Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
Violence against women and children remains a major public health and human rights challenge in the world. This report provides information on a project evaluating the feasibility of having trained police officers safely and effectively provide emergency contraception (EC) to survivors of sexual assault as a means of broadening access to comprehensive care in Malawi. The effort capitalized on findings that the majority of survivors of sexual assault in Malawi report to the police first. Results from the project, implemented by the Malawi Human Rights Centre and Malawi Police Service, demonstrate that it is feasible to implement police provision of EC in Malawi. Recommendations that resulted: sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) needs to be better mainstreamed within police training and services; child-friendly services must be integrated into all levels of care for SGBV survivors; efforts should be made to enhance the referral process between police and health facilities; and a multisectoral training approach, involving joint training of police and health providers on critical documentation, is recommended to support this intervention.
Recommended Citation
Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre, Malawi Police Service, and Ministry of Health. 2012. "Testing the feasibility of police provision of emergency contraception in Malawi." Lilongwe: Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre.
DOI
10.31899/rh11.1015
Language
English
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, International Public Health Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Women's Health Commons