Contributed by Yuliya Gureyeva, Azerbaijan National VAW Monitor

The Humanitarian Association of Jewish Women completed the project "Sexual Violence and Gender Discrimination Program," aimed at informing, educating and connecting people, subjected to sexual violence, as well as training of medical workers' groups that are competent and able to render significant aid to victims of gender violence. The vision of the program is that much more can be achieved to satisfy material and emotional needs of injured women and girls in the presence of experienced and well-trained medical personnel.

In the course of the program a group of medical workers (future trainers) received training on treating violence victims. During the selection process select medical workers were interviewed to find out their views on violence against women. A psychologist defined if they had any prejudices or misunderstanding of the problem. Trainings were conducted by a professional psychologist who explained the need:

- To respect confidentiality while interviewing a victim of violence;

- To help a woman in working out a security action plan in future, due to the fact that violence against women, especially compulsion to sexual intercourse, increases women's HIV-infection vulnerability; and

- To assist in search of and access to aid services providing support.

After recruitment of medical trainers, the program moved to the next stage and started organizing of women’s groups. Groups were comprised of single, divorced women-emigrants without legal documents for residence (i.e. women more subjected to violence by intimate partners as well as employers), and women, experiencing the violence from their husbands. Women surrounding the victims of violence also attended the group to get information on how to avoid the violence themselves.

During the program activities, medical trainers and program staff came to the conclusion that gender-based violence, especially domestic violence, are widespread in Azerbaijan. But the majority of woman talking about their problems, women-victims and people surrounding them, don't know, even suspect that they are the subject of human rights violations. Offences, reproaches, humiliations and even blows are usually accepted as a part of family life, and even worse, - pleading for men's mentality - as uneasy woman's fate. Azerbaijan relates to the countries of the former Soviet area with certain social-economical problems, in addition to the consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. And today in Azerbaijan there are a lot of refugees and internally displaced people, living beyond the poverty line, and in this case women are the more vulnerable level of population, suffering the most.

Sexual violence causes physical problems (pain, injury, infections, unforeseen pregnancy etc.) as well as serious psychical and psychological problems and as a result - various illnesses. The violence affects all aspects of woman's life, including health. It is a factor of risk leading to a large spectrum of negative sequels for health, restriction of physical abilities, decline in health and consulting health services more often.

From discussions and training with women victims of violence, the medical trainers could reveal the link between violence against women and undesirable pregnancy, juvenile pregnancy, increase in risk of infection of sexual illnesses including HIV/AIDS and gynecological disorders.

The violence undermines the ability of woman to protect herself from illnesses and to use contraceptives. The violence often causes depression, nervousness and posttraumatic stress. Almost the whole contingent of women is in the state of deep depression, experiencing systematic stresses relating to physical as well as domestic violence.

While violence against women is accepted as a social problem and the problem of health protection, the efforts of the government in this matter are poor. They are fragmentary, and the support of social workers helping women is limited. 

The project, "Sexual Violence and Gender Discrimination," conducted by the Humanitarian Association of Jewish Women did not cover all women victims of gender-based violence and it would be reasonable to repeat the project and expand its scope to all regions of Azerbaijan where there are no groups of support for women, which could prevent physical and sexual violence, and help the violence victims to overcome the suffered trauma.

On completion of the trainings the booklets on sexual violence and gender discrimination will be issued.

Information was provided by Humanitarian Association of Jewish Women.