By Cassandra Wilson | Communications Manager
Nyaka’s Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) program offers a multi-faceted approach to advocating for survivors of SGBV including providing medical care, mental health care, legal support, and community outreach. 388 SGBV survivors were enrolled and supported by Nyaka from between 2015 and 2021.
Nyaka currently operates four healing centers in Kanungu District, each hosted by local hospitals and health centers. These centers provide crisis intervention, including rape exams for evidence collection, as well treatments. Just as critical as physical health, mental health care after an assault is critical for the health of a victim. This is why, in a community where access to healthcare — much less mental health care — is minimal, Nyaka fills a crucial role for survivors of sexual violence.
Our team assesses the needs of each individual who comes to us for help, then offers ongoing counseling to them and their family. Home-based therapy is offered for survivors, with the main objective being to provide counseling and other psycho-social support to the family members. It may involve individual counseling, family counseling, and even settling misunderstandings and disputes amongst family members.
Legal support is an important part of our Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) program. Getting justice for survivors provides a sense of safety, justice, and some amount of closure. Sending perpetrators to jail also sends a message that our community will not stand for SGBV. 260+ perpetrators have been arrested and handed over to authorities with support from Nyaka and local police from 2015 to October 2022.
As part of our SGBV prevention program, community outreach activities are carried out by the SGBV staff to create more awareness and education about SGBV among the general public and students. We noticed that with an increase in awareness came an increase in reporting SGBV crimes and community whistleblowers. Over 428,057 people have been educated by Nyaka since 2015 when the SGBV program started and 91.6% of Nyaka-led beneficiaries are knowledgeable and aware of SGBV compared to only 85.5% amongst their peers in the same area.
The work we do in the community to put an end to SGBV is not possible without the love and support of givers like you. Our survivors can feel your love from thousands of miles away. Thank you!
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