How to Organise Support Groups for Women Survivors of GBV?
ABAAD conducted “How to Organise Support Groups for Women Victims of GBV Using a Survivor-Centred Approach,” in the North and in the in Bekaa with the aim of reinforcing the capacity and skills of participants in planning and facilitating support group sessions with female survivors of GBV, using a survivor-centred approach.
The training provided a platform that improved the participants’ understanding of GBV and different psychosocial and contextual considerations in humanitarian and refugee settings; the survivor-centred approach; the process of support group planning, implementation, and documentation; and the necessity of personal “self-care” while working with survivors. Their communication skills were also strengthened, to complement their ability of facilitating support group sessions.
“How to Organise Support Group Sessions for Women and Adolescent Girls At-Risk or Survivors of GBV Using a Survivor-Centred Approach” is a manual developed in partnership with the Danish Refugee Council, and a group of psychologists and humanitarian actors. The manual aims at providing actors with the detailed steps of how to organise support group sessions.
These support groups would ensure a safe space for self-expression, where women and girls who have survived GBV or are at risk of it receive direct psychosocial support. The objective of the sessions is providing an opportunity to work on: a. The individual level, and develop their self-awareness and self-help capacities b. The relational level, to build a supportive social network c. The broader coping level, to deal with the daily stressors.
