skit on GBV performed put on by local schools.

The Minister of Health addressing the crowd.

Soccer game between teams from the DRC and Rwanda. This was a great way of getting people from the Congo and Rwanda to both attend the launch.

Official t-shirts being distributed to community members - it says “Help the SGBV survivor to arrive quickly to the health facility, services are free.”

Nurse at One Stop Center with an eight year old survivor of sexual abuse.