All health care providers who care for women should be trained to respond to a disclosure of gender-based violence in a sensitive and appropriate way. Key elements of training for all health care providers are summarized below.

How to recognize the links between violence and health: Typical signs and symptoms, health consequences, or the risks of future harm associated with gender based violence.

How to ask women about gender-based violence: How to ask women about physical, sexual and psychological violence e.g. direct or indirect ways, routine screening questions.

How to validate women’s experiences: Skills in acknowledging disclosure. It is important for health care providers to believe what a woman says, to validate the distressing nature of her experience.

How to provide emotional support: Skills and practice needed to provide compassionate support following a disclosure of violence.

How to assess whether a woman is at risk/in danger: Ability to assess the level of danger that a woman faces and discuss the risks to her health and wellbeing.

How to help women in danger develop a safety plan: How to help women develop a safety plan where she is in imminent danger of harm from abuser.

How to inform women of their legal rights: Familiarity with national legal advice in order to provide basic information about their rights and referral for additional assistance.

How to respect women’s autonomy: Understanding of the complexity of abuse as well as the social, legal and economic challenges that women face. Women need to be informed about their options and allowed to make their own decisions, especially when the decision to leave a relationship can increase the danger that they face.

How to inform clients about emergency contraception: Health care providers have an obligation to offer emergency contraception to all women who experience sexual assault.

How to document cases of violence: Documentation of cases of violence in ways that protect client confidentiality, preserve the possibility of pursuing legal action, as appropriate.

How to preserve and collect forensic evidence or refer women to a forensic physician: Awareness of local legal regulations and institutional policies so that they can refer women to a site that is legally eligible to collect, store and present admissible evidence.

How to make appropriate referrals to other services: Training should prepare health care professionals to make appropriate referrals for women who experience violence.

How to consider gender-based violence when providing family planning or STI/HIV counseling: SRH service providers need to consider the possibility that some clients are experiencing violence within the family or are at risk of violence in the future.

How to continue educating themselves: It is important for providers to continue educating themselves about the dynamics of violence and the role of the health care provider.

(Adapted from Improving the Health Sector Responses to Gender Based Violence, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region, 2004).