Executive Summary
This assessment of the needs of the gender-based violence survivors and services provided to them was conducted in 11 governorates across Iraq under the technical guidance of UNFPA in Iraq and in collaboration with partners including Government ministries and entities, UN agencies, local and international organisations working on GBV prevention, mitigation and response services.
The Survivors Needs’ Assessment aims at evaluating the multi-sectoral needs of the GBV survivors, including harmful traditional practices, the nature and capacity of services available and the barriers reported in accessing those services.
The study focuses on the survivors’ needs amongst the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees, returnees and host communities while engaging GBV survivors, case managers, humanitarian actors, and government institutions.
The assessment relied on both quantitative and qualitative tools for data collection, and analysis through interviews with survivors, case managers and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) held with the humanitarian actors and relevant government institutions.
To gain a much deeper understanding of the survivors’ needs and the services provided, key experts were interviews.
These interviews offered strategic direction which constituted the foundations for the recommendations and findings of this report.
Some of the key findings of this assessment are:
First: Survivors:
• Women and girls have experienced GBV incidents four times more than males. Emotional abuse denied access to resources and domestic violence constituted the vast majority of GBV incidents. Sixty-three per cent of all the GBV incidents were perpetrated by the intimate partners, brothers, fathers and/or mothers.
• Female survivors had better access to social support centres (e.g. women’s and youth centres) twice as much as male survivors. However, 82 per cent of survivors did not report incidents to the police.
• Access to services was reported the lowest amongst the returnees (31%), followed by the host communities (49%), and the IDPs in the camps (64%). The access to services was reported the highest in the refugee settings at 78 per cent.
• The level of satisfaction towards health, psychosocial support, safety, legal and referral pathway services was the lowest amongst the returnee survivors (35%), followed by the refugees (54%), and the host communities (59%).
The satisfaction rate was the highest amongst the IDPs at 60 per cent. Psychosocial support services were rated the most satisfactory while case management services were the lowest.
• Survivors needed the following services most:
? The IDPs were primarily in need of psychosocial support, including emotional support and psychosocial counselling, followed by primary health care services, including medical consultations and provision of medications, and thirdly food and livelihood support.
? The refugees were primarily in need of psychosocial support, including emotional support and case management, followed by livelihood projects, and thirdly primary health care services, such as the provision of medications and medical consultations.
? The returnees were primarily in need of food and primary health care services, followed by livelihood opportunities and safety and security, and thirdly education services.
? The host communities were primarily in need of psychosocial support, including emotional support and awareness raising, followed by livelihood projects and primary health care services, including medical consultations and provision of medications.