Warsaw, 24 May 2023
The WHO Country Office in Poland and national partners have launched Polish-language guidance to strengthen the national health system’s response to violence against women and girls in emergencies. During emergencies, including conflicts and natural disasters, women and girls are more likely to experience sexual and intimate partner violence and other forms of violence, including sexual exploitation and trafficking, according to WHO data.
Since the Ukraine crisis began in February 2022, an estimated 8.5 million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries and beyond. Poland has demonstrated unprecedented support for the displaced populations entering its borders – mainly women and children seeking protection and safety – by granting temporary protection to 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine so far.
Responding to the health needs of those affected has placed considerable pressure on the countries receiving refugees, including Poland. Responding to violence is a particular concern.
Rates of violence against women and girls were high in Ukraine before the conflict began. WHO conducted the largest violence against women prevalence survey in Ukraine in 2018. It found that almost 1 out of 5 (18%) women aged 15–49 years who responded had experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner at least once in their lifetime, with 9% reporting an episode during the previous 12 months.
WHO recognizes intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence as the 2 most common forms of violence against women, with a prevalence of 26% across the WHO European Region for women aged 15–49. Women who are displaced, refugees or living in conflict-affected areas are at even greater risk.
Women subjected to violence are more likely to seek health services even if they do not disclose violence explicitly as their reason for seeking care.
“Health services are uniquely positioned to identify women subjected to violence, provide appropriate care, connect them to other support services including legal redress, and potentially contribute to preventing future harm,” said Dr Paloma Cuchί, WHO Representative in Poland. “Violence, including amid emergencies, is a highly complex issue encompassing various facets of health and well-being, underpinned by inadequate equality and equity. Understanding and making those connections is key.”
To support the Polish health system and ensure frontline workers are adequately equipped with the tools and guidance to provide high-quality health care for survivors of violence, WHO has collaborated with leading academics from the University of Warsaw and the University of Zielona Góra to review and translate 4 key sets of WHO guidelines:
- “Health care for women subjected to intimate partner violence or sexual violence: a clinical handbook”
- “Responding to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused: WHO clinical guidelines”
- “Clinical management of rape and intimate partner violence survivors: developing protocols for use in humanitarian settings”
- “Caring for women subjected to violence: a WHO training curriculum for health care providers, revised edition, 2021”.
The guidelines include protocols for managing sexual assault cases and intimate partner violence. They also include protocols for health managers and administrators to strengthen health systems to address violence against women and girls.
Health and academic experts led the technical review of the translation of the guidelines into Polish to ensure that the manuals are relevant for health workers who may encounter victims of sexual violence under Polish law.
Professor Zbigniew Izdebski, a sexologist at the University of Warsaw and the University of Zielona Góra, explains, “WHO recommends that health service professionals learn how to respond to violence against women as part of their initial training. Therefore, universities have a crucial role in ensuring health professionals have adequate skills and knowledge to respond to survivors.”
Professor Dr Krzysztof Czajkowski, a national consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, adds, “I look forward to seeing more health workers train in Poland to develop skills to identify signs of violence, provide first-line support, conduct medical examinations, provide medical care to survivors, and refer to other services when necessary.”