Putting Survivors at the Center
Putting Survivors at the Center is an approach that seeks to build the capacity of organizations not specialized in gender-based violence to better support survivors who spontaneously disclose experiences of violence.
From 2022 to 2025, Women for Women International worked alongside the Global Women’s Institute at the George Washington University to research, develop and pilot test a range of new programming models to help build the capacity of organizations that are not specialized in gender-based violence (GBV) to better support survivors who disclose experiences of violence to them. The pilots took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and South Sudan, implemented by Women for Women International and our in-country pilot partners Mercy Corps , Réseau d’Innovation Organisationnelle and Agency for Research and Development Initiative.
Putting Survivors at the Center responds to the direct needs of non-GBV response specialist organizations whose staff are not trained in GBV, but who frequently receive spontaneous disclosures from survivors during their routine programming. These organizations recognize that they have an important role to play in their communities, as facilitators between GBV survivors and specialized GBV services.
The project piloted a range of activities, which fell under three key thematic areas:
- Improved Immediate Handling of GBV Disclosures: Training frontline staff, community leaders and other stakeholders, who are not considered GBV specialists, to respond in a safe and appropriate manner to disclosures of GBV.
- Connecting to and Supporting Existing Specialist Services: Strengthening survivor-centered care and gender equitable attitudes among GBV service providers; strengthening coordination between GBV response specialists and non-specialists; and facilitating referrals through provision of emergency funds and raising awareness of services.
- Supporting Psychosocial Resilience: Provision of informal psychosocial support approaches, such as self-care as well as group and individual psychosocial support sessions.
See the Putting Survivors at the Center website for more details.
Putting Survivors at the Center was made possible with support from USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.
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