Multiyear, Multisectoral Training Program in Kenya to Enhance Medical-Legal Processes in Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) leads to severe sequelae for individuals and communities. Lack of cross-sector coordination inhibits effective medical-legal support and justice for survivors. Multisectoral trainings for health, legal, and law enforcement professionals on survivor-centered SGBV care were conducted in Kenya during 2012-2018. Evaluation utilized objective structured clinical examinations, standardized patients, knowledge assessments, and interviews. A total of 446 professionals participated in 18 trainings. Mean knowledge scores increased from 75.6% to 84.7% (p < .001). Thirty interviews revealed improved survivor confidentiality, increased specialized hospital care, more comprehensive forensic care, and greater cross-sector collaboration. Participants reported survivors feeling more comfortable pursuing legal action and increased perpetrator convictions.

Assessing Knowledge and Acceptability of a Trauma-Informed Training Model to Strengthen Response to Conflict and Gender-Based Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

BACKGROUND: Conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence is common in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but there are few evaluations of multisectoral training interventions in conflict settings. We conducted high-quality, trauma-informed medicolegal trainings amongst multisectoral professionals, and sought to describe changes in knowledge after training and perceived training acceptability. METHODS: Participants were health, law enforcement, and legal professionals who completed training at one of four sites from January 2012 to December 2018. Twelve trainings were randomly selected for evaluation. We conducted pre- and post-training assessments and semi-structured interviews of participants within 12 months of index training. FINDINGS: Forty-six trainings of 1,060 individuals were conducted during the study period. Of the randomly selected trainings, 368 questionnaires were included in the analysis (36% health, 31% legal, 12% law enforcement, 21% other). The mean knowledge scores (standard deviation) significantly improved after training: 77.9 (22.9) vs. 70.4 (20.8) (p <0.001). Four key benefits were identified: 1) improved cross-sector coordination; 2) enhanced survivor-centered care; 3) increased standardization of forensic practices; and 4) higher quality evidence collection. CONCLUSION: Participants completing the training had improved knowledge scores and perceived several key benefits, suggesting the multisectoral training was acceptable in this under-resourced, conflict region.