Maldives’ doctors tackle treating gender violence
25 Nov 2015, 9:00 AM
The vast majority of victims of gender-based violence suffer in silence. Only a small proportion seek help, and when they do, they are more likely to go to a doctor than the police or the courts. For victims, it is much easier to say, “My arm is broken. Can you fix it?” than “My partner is beating me. Can you help?”
Health providers are often the first point of contact for victims of gender-based violence. In addition to providing medical care, doctors, nurses and other health workers play a key role in gathering evidence of abuse and providing expert opinion during trial. But here in the Maldives, training hundreds of staff for this responsibility – spread over some 200 islands – remains a major challenge.
This is why UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has developed a course, available online, free-of-charge, that equips health workers in the Maldives to identify and assist survivors of gender-based violence. This training, as well as new national guidelines it supports, were developed in partnership with the Health Ministry, which now requires it for all incoming foreign doctors.
Gender-based violence is a major public health challenge in the Maldives.
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