Midwives, as trusted health care professionals, play a critical role in supporting and caring for survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). They are often the only care provider that a woman will seek care from in her lifetime. To improve and support their skills in providing trauma-informed care to survivors, FAHM will provide 4-day training for 50 Haitian midwives, interactive live webinars for 200 midwives, outreach and education to 200 youth and ongoing public awareness campaigns.
GBV is a complex issue with multiple layers of consequences (psychological, physical, economical, societal, legal, and cultural). According to The Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and World Bank, physical violence affects 29% of women ages 20- 45 in Haiti. In 45% of cases, the act of violence is perpetrated by the intimate partner. The Haitian Midwives Association requested additional training for midwives & student midwives in order to improve their skills in providing trauma-informed care.
Midwives are committed & dedicated to becoming part of the solution. They are key points of access to health care for GBV survivors, serve as advocates for women & girls, contribute greatly to prevention efforts, and are community educators. Improved clinical knowledge, making resources and sexual & reproductive health education & services equitable & accessible, and increasing community awareness of GBV as a public health problem & violation of human rights creates a sustainable model of care.
Midwives serve hundreds of women monthly. The project will train 250 midwives in identifying barriers to seeking care, cultural norms affecting health, sexual & reproductive health, respectful & privacy protected care, principles of trauma informed care, types of GBV, human/women's rights according to Haitian law, medical exam of the survivor, medical-legal aspects/reporting and ethics/professional development. It will also provide 200 youth with education & life coping skills.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
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