An Analysis of Gaps in Sexual and Gender-based Violence Interventions in Refugee Communities: The Case of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda

An Analysis of Gaps in Sexual and Gender-based Violence Interventions in Refugee Communities: The Case of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article An Analysis of Gaps in Sexual and Gender-based Violence Interventions in Refugee Communities: The Case of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda Cleophas Karooma, Gily Coene, Clementia Murembe Neema, Eria Serwajja, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7712317/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose Globally there is increasing public awareness and denunciation of the horrors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in armed conflict leading to significant progress in crafting interventions for SGBV prevention and response in emergency situations. There remains a general lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of these efforts. Thus, this study analyzes the gaps in SGBV interventions in one of the refugee communities in Uganda. Methods Using qualitative research, this paper analyses the gaps in the SGBV response interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The study employed in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and documentary reviews to gather information. The sample was drawn purposively from the Rwandans, Burundians, Congolese, and Somalis who have been in the settlement for five or more years, providing a perfect environment for analyzing SGBV interventions among the protracted refugees. The study participants were 110 which included both males and females. Results Findings indicate that while the SGBV redress framework in Nakivale Refugee Settlement is multi-sectoral with prevention and response interventions by key sectors including health, legal, psycho-social counseling, safety and security, and economic empowerment, there are also big gaps in the referral pathway due to lack of a streamlined reporting system. Conclusions The efficacy of SGBV prevention interventions is affected by the limited scope and duration of the activities of most humanitarian actors in the settlement. sexual and gender-based violence Nakivale Refugee Settlement intimate partner violence response interventions Uganda Figures Figure 1 1. INTRODUCTION Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) remains one of the most prevalent and persistent issues facing women and girls globally (Sapkota et al., 2019 ; Ngala, 2021 ; UN Women, 2024; Williams et al., 2018 ). Global estimates indicate that 35% of women experience some kind of physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime (WHO, 2013; Hicks, 2021 ; Tadesse et al., 2024 ). SGBV is manifested in various forms ranging from physical violence, sexual, economic and psychological/emotional violence. The multiple forms of SGBV denote that the effects are also multifaceted with health, psychological, economic and legal consequences that stretch from the individual victims to perpetrators, family, community and national level (****** 2024; Stein et al., 2025 ). Therefore, SGBV constitutes, a human rights violation, development issue and threat to public health. The World Health Organization refers to SGBV as an epidemic due to its high prevalence and devastating impacts on human life. The problem is even more pronounced in conflict and post conflict settings where women and girls are at increased risk of SGBV. Likewise, in countries experiencing war SGBV is considered a security threat because it is often used as a weapon of war (Hersh, 2015 ). Consequences of this type of violence have led to significant progress in crafting interventions and multiple initiatives by humanitarian actors at various levels to prevent and respond to SGBV in emergence situations (UNHCR, 2025; Farooq, 2024 ). Although there is documented information on conflict-related SGBV in terms of its forms, magnitude, causes and human cost implications, much less is known about the efficacy of prevention and response actions in humanitarian settings (Perrin et al., 2019 ; Ugowe, 2022 ). Tappis asserts that although there has been an increase in the number of programs to prevent and respond to SGBV in refugee populations, not much is known about the effectiveness of these efforts (Tappis et al., 2016 ). As part of a bigger study on S exual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) against Protracted Refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda , done between November 2018 to March 2019 with post-covid follow up interviews, this paper analyses the existing gaps in SGBV interventions in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. 1.1. The Nature and Magnitude of SGBV in Refugee Communities Globally there is growing evidence that rates of SGBV increase during times of conflict and post-conflict settings including refugee settlements (Freedman, 2016 ). There has been a high magnitude of SGBV in all the major conflicts the world has witnessed in recent years including the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur region in Sudan, South Sudan, Palestine, Columbia and the Syrian Crisis (Alsaba & Kapilashrami, 2016 ; World Bank Group, 2023 ) Women and girls compared to men and boys have disproportionately suffered conflict related SGBV. Approximately 1 in 5 female refugees have experienced sexual violence but the number could be higher given that many survivors are hesitant to disclose (Vu A et al., 2014 ; Tadesse, 2024). A UNHCR study done among Columbian women refugees in Ecuador in 2011 revealed that 94.5% of the 700 refugee women surveyed in the Lago Agrio region of Ecuador had experienced SGBV in their lifetime (UNHCR, 2011; Women, U.N., 2022). In South Sudan women living in the Protection of Civilian Camps in Juba, who were displaced a number of times, were ‘twice as likely as women in Juba City to have experienced multiple acts of intimate partner violence (Odwe et al., 2018). While men for a long time have been regarded as the main perpetrators of SGBV against women and girls in conflict, recent research has revealed that men are also victims of SGBV in conflict situations. Men suffer torture, murder and sexual assault by rival armed forces to extract information out of them, exterminate an ethnic group or humiliate it. Men and boys have suffered widespread sexual violence in the form of sexual torture, mutilation of sexual organs, forced masturbation and male rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo crisis (Dolan, C., 2009; Chynoweth, 2017). It is acknowledged in current literature that the actual magnitude of SGBV incidences may not be known because conducting a valid and reliable study on this subject is difficult in any setting. The difficulties are even more complicated in humanitarian settings where fear, cultural stigma, and norms of secrecy related to the difficulties of displacement result in additional barriers to measuring the magnitude of GBV (Stark L and Ager A., 2011). Most often, survivors are reluctant to report sexual and gender-based violence also due to lack of access to information about avenues of support (IRC, 2012; Odwe 2018; Ssanyu et al., 2022 ) The SGBV phenomenon in conflict and post-conflict settings takes many forms ranging from sexual violence, intimate partner violence and harmful traditional practices. The most prevalent forms of SGBV in refugee settings are sexual violence and intimate partner violence (Araujo,et al., 2019 ). Sexual violence takes the form of rape, sexual harassment, defilement, gang rape, human trafficking, early/forced marriage in order to gain male protection and survival sex in return for documents, food or transport. On the other hand, domestic violence encompasses psychological abuse among spouses, denial of food to men by their spouses, economic abuse in form of sale of aid items distributed to displaced households by men, denial of sex to men by their wives and abandonment of the family by men. Women refugees and adolescent girls are at increased risk to SGBV perpetrated by male refugees, smugglers, human traffickers, humanitarian staff or strangers and men in host communities. Studies done among Syrian refugee women reveal that domestic violence, forced and early marriage, sexual violence, abuse and exploitation are the main forms of SGBV reported by Syrian refugee women and girls (Bartels et al., 2018 ; Roupetz, 2020). Further to this, a UNHCR report of 2015 indicate that some Syrian girls and young women face sexual exploitation under the guise of marriage and they are also at greater risk of being trafficked into forced prostitution and sexual exploitation (UNHCR, 2015). In Uganda, SGBV is widespread but regarded as normal among the refugee population (Kwiringira, 2018). Harmful practices like early marriage are prevalent and socially accepted among South Sudanese and Congolese refugees. Findings of an inter-agency SGBV assessment report of January 2016 conducted in the West Nile region in Arua and Adjumani showed that 44% of respondents knew a community member who had experienced SGBV in the six months preceding the study. Data from a report by UNHCR on incidents of SGBV among refugees in Uganda between January –December 2018 indicates that the most rampant forms were physical assault (35%) followed by psychological/emotional abuse (21%); denial of resources (11%); rape (21%); forced and early marriages (7%) and sexual assault (5%). Majority of the incidents were reported to have been perpetuated by intimate partners (UNHCR 2018; Mwenyango, 2023 ). These figures reveal that the prevalence of intimate partner violence in the form of physical assault, psychological abuse and economic violence is high in refugee settlements in Uganda. This is in agreement with findings from research done in other refugee setting among Congolese refugees and Sudanese refugees ( Freedman, 2016 , Michaelsen, 2025 ). 1.2. Global Overview of SGBV Redress in Humanitarian Settings Globally the SGBV redress framework in humanitarian settings is more comprehensive than a decade ago. This mainly arises from increasing recognition of SGBV as a human rights violation and sexual violence in conflict as a war crime and a crime against humanity. A review of literature on the SGBV interventions among refugee communities around the world indicates that the redress framework has several components for prevention of the violence and to meet the various needs of the survivors (Block, et al., 2019 ). Comprehensiveness of the services provided is given critical attention in SGBV programming in humanitarian settings. In the current major global refugee crises, the SGBV redress framework includes both preventive and response interventions. Response interventions include services that address the immediate needs of the survivors such as physical safety, health concerns, psycho-counseling and social support, and material support. Prevention strategies aim at reducing the likelihood of the occurrence of SGBV mostly through public education to promote change of negative social norms that create unequal gender power relations, and mitigating actions like provision of skills development and micro-credit to vulnerable population groups of women and men to reduce the risks and exposure to SGBV. Despite the positive strides being made by various actors in prevention and response to SGBV, gaps and challenges still persist and these greatly affect the quality of services delivered by these organizations to SGBV victims. Currently, the challenge facing humanitarian actors globally is to prioritize SGBV prevention and response and deliver quality programmes from the onset of an emergency. There is narrow and inconclusive evidence with regard to the effectiveness and gaps in SGBV interventions in humanitarian settings (R. Asgary et al., 2013; Phillimore et al, 2018 ; Raftery et al 2022 ). Several evidence reviews that focused on responses to SGBV in conflict and post-conflict settings reveal a lack of evidence in this area (Schopper, D., 2014; Lugova et al., 2020 ). A study by the United States Department of State (2015) also notes that poor evidence on effective and existing gaps in the prevention and response strategies is a key challenge in designing and implementation of feasible interventions likely to work in such highly resource constrained contexts (United States Department for State 2015; Shaw and Mallory 2019). Therefore, the findings of this study presented in this paper examine the gaps in the SGBV redress interventions among the refugee communities in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. 2. METHODS This research is part of a wider research project that sought to explore gaps in knowledge and responses on sexual and gender-based violence among protracted refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. This was a qualitative study conducted in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Isingiro district in Uganda between October 2018 – March 2019 with post COVID-19 follow up interviews in 2023. Qualitative research was deemed the most suitable approach to gather intensive data that would facilitate the researchers to gain an in-depth understanding of the SGBV phenomenon among protracted refugees in Nakivale (Sarantakos., 1998; Holliday, 2002 ). The various qualitative data collection techniques used to facilitate understanding of the SGBV phenomenon in the refugee context in Nakivale Settlement were; key-informant interviews, individual in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, informal discussions and personal narratives. The purpose was to enable study participants to share their experiences of SGBV and identify gaps in SGBV redress measures. Nakivale refugee settlement was selected because of its uniqueness. It is one of the oldest and biggest settlements in Uganda with multi-nationalities including Rwandans, Burundians, Congolese, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Kenyans, Somalis, Tanzanians, Sudanese and South Sudanese and majority are protracted refugees. Four nationalities were selected to participate in the study; Rwandese, Burundians, Congolese and Somalis. Most of the refugee populations of these nationalities have been in the settlement for more than five years and above, while a few have been there for close to twenty years, which provides a perfect environment for analyzing protracted refugees. The study participants were 110 in total. Out of these, 57 were males (40 for FGDs and 17 for interviews) while 53 were females (40 for FGDs and 13 for interviews). All the study participants were selected using purposeful sampling. Participants for key informant interviews were25, drawn from humanitarian agencies: United Nations High Commission for Refugees, American Refugee Committee, War child Canada, Medical Team International and International Medical Corps, local Civil Society Organisations: TUTAPONA, Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid (HIJURA), Makerere University Refugee Law Project and NSAMIZI; government institutions: Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda Police Force and Nakivale Health Centre, leaders in refugee settlement; and religious leaders. Focus group discussions were conducted with men and women refugees from the 4 different nationalities that participated in the study. Individual interviews were done with male and female survivors of SGBV to capture their personal experiences. Data was analyzed qualitatively using thematic and content analysis according to the objectives of the study. Research on gender-based violence is inherently associated with several ethical and safety challenges. We obtained ethical approvals for the study from Mbarara University of Science and Technology Research Ethical Committee. All research was conducted conforming to international safety guidelines by the World Health Organisation for conducting research on Gender Based Violence (World Health Organization, 2007 ). Researchers sought participants’ consent before any interview was done. Interviews were conducted in privacy and respondents were assured of confidentiality including that no data would be linked back to them. Study participants who were survivors of SGBV were provided with information on referral services when they requested for it. 3. RESULTS 3.1.Existing SGBV Redress Interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement The SGBV redress framework in Nakivale consisted of both preventive and response interventions. The SGBV interventions were based on the national GBV policy and legal framework in Uganda and the international legal framework for SGBV redress in humanitarian settings. Most of the acts of SGBV in Nakivale such as defilement, rape, domestic violence, early marriage and female genital mutilation are outlawed in Uganda. The various laws that prohibit SGBV in the country include: the Defilement law (amendment to the Penal Code Act 2007); Domestic Violence Act, 2010; The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2009; The Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2010. The policy framework that guides interventions in the settlement consists of the National Policy on Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence 2016 and the Uganda Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 and the Goma Declaration (2008). To facilitate the implementation of these laws, the Ministry of Health also issued guidelines on the Management of Sexual and Gender Based Violence Survivors, 2007. International guidelines for SGBV programming in refugee communities promote comprehensive programming (UNHCR, 2011), which is a widely accepted inter-agency approach that promotes composite multi-sectoral interventions encompassing various relevant sectors; health, protection – safety, security and legal support, and psychosocial support and economic empowerment. It involves a broad range of actions for SGBV prevention, identification and response. 3.1.1.Interventions for SGBV Prevention in the Settlement Several actions were done by the humanitarian actors and local CSOs in Nakivale to prevent SGBV, most of which were geared towards creating community awareness on SGBV. Community sensitization was done through drama and music, community talks and dialogues such as ‘ Kyimeeza ’ where men meet to discuss some topical issue, distribution of booklets, leaflets and posters in schools and the camp, door to door sensitization, religious gatherings, sports – football competitions, home visits, and community policing. The mode of community sensitization was mainly public education using the Start Awareness Support Action (SASA), which is a methodology for addressing the link between violence against women and HIV/AIDS through community mobilization; legal awareness, community activists/local activism to spread the message, religious preaching and school clubs. Media advocacy was also a key mode of community sensitization in the settlement. Messages on SGBV were pinned up on publicity notice boards, sign posts, bill boards, paintings on the walls and posters were hung on walls and trees in the community. Other modes of public education included giving out Compact Disks and screening videos and films at the community halls within the refugee settlement. T-shirts to staff with key SGBV messages like: “Together we can stop violence against adolescent girls and boys” were distributed to staff of SGBV actors and community activists. These institutions trained community volunteers/activists, camp/religious leaders, elders, Refugee Welfare Councils (RCW), informants, teachers, village health teams and ‘hunger fighters’ to pass on the message in the community. Training was found to be a major component of the preventive measures undertaken in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. It was done to build the capacity of those involved in community sensitization, service providers such as personnel from police, judiciary, community services and health sectors as well as humanitarian agencies. The main actors here were; Community Services under the Office of the Prime Minister, Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid (HIJRA) and the American Refugee Committee (ARC). In a bid to beef up security in the settlement, some measures had been instituted in the refugee settlement to increase the protection of women and girls against sexual violence. Such protective measures included installation of security lights and police posts at dark corners and road junctions to increase visibility and night patrols by police at night within the settlement. Besides, these, there was a campaign to keep girls in school to prevent early marriages titled ‘ keeping girls in school protects them from drunkards’ . It was presumed that when girls are at school they are less vulnerable to the risk of sexual abuse. With the help of HIJRA, some groups of young men were organized to gather information on SGBV cases in the communities and report bi-annually on the situation of SGBV. These volunteers encourage survivors to report cases to police and seek response services. Another such arrangement is the ‘KUJA KUJA’ composed of volunteers responsible for reporting to ARC on incidences of SGBV cases and how they are handled in the community, with a view to improve the preventive and response measures. Another such group still under ARC is ‘Friends of ARC – Change makers-support’ (Karooma et al., 2024). These move in the community to discuss with the people about SGBV to know their needs and act or pass on information to ARC office. The key actors in SGBV prevention were HIJRA, ARC, International Medical Corps (IMC), Tutapona and Nsamizi. Other actors included Uganda Police Force, UNHCR and its implementing partners community, OPM, Refugee Law Project and Local leaders in the settlement. 3.1.2. SGBV Response Interventions in Nakivale The following response services are offered to the SGBV survivors in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. Table 1: Existing SGBV Response Interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement SERVICES OFFERED ORGANISATION Medical services (treatment for bodily injuries, give emergency treatment like PEP to prevent HIV, emergency contraceptive pills) Health Centre, Medical Teams International (MTI) International Medical Corps (IMC) Legal services Police, HIJRA, and ARC Provide safety and security (keep survivors in protection houses at the police station) Have residences at Mbarara town Police HIJRA Psychosocial counseling TUTAPONA, War child Canada and HIJRA Survivor clubs i.e. Men of peace support group (for male survivors of rape) RLP Resettlement in a third country UNHCR Provide material support for 2 weeks like baby clothes, money, soap and food supplements for the child for young mothers HIJRA child protection Livelihood support – provide support for starting income generating activities HIJRA , ARC and NSAMIZI Source: Field findings from Nakivale Refugee Settlement, November2018 There is no specific reporting procedure in the settlement and it was revealed that reporting procedures varied among nationalities, between men and women, and according to the nature of the SGBV incidence as well. You start from the chairman LC1 who sends you to the police and after the police, they send you to Hijra. For family misunderstandings, they don’t go to police, they go straight to Hijra. Police is only involved in case fighting and harm happens. [FGD with Burundian refugee women, 13/11/2018] You start with chairman who heads the village but there are smaller heads of 20 households, so you start with those leaders. After that, you go to the chairman. Then the chairman of the zone and then to the president. Thereafter, it proceeds to the authorities. [FGD with Burundian refugee men, 13/11/2018] Sometimes this process is not static that that is how it should go. […] Some people prefer to go to the protection partners first, and some to the police while others prefer to start with police and others to their leaders and others to the health centre. [Interview with Child Protection Officer at HIJRA,14/11/2018; Health worker Nakivale health Centre March 2023] Some report to community leaders, then case is forwarded to RWC then to Police and referred to health center and then to HIJRA and Tutapona then a case is lodged at the Court and RLP/Nsamizi for the survivor to get support and then survivor can be transferred to a protection house for two weeks or more where necessary as a durable solution is found. [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA,14/11/2018] Some report to different places like Hijra, OPM police and some to the health partner. But when we are sensitizing them we tell them to start with police. First place to report is to police and they give you a form which you go with to the health centre and at the health centre they treat you for any complications as a result of the violence. [Interview with Community Services Assistant at OPM,14/11/2018] These accounts reveal that SGBV survivors report at different service points. The process is not static but rather dynamic, some people prefer to go first to actors they referred to as ‘protection partners’ such as HIJRA and ARC, while some report to the police, others to camp leaders and some begin at the health centre (Karooma et al., 2022). Another factor that determines the first point of reporting is the form of SGBV suffered by the victim. Among the Somali community, the reporting procedure started with parents in case of domestic violence. The couple which has domestic conflicts first reports to their parents. In case the parents are unable to settle the case then it is referred to the sub-clan at village level, then to lower community elders, from there it can be forwarded to upper community elders and then to the police. Within the Rwandese community, some cases of domestic violence are reported first to police then to the chairman’s office and can be referred to other service providers like HIJRA, UNHCR, while others may report to the RWC or the health centre or HIJRA. For the Burundi community, reporting of SGBV cases starts with the head of the household (a head in charge of about 20 households), then to the chairman of the village, if the case is not solved it is forwarded to the chairman of the zone or sometimes to the police. The service points mentioned in the SGBV reporting mechanisms by the actors also varied from institution to institution. According to HIJRA, the reporting mechanism starts with community leaders then to Refugee Welfare Councils, from here a case can then be referred to Baronzi (a leader responsible for 10 houses in the community). If the case is not settled at this levelit is then referred to the police. If the survivor needs medical services or there is need for a medical report to pursue legal redress the case is forwarded to a health centre. It is at this point that the survivors will be referred to HIJRA, Tutapona and Nsamizi for legal representation and psycho-social support. It is still at this point, that the survivor can be transferred to a protection house for two weeks or more where necessary as the service providers seek a durable solution. At UNHCR, the reporting mechanism was described as starting with reporting the case to the police, then the survivors are referred to HIJRA for legal representation and other services and then to community leaders. Information gathered at Tutapona indicated that reporting begins at police, then to the hospital after which the case is referred to HIJRA and back to police and the perpetrator is imprisoned. 3.2. Gaps in the SGBV Preventive and Response Interventions 3.2.1 Preventive Interventions Humanitarian agencies and SGBV service providers indicated that the SGBV preventive interventions were effective in mitigating the occurrence of incidences of SGBV in the settlement. “[…] Some activities have been effective in reducing the incidences of SGBV. Yes; the SGBV rate in the camp has gone down” [Official at RLP, 13/11/2018; Camp Commandant, March 2023]. Officers at RLP further reported that sports had diverted the attention of youths from sexual engagement by occupying them for a longer period during day time. HIJRA staff also assessed the measures as effective because, following the community sensitization they have done, the refugee community is more vigilant to report SGBV cases. Community sensitization has led to increased rights awareness among the refugee population. They are aware that sexual violence and domestic violence constitute human rights violations that are punishable by law. “[…] The measures are very effective because we’ve realised that because of the sensitizations we’ve done in the community, people have started to report more. Initially they didn’t even know that some of these cases were SGBV and now that they know, there is more reporting of cases.” [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018]. There had been a reduction in SGBV cases in the settlement as revealed by the data on cases compiled at Tutapona. “[…] Four years ago here at Tutapona we used to receive 100 plus cases every month but these days we receive few like 10 cases per month and in some camps they can be as low as 4” [Interview with Tutapona Field Facilitator, 15/11/2018]. This is attributed to the actions done in the communities such as establishment of community committees to sensitize people on SGBV and assist in reporting cases and referral. It was also argued that the preventive measures had been effective because men have also come up to fight SGBV to contribute towards creating violence free environments for women and girls. However, resettlement to a third country as a response to defilement/rape and domestic violence had led to the exaggeration of the figures on SGBV incidences in the settlement. “Cases were high because refugees were duped that when you report rape or defilement you will be taken to another country in Europe, so many used to fake rape and defilement cases”[Interview with Tutapona Field Facilitator, 15/11/2018]. It was confirmed by the police, HIJRA and Tutapona officials that there had been false accusations of rape/defilement and domestic violence perpetrated against women so that they can be considered for resettlement in another country. Officials from the Office of the Prime Minister, which is the government agency responsible for matters related to refugees assessed the redress measures as effective. The humanitarian actors are handling SGBV effectively. They are doing their best and the most important thing is for them to provide information to the community which they are trying to do. And they also provide psycho-social support, arrest the perpetrators, and try the cases in court. I really think that they are doing their part. I am satisfied with what they are doing. [Interview with official at OPM, 14/11/2018] Yes, very effective because we’ve realised that because of the sensitizations we’ve done in the community, people have started to report more. Initially they didn’t even know that some of these cases were SGBV and now that they know, there is more reporting of cases. [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018] These measures have been effective in preventions too and like I told you as a result of these messages we’ve been sending, the men have also come to the forefront to ensure that they are creating violence free environments especially for women and girls. [Interview with Child Protection Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018] However, on a critical examination of these strategies, some gaps were identified. Though the community sensitization programmes were comprehensive with different components, these were limited in coverage in terms of the areas covered and in most cases sensitization meetings were organized in areas surrounding Base Camp, which acted as the administrative seat of Nakivale refugee settlement. So most of the humanitarian agencies and service providers were concentrated in Base Camp and implemented most of their programmes in this area leaving other zones in the camp; Julu and Rubondo underserved. The sensitization programmes also lacked coherence and some could not be sustained for a considerable period of time to be able to make some impact. “ . There is a very big gap in awareness. By nature SGBV advocacy requires continuous public education to be able to create attitudinal change. Attitude and behavior change is a time long thing” [SGBV Focal Person at ARC, 15/11/2018]. Key informants interviewed at HIJRA, ARC and Tutapona attributed this to lack of enough funding to sustain these programmes for a long period of time for instance between 3-5 years. The implementing agencies complained of lack of enough logistics to be able to have a wide coverage. “[…] The implementing agencies do not have enough materials like screens to show them videos on SGBV across the settlement” [Interview with HIJRA Volunteer, 14/11/2018]. Likewise lack of support and logistics to move and cover all camps in the settlements largely limited their operations. 3.2.2 Response Services Awareness of the existing SGBV response services differed across the different communities in the Refugee settlement, with refugees from Congo and Rwanda being aware of most of the interventions, followed by those from Burundi and the Somali community being least aware. The Somalis were least aware of, basically because they are living in a closed community with limited interactions with other nationalities and do not attend most of the SGBV community awareness activities. Refugee settlements by nature are characterized by continuous in-flow of people in refugee settlements, which affects the level of awareness and knowledge of SGBV among the community. Those who have just joined may not have had sensitization so they commit some acts not knowing that they constitute crimes in the host country, or due to differences in social cultural norms and practices among the different nationalities in their countries of origin settlement. “[…] New arrivals who do not know much about SGBV. For example, in Congo an adult is 16 years and in Uganda, an adult is 18 years”[FGD with Refugee Leaders, 13/11/2018]. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of Congo a child of 16 years can get married but in Uganda this is defilement and punishable by law. Responses from humanitarian actors indicated that the level of reporting of SGBV incidences had increased following the community sensitization programmes implemented in the settlement. However, responses from the refugees indicated that this is true for a few places especially people who live in or near Base camp, because they are close to police and all the partners so it is easier for them to report cases but those who live in Juru and Rubondo zones find it difficult to report because of the distance from Base Camp to where they live. On the other hand, those who live far away from Base camp find it difficult to report cases and some of them do not even know where to report. In some communities where people are still strongly attached to their cultural practices like the Somalis discourage survivors from reporting to police, and use response mechanisms within the community to settle the cases unless if it is a severe incidence such as defilement or domestic violence involving grievance harm. For Somalis – they follow the traditional style of reporting, they report cases of domestic violence to parents, sub clan, lower communityleaders, upper community leaders, police. but most cases are solved within thecommunity. [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018] There is limited reporting of SGBV cases among the Somalis because they live in isolation and most times prefer to deal with their problems as a community. [Interview with Police Officer at Nakivale Police Station, 12/11/2018] According to Islamic culture when there are problems in a home, they refer to parents, if not solved, they refer to religious leaders and later to community leaders. Most cases are solved in the camp. It is estimated that 1% of the cases go to the police. It is mainly criminal cases that are referred to police i.e. involving injuries and valuable property, and rape. [FGD with Somali men, 14/11/2018] These responses reveal a widely held view in the Settlement even among the SGBV service providers that the Somali female survivors prefer to solve SGBV cases using their cultural community structures as opposed to the justice system. However, this may be due to pressure from the community to adhere to traditional socio-cultural and religious practices in the Somali community and fear of possible reprimanding from the community against survivors who pursue legal redress. Several weaknesses were identified in the reporting system at various levels; individual, community and institutional. UNHCR also was of the view that the SGBV response interventions are effective but the challenge is in reporting. Some cases are not reported while others are reported late when the perpetrator has already run away and some survivors have already contracted HIV because it is too late to administer Post-Exposure Prophylaxis(PEP). “[…] The measures are effective and sufficient but people do not report some incidences and others report very late for fear of retribution by the community and revenge by the perpetrator, while. Others simply do not want to report. [Interview with SGBV Officer at UNHCR, 14/11/2018; Police SGBV focal person March, 2023] Both women and men participants of FGDs indicated that some survivors do not report SGBV cases such as defilement/rape and domestic violence due to the social stigma associated with SGBV. Survivors of sexual violence and men who suffer domestic violence normally opt not to report the cases for fear of suffering public shame and social stigma associated with these acts of SGBV. Still due to social stigma, some women survivors of sexual violence prefer to keep it as a secret so that their husbands do not know or else they can lose their marriages. It was also pointed out in women’s FGDs that some survivors of defilement do not report the cases to police because parents are compromised and prefer to take compensation from the perpetrators as opposed to pursuing legal redress. This view is related to societal perceptions about sexuality. In many communities in Africa, sex is masculinised and perceived as a male privilege (Pease and Pringle, 2001).Male sexuality has been constructed in such a way that sex is perceived as a natural privilege to men and they must access sex when they need it. Therefore, parents opt for compensation from the culprit and the girl can be married off to the culprit or remain at home so long as the parents have been given some money to compensate for the spent on the girl’s education or dowry they should have got if she were to have a formal marriage. In such a situation, the high poverty levels among refugees play a significant role in the way defilement cases are handled. Structures responsible for SGBV redress within the refugee communities included camp leadership and community volunteers. Women participants in FGDs felt that there was some laxity exhibited by camp officials in handling SGBV cases. Though camp leaders visit homes to sensitize people about SGBV, when people report to them cases they do not follow–up the cases to their conclusion, which according to key informants from humanitarian actors was largely attributed to lack of a good understanding of SGBV in terms of what acts constitute SGBV, causes, consequences and societal myths surrounding SGBV. The additional reason could be that since in most SGBV cases the perpetrators are men some camp leaders who are mostly men may not be willing to take action against fellow men. Some local CSOs offering SGBV services in the settlement had recruited Community Volunteers to act as mediators in settling and offering referral to survivors. Though, their role is to listen to the cases and pass on to the survivors information on referral services such as police, health services, and psycho-social support and counseling, the study revealed that these are not on the ground, therefore, their contribution is very minimal in the communities. Additionally, negative attitude among the refugee community towards the SGBV service providers also contributed to non-reporting. “[…] The attitude in the camp is that refugees believe that even if I report, I will not get help”[FGD with officials at Refugee Law Project, 13/11/2018]. Some refugees had developed a negative attitude that even when they report SGBV there will be no action taken because on some occasions they sought assistance from humanitarian actors and they did not readily get it. However, in some instances non-reporting is due to ignorance about the existence of such services. For others, it is due to limited legal awareness because according to their cultural perceptions and practices some of these issues are supposed to be kept a secret and private, and some people may not even be aware that some of the SGBV acts constitute crimes. The possibility of resettlement may offer an extra incentive to report cases of SGBV, however Rwandese refugees are not entitled to resettlement and this makes them less enthusiastic about reporting SGBV cases. Discussions with officials at UNHCR revealed that Rwanda is now regarded as a country that is relatively peaceful so UNHCR is promoting repatriation and Rwandese refugees who suffer from SGBV are not entitled to resettlement in a third country. At the institutional level, corruption at the police plays a big role in determining whether a case will be reported or not. Some survivors are discouraged from reporting cases in anticipation that due to corruption at police, the perpetrators will bribe their way out of police custody. Further to this, when female survivors of domestic violence report cases to police and the perpetrator is arrested, they are required to bring them food every day while they are in police custody and if a woman fails to do this then the perpetrator is released. In such circumstances when he is released and goes back home, he subjects the wife to more severe acts of violence. In addition, to report a case of domestic violence, a woman has to go to police with UGX Shs 20,000= (which is an equivalent of 5-6 US$) and it’s only after that requirement that the police officers give her a form to take to the hospital for check-up and treatment. Such fees charged at the police stations upon reporting an SGBV case discourage some survivors and their families from reporting cases. This fee is considered high to some Ugandan families especially in rural areas due to high poverty levels in some regions of the country. While extreme poverty at a national level has generally declined in the country since 1990s (from 56% in 1993 to 21.4% in 2016), this trend has not occurred evenly across the country. Moreover, the proportion of people living in poverty according to the national poverty line increased by 1.7% between 2012 and 2016 (Owor, 2020). Corruption at the police had also been exacerbated by those who purported SGBV cases just for the sake of being considered for resettlement in a third country, when actually the person had not suffered any GBV incidence. “The Police, they were doing a good job except when this thing of being resettled came in, they became very corrupt. I can go to police and I forge a story and you pay them”[Interview with Community Service Volunteer at HIJRA, 13/11/2018]. It was also revealed that survivors are charged fees at health centres when they go to seek medical services, which is contrary to the Directive issued by the Ministry of Health (2012) to service providers in government health units to offer medical services to victims of GBV at a no cost. Medical examination and treatment offered to GBV survivors are supposed to be free. However, due to lack of supplies and ignorance among medical personnel but also the ‘culture’ of wanting to extract money for any services offered in hospitals including government hospitals some SGBV survivors are made to pay for these services. Another weakness in the referral system relates to logistical issues. In some instances, survivors lack transport to make follow-up medical visits to Mbarara Referral Hospital. After you have been beaten by your husband, you go to the health centre, at the health centre, sometimes you are recommended to go to Mbarara Hospital. At Mbarara Hospital they schedule a date on which you should make a follow-up visit. When you come back to Nakivale health centre to request to go for your follow-up visit, the doctor says that there is no transport and so you have to look for your own transport which is difficult. [Interview with Female Congolese SGBV survivor. 15/11/2018] There are shelter facilities to cater for the protection of survivors in the settlement. HIJRA has a shelter in Kabahinda, each police unit in the settlement has a protection house and some families are provided with accommodation in Mbarara town where only UN staff have access to the survivors. However, the gap in the available shelter services is the inability to meet the basic survival needs of the SGBV survivors adequately. HIJRA provides material support to nursing mothers in form of baby clothes, money and food supplements but only for two weeks. Livelihood programs had also made limited impact on improving the economic empowerment of women in the settlement. Some adolescent girls and young women could not enroll at the vocational training institute in the settlement due to failure to raise half of the fees as per the requirement. There is another programme at the settlement which equips women with skills in tailoring and hair dressing but many of those who had attained these skills were unable to start income generating activities due to lack of start-up capital. The duration and the scope of the programs of some actors constituted a big gap in the interventions. Refugee respondents complained that NGOs come to the settlement but do not stay for long. An illustration was drawn from HIJRA’s work. HIJRA has a ceiling on the cases they handle in a week. They handle 15 cases a week and if a survivor reports when they have reached their ceiling they do not help the person. 4. DISCUSSION The study aimed at identifying the gaps in response intervention for SGBV in Nakivale refugee settlement. While UNHCR reports and some studies done on SGBV in the Settlement provide the prevalence and nature of the SGBV phenomenon in the settlement, none of these discusses at length the gaps in the redress mechanisms (UNHCR, 2019; Kwiringira, 2018).The results of this study indicate that there were both SGBV preventive and response interventions in Nakivale refugee settlement, which are similar to SGBV services in refugee settlements in other parts of the world (URNNAM for Justice and Human Rights, 2018 ; Ngala, 2021 ). Prevention of SGBV was mainly done through public education consisting of community sensitization using various modes of passing on information to refugees. Although the community sensitization programmes were comprehensive with different components, these were limited in coverage in terms of the areas covered and in most cases sensitization meetings were organized in areas surrounding Base Camp where most of the humanitarian agencies and service providers were concentrated leaving out the other zones in the settlements; Juru and Rubondo. In this regard, the programmes lacked coherence and some could not be sustained for a considerable period of time to be able to make some impact because they were project based, but also the new arrivals usually missed out on the sensitisation. The response interventions were multi-sectoral in nature, composed of various services offered by key sectors in the redress framework to meet the unique needs of the SGBV survivors. This was found to be in line with the UNHCR Guidelines for SGBV redress in conflict and post-conflict situations which emphasize that SGBV redress framework should promote a multi-sectoral approach with the key sectors to SGBV prevention and response all involved. A multi-sectoral approach is imperative therefore, for a holistic and sustainable response to SGBV because no single type of response or sector can adequately address SGBV (Inter-Agency Standing Committee 2015 ; Liebling et al., 2020 ). Therefore, the four main sectors recognised by this approach that have a responsibility to respond to the needs of the survivors are: health, psychosocial, legal and security. The findings indicate that the SGBV redress framework in Nakivale was representative of these key sectors. The key sectors that offered response services were; health, police, community services and courts of law. Other services offered besides those stipulated by the UNHCR Guidelines were economic empowerment, and education and training As indicated here, although the response services offered at Nakivale were comprehensive, the access to these services of SGBV survivors was limited. As already indicated, the service providers were concentrated in the centre of the settlement near ‘Base Camp’ where the offices of UNHCR and OPM were located, leaving Juru and Rubondo zones far from here underserved. The limited geographical scope covered by the SGBV service providers in the settlement meant that some survivors missed out on the critical response services. Lack of a streamlined reporting system clearly understood by the refugee community and among the SGBV service providers was a big hindrance to reporting of SGBV cases in the settlement. Available literature e.g Ssanyu et al., ( 2022 ) shows that SGBV cases are usually under-reported due to socio-cultural perceptions surrounding the SGBV phenomenon and lack of knowledge on where to report. It is likely that in a situation where people are already traumatized by being refugees, the chances of not reporting are aggravated by lack of a clear reporting system (UNHCR, 2019; Roupetz et al., 2020 ). A Community-based approach in SGBV redress is very critical in SGBV programming to ensure that survivors, communities and at risk populations are active partners in preventing, mitigating and responding to GBV and that all perspectives are considered and the interventions do not reinforce power dynamics but building on existing community-based protection and coping mechanisms (Christian Aid Ireland, 2018 ; Shaw & Funk, 2019 ). Community participation in the design of existing SGBV interventions in the settlement was low, which subsequently affected the uptake of these services by the community. The lack of awareness of existing SGBV services among some refugee communities in the settlement especially those who lived far from the center reveals that limited efforts were done to involve the communities in the planning processes of the interventions. It is now widely recognized that provision of livelihood opportunities is a critical intervention in refugee communities because of its high potential to mitigate transactional sex and forced prostitution among women and adolescent girls (Williams, 2018). Economic support provided in a conflict sensitive manner becomes an additional pillar to the multi-sectoral approach as an essential assistance to survivors to rebuild their lives, relationships and acceptance into society. In this context, economic empowerment is regarded as an additional support that requires more prominence owing to the benefits it gives to survivors of SGBV in rebuilding their lives. Despite this critical role economic empowerment plays the survival of women and adolescent girls in refugee contexts, in Nakivale refugee settlement the inability to provide start-up capital by the humanitarian agencies that trained women and young girls in livelihood skills turned out to be a big gap in the redress framework. Lack of logistical support for the survivors affected the effectiveness of the SGBV referral pathway in the settlement. This is a critical issue that bars survivors from accessing all the required response services for SGBV in most refugee settlement across the globe (Refugee International 2015; Sebba, 2021 ). Some of the agencies offering SGBV response services were not able to readily offer logistical support needed by the survivors to access all the services especially when referred to the hospital in Mbarara. More to this, survivors were offered shelter services for only two weeks after which they had to find where they stay. This poses a risk to the women because they are often forced to go back to the abusive homes for lack of where to stay and discourages others to report cases of domestic violence. Offering opportunities to families with girl child survivors of sexual violence and women survivors of domestic violence for resettlement in another country is a good initiative but its implementation in the settlement was haphazardly done and it did not yield the expected results. Instead, this led to fabrication of SGBV cases especially defilement and wife battery to justify the application for resettlement to another country. This intervention also hyped the number of cases of SGBV in the settlement yet the actual number of incidences is not as high as what is reported. 5. CONCLUSION SGBV being multidimensional, manifesting in many forms; physical, psychological, economic and sexual, requires a comprehensive and multi-sectoral redress approach. The analysis in this study to identify the gaps in the SGBV redress interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement was underpinned on UNHCR Guidelines for SGBV redress in conflict and post-conflict situations (2015) which emphasize comprehensiveness of the interventions and the multi-sectoral nature of the redress framework. The SGBV redress framework at Nakivale was multi-sectoral, comprising of interventions by the key sectors to SGBV response; health, legal, psycho-social, safety and security, and economic empowerment, and comprehensive with both preventive and response interventions. This study revealed that there were still glaring gaps in the redress interventions. Reporting of cases was still a challenge mainly due to socio-cultural perceptions and social stigma surrounding the SGBV phenomenon, and lack of a streamlined reporting mechanism across the settlement. This poses a big challenge for the effectiveness of the referral pathway for SGBV response. The efficacy of the preventive programs was also largely affected by the limited scope and duration of the activities of most humanitarian actors in the settlement. Prevention and response to SGBV in refugee settlements being core to the protections of refugee populations and given the multi-dimensional manifestations of SGBV, its redress now requires integration of SGBV prevention and response in programming across all sectors. Moving forward, this study suggests a range of potential strategies to increase the efficacy of SGBV redress interventions in Nakivale refugee settlement. There is great need to improve awareness and knowledge on SGBV forms, consequences and response services available in the settlement. More mass information campaigns should be organized in form of billboards to increase the pictorial presentation of SGBV. Other modes of public education that can be more effective include documentary films in the vernacular languages of the different nationalities in the settlement. Male engagement in sensitization programmes should be scaled up, for instance, enhance the Kyimeeza Programme and mobilize more people to attend as this can be an important space for the community to air out their views on SGBV. The role of the community leaders in sensitization should also be enhanced because these are instrumental in mobilizing people to attend sensitization programmes and can be influential in revitalizing the SGBV committees at village level. Capacity building of community actors in SGBV redress such as RWS, religious leaders and elders is critical to equip them with knowledge and skills to enhance their capabilities in handling SGBV cases. There is need to streamline the reporting process so that the community is clear of the first service point where survivors report cases. This is even more critical to sexual violence cases where the survivors need to get some specific medical services within 72 hours after rape/ defilement including PEP and emergency contraceptives. The toll free line introduced by UNHCR for the community to report cases and call on police is not enough to cover the whole settlement. All the key actors in SGBV response should have toll free lines to increase promptness in response. This will also facilitate the police to arrest perpetrators of SGBV more promptly. SGBV actors in the settlement need to scale up their programmes in terms of scope and duration to increase the coherence of the programs. More budgetary allocations need to be put to prevention programmes to work towards norm change in the community to develop positive attitudes towards women. This will require public education geared towards behavioral change. Host governments and humanitarian actors should promote GBV integration in refugee settlements. The potential of each sector to implement their projects in ways that mitigates the risks for women, girls, men and boys to SGBV should be explored and actions for redress are integrated into programming by the different sectors. Livelihood improvement is an important aspect of the SGBV redress framework. Economic deprivation is key driver of SGBV phenomenon both in the domestic space and in community in refugee communities. SGBV actors can work closely with institutions in the livelihood sector to develop approaches to livelihood options for survivors and high-risk groups of women. Second chance education should be an integral part of the programming for the education sector in refugee communities in Uganda. UNHCR and the Government of Uganda can consider providing bursaries for adolescent girls to enable them enroll at the vocational training institute in the resettlement. Declarations Ethics and Guidelines This research was cleared by Mbarara University of Science and Technology Research Ethical Committee in August 2018 on behalf of Uganda National Council of Science and Technology. Consent to Participate This research was cleared by Mbarara University of Science and Technology in August 2018. Informed consent was availed to the research participants/respondents who participated voluntarily. Consent for publication All the authors support the view to publish this manuscript Availability of data and materials Our datasets are available but may not be published as per ethical clearance because it contains personal and sensitive information from the respondents. The corresponding author can be contacted regarding the data and materials, [email protected] Competing interests The authors declare no competing interest Funding This work is part of the South Initiative VLIR-OUS project on: Sexual and Gender-based Violence against Protracted Refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda: Addressing gaps in Knowledge and Responses. This research project was funded by the Flemish Inter-university Council (VLIR-UOS) through the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Makerere University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Authors' Contributions All the authors contributed to this manuscript from proposal development and grant application through fieldwork, writing and compilation of this manuscript. Acknowledgement Special acknowledgement to VLIR-OUS, the Flemish Inter-university Council for sponsoring this South Initiative Project. We thank the management of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Makerere University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel for all the support accorded to the research team during the implementation of the project. Special gratitude is extended to our research assistants: Justus Asasira, Dorcus Achen and Noel Kansiime. We appreciate the contributions of the Administration of the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Refugee Desk Office, refugee leaders and refugees, UNHCR, Operating and Implementing partners. We thank the research participants for their time and willingness to take part in the research. Disclosure This manuscript has not been published elsewhere. Clinical trial number Not applicable References Alsaba, K., & Kapilashrami, A. (2016). Understanding women’s experience of violence and the political economy of gender in conflict: the case of Syria. Reproductive health matters , 24 (47), 5-17. Araujo, J. D. O., Souza, F. M. D., Proença, R., Bastos, M. 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12:41:12","extension":"html","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":135129,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7712317/v1/47ba713bc8f20987f68c0f72.html"},{"id":96453493,"identity":"24d00b0a-fd4e-433a-81b8-a90f6e566330","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-21 10:00:09","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":455528,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMap of Nakivale Refugee Settlement showing the 3 zones\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7712317/v1/03605c8d80d28946e201b540.png"},{"id":99310730,"identity":"9ce3ea44-1e33-4f47-b93f-58541b969c65","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-31 16:13:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1175049,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7712317/v1/33e982d2-b079-4d47-b79c-6b994775c71b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eAn Analysis of Gaps in Sexual and Gender-based Violence Interventions in Refugee Communities: The Case of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"1. INTRODUCTION","content":"\u003cp\u003eSexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) remains one of the most prevalent and persistent issues facing women and girls globally (Sapkota et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Ngala, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; UN Women, 2024; Williams et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Global estimates indicate that 35% of women experience some kind of physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime (WHO, 2013; Hicks, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Tadesse et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). SGBV is manifested in various forms ranging from physical violence, sexual, economic and psychological/emotional violence. The multiple forms of SGBV denote that the effects are also multifaceted with health, psychological, economic and legal consequences that stretch from the individual victims to perpetrators, family, community and national level (****** 2024; Stein et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, SGBV constitutes, a human rights violation, development issue and threat to public health. The World Health Organization refers to SGBV as an epidemic due to its high prevalence and devastating impacts on human life. The problem is even more pronounced in conflict and post conflict settings where women and girls are at increased risk of SGBV. Likewise, in countries experiencing war SGBV is considered a security threat because it is often used as a weapon of war (Hersh, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConsequences of this type of violence have led to significant progress in crafting interventions and multiple initiatives by humanitarian actors at various levels to prevent and respond to SGBV in emergence situations (UNHCR, 2025; Farooq, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Although there is documented information on conflict-related SGBV in terms of its forms, magnitude, causes and human cost implications, much less is known about the efficacy of prevention and response actions in humanitarian settings (Perrin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Ugowe, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Tappis asserts that although there has been an increase in the number of programs to prevent and respond to SGBV in refugee populations, not much is known about the effectiveness of these efforts (Tappis et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e ). As part of a bigger study on S\u003cem\u003eexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) against Protracted Refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda\u003c/em\u003e, done between November 2018 to March 2019 with post-covid follow up interviews, this paper analyses the existing gaps in SGBV interventions in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec2\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.1. The Nature and Magnitude of SGBV in Refugee Communities\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eGlobally there is growing evidence that rates of SGBV increase during times of conflict and post-conflict settings including refugee settlements (Freedman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e ). There has been a high magnitude of SGBV in all the major conflicts the world has witnessed in recent years including the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur region in Sudan, South Sudan, Palestine, Columbia and the Syrian Crisis (Alsaba \u0026amp; Kapilashrami, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; World Bank Group, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) Women and girls compared to men and boys have disproportionately suffered conflict related SGBV.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eApproximately 1 in 5 female refugees have experienced sexual violence but the number could be higher given that many survivors are hesitant to disclose (Vu A et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Tadesse, 2024). A UNHCR study done among Columbian women refugees in Ecuador in 2011 revealed that 94.5% of the 700 refugee women surveyed in the Lago Agrio region of Ecuador had experienced SGBV in their lifetime (UNHCR, 2011; Women, U.N., 2022). In South Sudan women living in the Protection of Civilian Camps in Juba, who were displaced a number of times, were \u0026lsquo;twice as likely as women in Juba City to have experienced multiple acts of intimate partner violence (Odwe et al., 2018). While men for a long time have been regarded as the main perpetrators of SGBV against women and girls in conflict, recent research has revealed that men are also victims of SGBV in conflict situations. Men suffer torture, murder and sexual assault by rival armed forces to extract information out of them, exterminate an ethnic group or humiliate it. Men and boys have suffered widespread sexual violence in the form of sexual torture, mutilation of sexual organs, forced masturbation and male rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo crisis (Dolan, C., 2009; Chynoweth, 2017).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is acknowledged in current literature that the actual magnitude of SGBV incidences may not be known because conducting a valid and reliable study on this subject is difficult in any setting. The difficulties are even more complicated in humanitarian settings where fear, cultural stigma, and norms of secrecy related to the difficulties of displacement result in additional barriers to measuring the magnitude of GBV (Stark L and Ager A., 2011). Most often, survivors are reluctant to report sexual and gender-based violence also due to lack of access to information about avenues of support (IRC, 2012; Odwe 2018; Ssanyu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe SGBV phenomenon in conflict and post-conflict settings takes many forms ranging from sexual violence, intimate partner violence and harmful traditional practices. The most prevalent forms of SGBV in refugee settings are sexual violence and intimate partner violence (Araujo,et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Sexual violence takes the form of rape, sexual harassment, defilement, gang rape, human trafficking, early/forced marriage in order to gain male protection and survival sex in return for documents, food or transport. On the other hand, domestic violence encompasses psychological abuse among spouses, denial of food to men by their spouses, economic abuse in form of sale of aid items distributed to displaced households by men, denial of sex to men by their wives and abandonment of the family by men. Women refugees and adolescent girls are at increased risk to SGBV perpetrated by male refugees, smugglers, human traffickers, humanitarian staff or strangers and men in host communities. Studies done among Syrian refugee women reveal that domestic violence, forced and early marriage, sexual violence, abuse and exploitation are the main forms of SGBV reported by Syrian refugee women and girls (Bartels et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Roupetz, 2020). Further to this, a UNHCR report of 2015 indicate that some Syrian girls and young women face sexual exploitation under the guise of marriage and they are also at greater risk of being trafficked into forced prostitution and sexual exploitation (UNHCR, 2015).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Uganda, SGBV is widespread but regarded as normal among the refugee population (Kwiringira, 2018). Harmful practices like early marriage are prevalent and socially accepted among South Sudanese and Congolese refugees. Findings of an inter-agency SGBV assessment report of January 2016 conducted in the West Nile region in Arua and Adjumani showed that 44% of respondents knew a community member who had experienced SGBV in the six months preceding the study. Data from a report by UNHCR on incidents of SGBV among refugees in Uganda between January \u0026ndash;December 2018 indicates that the most rampant forms were physical assault (35%) followed by psychological/emotional abuse (21%); denial of resources (11%); rape (21%); forced and early marriages (7%) and sexual assault (5%). Majority of the incidents were reported to have been perpetuated by intimate partners (UNHCR 2018; Mwenyango, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). These figures reveal that the prevalence of intimate partner violence in the form of physical assault, psychological abuse and economic violence is high in refugee settlements in Uganda. This is in agreement with findings from research done in other refugee setting among Congolese refugees and Sudanese refugees ( Freedman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e, Michaelsen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.2. Global Overview of SGBV Redress in Humanitarian Settings\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eGlobally the SGBV redress framework in humanitarian settings is more comprehensive than a decade ago. This mainly arises from increasing recognition of SGBV as a human rights violation and sexual violence in conflict as a war crime and a crime against humanity. A review of literature on the SGBV interventions among refugee communities around the world indicates that the redress framework has several components for prevention of the violence and to meet the various needs of the survivors (Block, et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Comprehensiveness of the services provided is given critical attention in SGBV programming in humanitarian settings. In the current major global refugee crises, the SGBV redress framework includes both preventive and response interventions. Response interventions include services that address the immediate needs of the survivors such as physical safety, health concerns, psycho-counseling and social support, and material support. Prevention strategies aim at reducing the likelihood of the occurrence of SGBV mostly through public education to promote change of negative social norms that create unequal gender power relations, and mitigating actions like provision of skills development and micro-credit to vulnerable population groups of women and men to reduce the risks and exposure to SGBV.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite the positive strides being made by various actors in prevention and response to SGBV, gaps and challenges still persist and these greatly affect the quality of services delivered by these organizations to SGBV victims. Currently, the challenge facing humanitarian actors globally is to prioritize SGBV prevention and response and deliver quality programmes from the onset of an emergency. There is narrow and inconclusive evidence with regard to the effectiveness and gaps in SGBV interventions in humanitarian settings (R. Asgary et al., 2013; Phillimore et al, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Raftery et al \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Several evidence reviews that focused on responses to SGBV in conflict and post-conflict settings reveal a lack of evidence in this area (Schopper, D., 2014; Lugova et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). A study by the United States Department of State (2015) also notes that poor evidence on effective and existing gaps in the prevention and response strategies is a key challenge in designing and implementation of feasible interventions likely to work in such highly resource constrained contexts (United States Department for State 2015; Shaw and Mallory 2019). Therefore, the findings of this study presented in this paper examine the gaps in the SGBV redress interventions among the refugee communities in Nakivale Refugee Settlement.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"2. METHODS","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis research is part of a wider research project that sought to explore gaps in knowledge and responses on sexual and gender-based violence among protracted refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. This was a qualitative study conducted in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Isingiro district in Uganda between October 2018 \u0026ndash; March 2019 with post COVID-19 follow up interviews in 2023. Qualitative research was deemed the most suitable approach to gather intensive data that would facilitate the researchers to gain an in-depth understanding of the SGBV phenomenon among protracted refugees in Nakivale (Sarantakos., 1998; Holliday, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). The various qualitative data collection techniques used to facilitate understanding of the SGBV phenomenon in the refugee context in Nakivale Settlement were; key-informant interviews, individual in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, informal discussions and personal narratives. The purpose was to enable study participants to share their experiences of SGBV and identify gaps in SGBV redress measures.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNakivale refugee settlement was selected because of its uniqueness. It is one of the oldest and biggest settlements in Uganda with multi-nationalities including Rwandans, Burundians, Congolese, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Kenyans, Somalis, Tanzanians, Sudanese and South Sudanese and majority are protracted refugees. Four nationalities were selected to participate in the study; Rwandese, Burundians, Congolese and Somalis. Most of the refugee populations of these nationalities have been in the settlement for more than five years and above, while a few have been there for close to twenty years, which provides a perfect environment for analyzing protracted refugees.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe study participants were 110 in total. Out of these, 57 were males (40 for FGDs and 17 for interviews) while 53 were females (40 for FGDs and 13 for interviews). All the study participants were selected using purposeful sampling. Participants for key informant interviews were25, drawn from humanitarian agencies: United Nations High Commission for Refugees, American Refugee Committee, War child Canada, Medical Team International and International Medical Corps, local Civil Society Organisations: TUTAPONA, Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid (HIJURA), Makerere University Refugee Law Project and NSAMIZI; government institutions: Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda Police Force and Nakivale Health Centre, leaders in refugee settlement; and religious leaders. Focus group discussions were conducted with men and women refugees from the 4 different nationalities that participated in the study. Individual interviews were done with male and female survivors of SGBV to capture their personal experiences. Data was analyzed qualitatively using thematic and content analysis according to the objectives of the study.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResearch on gender-based violence is inherently associated with several ethical and safety challenges. We obtained ethical approvals for the study from Mbarara University of Science and Technology Research Ethical Committee. All research was conducted conforming to international safety guidelines by the World Health Organisation for conducting research on Gender Based Violence (World Health Organization, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Researchers sought participants\u0026rsquo; consent before any interview was done. Interviews were conducted in privacy and respondents were assured of confidentiality including that no data would be linked back to them. Study participants who were survivors of SGBV were provided with information on referral services when they requested for it.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. RESULTS","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1.Existing SGBV Redress Interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SGBV redress framework in Nakivale consisted of both preventive and response interventions. The SGBV interventions were based on the national GBV policy and legal framework in Uganda and the international legal framework for SGBV redress in humanitarian settings. Most of the acts of SGBV in Nakivale such as defilement, rape, domestic violence, early marriage and female genital mutilation are outlawed in Uganda. The various laws that prohibit SGBV in the country include: the Defilement law (amendment to the Penal Code Act 2007); Domestic Violence Act, 2010; The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2009; The Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2010. The policy framework that guides interventions in the settlement consists of the National Policy on Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence 2016 and the Uganda Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 and the Goma Declaration (2008). To facilitate the implementation of these laws, the Ministry of Health also issued guidelines on the Management of Sexual and Gender Based Violence Survivors, 2007. International guidelines for SGBV programming in refugee communities promote comprehensive programming (UNHCR, 2011), which is a widely accepted inter-agency approach that promotes composite multi-sectoral interventions encompassing various relevant sectors; health, protection \u0026ndash; safety, security and legal support, and psychosocial support and economic empowerment. It involves a broad range of actions for SGBV prevention, identification and response.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1.1.Interventions for SGBV Prevention in the Settlement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral actions were done by the humanitarian actors and local CSOs in Nakivale to prevent SGBV, most of which were geared towards creating community awareness on SGBV. Community sensitization was done through drama and music, community talks and dialogues such as \u0026lsquo;\u003cem\u003eKyimeeza\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rsquo; where men meet to discuss some topical issue, distribution of booklets, leaflets and posters in schools and the camp, door to door sensitization, religious gatherings, sports \u0026ndash; football competitions, home visits, and community policing. The mode of community sensitization was mainly public education using the Start Awareness Support Action (SASA), which is a methodology for addressing the link between violence against women and HIV/AIDS through community mobilization; legal awareness, community activists/local activism to spread the message, religious preaching and school clubs. Media advocacy was also a key mode of community sensitization in the settlement. Messages on SGBV were pinned up on publicity notice boards, sign posts, bill boards, paintings on the walls and posters were hung on walls and trees in the community. Other modes of public education included giving out Compact Disks and screening videos and films at the community halls within the refugee settlement. T-shirts to staff with key SGBV messages like: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;Together we can stop violence against adolescent girls and boys\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003ewere distributed to staff of SGBV actors and community activists. These institutions trained community volunteers/activists, camp/religious leaders, elders, Refugee Welfare Councils (RCW), informants, teachers, village health teams and \u0026lsquo;hunger fighters\u0026rsquo; to pass on the message in the community. Training was found to be a major component of the preventive measures undertaken in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. It was done to build the capacity of those involved in community sensitization, service providers such as personnel from police, judiciary, community services and health sectors as well as humanitarian agencies. The main actors here were; Community Services under the Office of the Prime Minister, Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid (HIJRA) and the American Refugee Committee (ARC).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a bid to beef up security in the settlement, some measures had been instituted in the refugee settlement to increase the protection of women and girls against sexual violence. Such protective measures included installation of security lights and police posts at dark corners and road junctions to increase visibility and night patrols by police at night within the settlement. Besides, these, there was a campaign to keep girls in school to prevent early marriages titled \u0026lsquo;\u003cem\u003ekeeping girls in school protects them from drunkards\u0026rsquo;\u003c/em\u003e. It was presumed that when girls are at school they are less vulnerable to the risk of sexual abuse. With the help of HIJRA, some groups of young men were organized to gather information on SGBV cases in the communities and report bi-annually on the situation of SGBV. These volunteers encourage survivors to report cases to police and seek response services. Another such arrangement is the \u0026lsquo;KUJA KUJA\u0026rsquo; composed of volunteers responsible for reporting to ARC on incidences of SGBV cases and how they are handled in the community, with a view to improve the preventive and response measures. Another such group still under ARC is \u0026lsquo;Friends of ARC \u0026ndash; Change makers-support\u0026rsquo; (Karooma et al., 2024). These move in the community to discuss with the people about SGBV to know their needs and act or pass on information to ARC office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe key actors in SGBV prevention were HIJRA, ARC, International Medical Corps (IMC), Tutapona and Nsamizi. Other actors included Uganda Police Force, UNHCR and its implementing partners community, OPM, Refugee Law Project and Local leaders in the settlement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1.2. SGBV Response Interventions in Nakivale\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following response services are offered to the SGBV survivors in Nakivale Refugee Settlement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1: Existing SGBV Response Interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"630\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSERVICES OFFERED\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eORGANISATION\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical services (treatment for bodily injuries, give emergency treatment like PEP to prevent HIV, emergency contraceptive pills)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHealth Centre,\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical Teams International\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(MTI)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInternational Medical Corps (IMC)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLegal services\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePolice, HIJRA, and ARC\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProvide safety and security (keep survivors in protection houses at the police station)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHave residences at Mbarara town\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePolice\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHIJRA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePsychosocial counseling\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTUTAPONA, War child Canada and HIJRA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSurvivor clubs i.e. Men of peace support group (for male survivors of rape)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRLP\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eResettlement in a third country\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUNHCR\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProvide material support for 2 weeks like baby clothes, money, soap and food supplements for the child for young mothers\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHIJRA child protection\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 348px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLivelihood support \u0026ndash; provide support for starting income generating activities\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 282px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHIJRA , ARC and NSAMIZI\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSource: Field findings from Nakivale Refugee Settlement, November2018\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no specific reporting procedure in the settlement and it was revealed that reporting procedures varied among nationalities, between men and women, and according to the nature of the SGBV incidence as well.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou start from the chairman LC1 who sends you to the police and after the police, they send you to Hijra. For family misunderstandings, they don\u0026rsquo;t go to police, they go straight to Hijra. Police is only involved in case fighting and harm happens. [FGD with Burundian refugee women, 13/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou start with chairman who heads the village but there are smaller heads of 20 households, so you start with those leaders. After that, you go to the chairman.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen the chairman of the zone and then to the president. Thereafter, it proceeds to the authorities. [FGD with Burundian refugee men, 13/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSometimes this process is not static that that is how it should go. [\u0026hellip;] Some people prefer to go to the protection partners first, and some to the police while others prefer to start with police and others to their leaders and others to the health centre. [Interview with Child Protection Officer at HIJRA,14/11/2018; Health worker Nakivale health Centre March 2023]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome report to community leaders, then case is forwarded to RWC then to Police and referred to health center and then to HIJRA and Tutapona then a case is lodged at the Court and RLP/Nsamizi for the survivor to get support and then survivor can be transferred to a protection house for two weeks or more where necessary as a durable solution is found. [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA,14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome report to different places like Hijra, OPM police and some to the health partner. But when we are sensitizing them we tell them to start with police. First place to report is to police and they give you a form which you go with to the health centre and at the health centre they treat you for any complications as a result of the violence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Interview with Community Services Assistant at OPM,14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese accounts reveal that SGBV survivors report at different service points. The process is not static but rather dynamic, some people prefer to go first to actors they referred to as \u0026lsquo;protection partners\u0026rsquo; such as HIJRA and ARC, while some report to the police, others to camp leaders and some begin at the health centre (Karooma et al., 2022). Another factor that determines the first point of reporting is the form of SGBV suffered by the victim. Among the Somali community, the reporting procedure started with parents in case of domestic violence. The couple which has domestic conflicts first reports to their parents. In case the parents are unable to settle the case then it is referred to the sub-clan at village level, then to lower community elders, from there it can be forwarded to upper community elders and then to the police. Within the Rwandese community, some cases of domestic violence are reported first to police then to the chairman\u0026rsquo;s office and can be referred to other service providers like HIJRA, UNHCR, while others may report to the RWC or the health centre or HIJRA. For the Burundi community, reporting of SGBV cases starts with the head of the household (a head in charge of about 20 households), then to the chairman of the village, if the case is not solved it is forwarded to the chairman of the zone or sometimes to the police.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe service points mentioned in the SGBV reporting mechanisms by the actors also varied from institution to institution. According to HIJRA, the reporting mechanism starts with community leaders then to Refugee Welfare Councils, from here a case can then be referred to Baronzi (a leader responsible for 10 houses in the community). If the case is not settled at this levelit is then referred to the police. If the survivor needs medical services or there is need for a medical report to pursue legal redress the case is forwarded to a health centre. It is at this point that the survivors will be referred to HIJRA, Tutapona and Nsamizi for legal representation and psycho-social support. It is still at this point, that the survivor can be transferred to a protection house for two weeks or more where necessary as the service providers seek a durable solution. At UNHCR, the reporting mechanism was described as starting with reporting the case to the police, then the survivors are referred to HIJRA for legal representation and other services and then to community leaders. Information gathered at Tutapona indicated that reporting begins at police, then to the hospital after which the case is referred to HIJRA and back to police and the perpetrator is imprisoned.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2. Gaps in the SGBV Preventive and Response Interventions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e3.2.1 Preventive Interventions\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHumanitarian agencies and SGBV service providers indicated that the SGBV preventive interventions were effective in mitigating the occurrence of incidences of SGBV in the settlement. \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] Some activities have been effective in reducing the incidences of SGBV. Yes; the SGBV rate in the camp has gone down\u0026rdquo; [Official at RLP, 13/11/2018; Camp Commandant, March 2023]. Officers at RLP further reported that sports had diverted the attention of youths from sexual engagement by occupying them for a longer period during day time. HIJRA staff also assessed the measures as effective because, following the community sensitization they have done, the refugee community is more vigilant to report SGBV cases. Community sensitization has led to increased rights awareness among the refugee population. They are aware that sexual violence and domestic violence constitute human rights violations that are punishable by law. \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] The measures are very effective because we\u0026rsquo;ve realised that because of the sensitizations we\u0026rsquo;ve done in the community, people have started to report more. Initially they didn\u0026rsquo;t even know that some of these cases were SGBV and now that they know, there is more reporting of cases.\u0026rdquo; [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere had been a reduction in SGBV cases in the settlement as revealed by the data on cases compiled at Tutapona. \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] Four years ago here at Tutapona we used to receive 100 plus cases every month but these days we receive few like 10 cases per month and in some camps they can be as low as 4\u0026rdquo; [Interview with Tutapona Field Facilitator, 15/11/2018]. This is attributed to the actions done in the communities such as establishment of community committees to sensitize people on SGBV and assist in reporting cases and referral. It was also argued that the preventive measures had been effective because men have also come up to fight SGBV to contribute towards creating violence free environments for women and girls. However, resettlement to a third country as a response to defilement/rape and domestic violence had led to the exaggeration of the figures on SGBV incidences in the settlement. \u0026ldquo;Cases were high because refugees were duped that when you report rape or defilement you will be taken to another country in Europe, so many used to fake rape and defilement cases\u0026rdquo;[Interview with Tutapona Field Facilitator, 15/11/2018]. It was confirmed by the police, HIJRA and Tutapona officials that there had been false accusations of rape/defilement and domestic violence perpetrated against women so that they can be considered for resettlement in another country.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOfficials from the Office of the Prime Minister, which is the government agency responsible for matters related to refugees assessed the redress measures as effective.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe humanitarian actors are handling SGBV effectively. They are doing their best and the most important thing is for them to provide information to the community which they are trying to do. And they also provide psycho-social support, arrest the perpetrators, and try the cases in court. I really think that they are doing their part. I am satisfied with what they are doing. [Interview with official at OPM, 14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes, very effective because we\u0026rsquo;ve realised that because of the sensitizations we\u0026rsquo;ve done in the community, people have started to report more. Initially they didn\u0026rsquo;t even know that some of these cases were SGBV and now that they know, there is more reporting of cases. [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese measures have been effective in preventions too and like I told you as a result of these messages we\u0026rsquo;ve been sending, the men have also come to the forefront to ensure that they are creating violence free environments especially for women and girls.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Interview with Child Protection Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, on a critical examination of these strategies, some gaps were identified. Though the community sensitization programmes were comprehensive with different components, these were limited in coverage in terms of the areas covered and in most cases sensitization meetings were organized in areas surrounding Base Camp, which acted as the administrative seat of Nakivale refugee settlement. So most of the humanitarian agencies and service providers were concentrated in Base Camp and implemented most of their programmes in this area leaving other zones in the camp; Julu and Rubondo underserved. The sensitization programmes also lacked coherence and some could not be sustained for a considerable period of time to be able to make some impact. \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003e.\u003c/em\u003eThere is a very big gap in awareness. By nature SGBV advocacy requires continuous public education to be able to create attitudinal change. Attitude and behavior change is a time long thing\u0026rdquo; [SGBV Focal Person at ARC, 15/11/2018]. Key informants interviewed at HIJRA, ARC and Tutapona attributed this to lack of enough funding to sustain these programmes for a long period of time for instance between 3-5 years. The implementing agencies complained of lack of enough logistics to be able to have a wide coverage. \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] The implementing agencies do not have enough materials like screens to show them videos on SGBV across the settlement\u0026rdquo; [Interview with HIJRA Volunteer, 14/11/2018]. Likewise lack of support and logistics to move and cover all camps in the settlements largely limited their operations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e3.2.2 Response Services\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAwareness of the existing SGBV response services differed across the different communities in the Refugee settlement, with refugees from Congo and Rwanda being aware of most of the interventions, followed by those from Burundi and the Somali community being least aware. The Somalis were least aware of, basically because they are living in a closed community with limited interactions with other nationalities and do not attend most of the SGBV community awareness activities. Refugee settlements by nature are characterized by continuous in-flow of people in refugee settlements, which affects the level of awareness and knowledge of SGBV among the community. Those who have just joined may not have had sensitization so they commit some acts not knowing that they constitute crimes in the host country, or due to differences in social cultural norms and practices among the different nationalities in their countries of origin settlement. \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] New arrivals who do not know much about SGBV. For example, in Congo an adult is 16 years and in Uganda, an adult is 18 years\u0026rdquo;[FGD with Refugee Leaders, 13/11/2018]. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of Congo a child of 16 years can get married but in Uganda this is defilement and punishable by law.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResponses from humanitarian actors indicated that the level of reporting of SGBV incidences had increased following the community sensitization programmes implemented in the settlement. However, responses from the refugees indicated that this is true for a few places especially people who live in or near Base camp, because they are close to police and all the partners so it is easier for them to report cases but those who live in Juru and Rubondo zones find it difficult to report because of the distance from Base Camp to where they live. On the other hand, those who live far away from Base camp find it difficult to report cases and some of them do not even know where to report.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn some communities where people are still strongly attached to their cultural practices like the Somalis discourage survivors from reporting to police, and use response mechanisms within the community to settle the cases unless if it is a severe incidence such as defilement or domestic violence involving grievance harm.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor Somalis \u0026ndash; they follow the traditional style of reporting, they report cases of domestic violence to parents, sub clan, lower communityleaders, upper community leaders, police. but most cases are solved within thecommunity. [Interview with SGBV Officer at HIJRA, 14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is limited reporting of SGBV cases among the Somalis because they live in isolation and most times prefer to deal with their problems as a community.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Interview with Police Officer at Nakivale Police Station, 12/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Islamic culture when there are problems in a home, they refer to parents,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eif not solved, they refer to religious leaders and later to community leaders. Most cases are solved in the camp. It is estimated that 1% of the cases go to the police. It is mainly criminal cases that are referred to police i.e. involving injuries and valuable property, and rape. [FGD with Somali men, 14/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese responses reveal a widely held view in the Settlement even among the SGBV service providers that the Somali female survivors prefer to solve SGBV cases using their cultural community structures as opposed to the justice system. However, this may be due to pressure from the community to adhere to traditional socio-cultural and religious practices in the Somali community and fear of possible reprimanding from the community against survivors who pursue legal redress.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral weaknesses were identified in the reporting system at various levels; individual, community and institutional. UNHCR also was of the view that the SGBV response interventions are effective but the challenge is in reporting. Some cases are not reported while others are reported late when the perpetrator has already run away and some survivors have already contracted HIV because it is too late to administer Post-Exposure Prophylaxis(PEP). \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] The measures are effective and sufficient but people do not report some incidences and others report very late for fear of retribution by the community and revenge by the perpetrator, while. Others simply do not want to report. [Interview with SGBV Officer at UNHCR, 14/11/2018; Police SGBV focal person March, 2023]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth women and men participants of FGDs indicated that some survivors do not report SGBV cases such as defilement/rape and domestic violence due to the social stigma associated with SGBV. Survivors of sexual violence and men who suffer domestic violence normally opt not to report the cases for fear of suffering public shame and social stigma associated with these acts of SGBV. Still due to social stigma, some women survivors of sexual violence prefer to keep it as a secret so that their husbands do not know or else they can lose their marriages. It was also pointed out in women\u0026rsquo;s FGDs that some survivors of defilement do not report the cases to police because parents are compromised and prefer to take compensation from the perpetrators as opposed to pursuing legal redress. This view is related to societal perceptions about sexuality. In many communities in Africa, sex is masculinised and perceived as a male privilege (Pease and Pringle, 2001).Male sexuality has been constructed in such a way that sex is perceived as a natural privilege to men and they must access sex when they need it. Therefore, parents opt for compensation from the culprit and the girl can be married off to the culprit or remain at home so long as the parents have been given some money to compensate for the spent on the girl\u0026rsquo;s education or dowry they should have got if she were to have a formal marriage. In such a situation, the high poverty levels among refugees play a significant role in the way defilement cases are handled.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStructures responsible for SGBV redress within the refugee communities included camp leadership and community volunteers. Women participants in FGDs felt that there was some laxity exhibited by camp officials in handling SGBV cases. Though camp leaders visit homes to sensitize people about SGBV, when people report to them cases they do not follow\u0026ndash;up the cases to their conclusion, which according to key informants from humanitarian actors was largely attributed to lack of a good understanding of SGBV in terms of what acts constitute SGBV, causes, consequences and societal myths surrounding SGBV. The additional reason could be that since in most SGBV cases the perpetrators are men some camp leaders who are mostly men may not be willing to take action against fellow men. Some local CSOs offering SGBV services in the settlement had recruited Community Volunteers to act as mediators in settling and offering referral to survivors. Though, their role is to listen to the cases and pass on to the survivors information on referral services such as police, health services, and psycho-social support and counseling, the study revealed that these are not on the ground, therefore, their contribution is very minimal in the communities. Additionally, negative attitude among the refugee community towards the SGBV service providers also contributed to non-reporting. \u0026ldquo;[\u0026hellip;] The attitude in the camp is that refugees believe that even if I report, I will not get help\u0026rdquo;[FGD with officials at Refugee Law Project, 13/11/2018].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome refugees had developed a negative attitude that even when they report SGBV there will be no action taken because on some occasions they sought assistance from humanitarian actors and they did not readily get it. However, in some instances non-reporting is due to ignorance about the existence of such services. For others, it is due to limited legal awareness because according to their cultural perceptions and practices some of these issues are supposed to be kept a secret and private, and some people may not even be aware that some of the SGBV acts constitute crimes. The possibility of resettlement may offer an extra incentive to report cases of SGBV, however Rwandese refugees are not entitled to resettlement and this makes them less enthusiastic about reporting SGBV cases. Discussions with officials at UNHCR revealed that Rwanda is now regarded as a country that is relatively peaceful so UNHCR is promoting repatriation and Rwandese refugees who suffer from SGBV are not entitled to resettlement in a third country.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the institutional level, corruption at the police plays a big role in determining whether a case will be reported or not. Some survivors are discouraged from reporting cases in anticipation that due to corruption at police, the perpetrators will bribe their way out of police custody. Further to this, when female survivors of domestic violence report cases to police and the perpetrator is arrested, they are required to bring them food every day while they are in police custody and if a woman fails to do this then the perpetrator is released. In such circumstances when he is released and goes back home, he subjects the wife to more severe acts of violence. In addition, to report a case of domestic violence, a woman has to go to police with UGX Shs 20,000= (which is an equivalent of 5-6 US$) and it\u0026rsquo;s only after that requirement that the police officers give her a form to take to the hospital for check-up and treatment. Such fees charged at the police stations upon reporting an SGBV case discourage some survivors and their families from reporting cases. This fee is considered high to some Ugandan families especially in rural areas due to high poverty levels in some regions of the country. While extreme poverty at a national level has generally declined in the country since 1990s (from 56% in 1993 to 21.4% in 2016), this trend has not occurred evenly across the country. Moreover, the proportion of people living in poverty according to the national poverty line increased by 1.7% between 2012 and 2016 (Owor, 2020). Corruption at the police had also been exacerbated by those who purported SGBV cases just for the sake of being considered for resettlement in a third country, when actually the person had not suffered any GBV incidence. \u0026ldquo;The Police, they were doing a good job except when this thing of being resettled came in, they became very corrupt. I can go to police and I forge a story and you pay them\u0026rdquo;[Interview with Community Service Volunteer at HIJRA, 13/11/2018].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was also revealed that survivors are charged fees at health centres when they go to seek medical services, which is contrary to the Directive issued by the Ministry of Health (2012) to service providers in government health units to offer medical services to victims of GBV at a no cost. Medical examination and treatment offered to GBV survivors are supposed to be free. However, due to lack of supplies and ignorance among medical personnel but also the \u0026lsquo;culture\u0026rsquo; of wanting to extract money for any services offered in hospitals including government hospitals some SGBV survivors are made to pay for these services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother weakness in the referral system relates to logistical issues. In some instances, survivors lack transport to make follow-up medical visits to Mbarara Referral Hospital. After you have been beaten by your husband, you go to the health centre, at the health centre, sometimes you are recommended to go to Mbarara Hospital. At Mbarara Hospital they schedule a date on which you should make a follow-up visit. When you come back to Nakivale health centre to request to go for your follow-up visit, the doctor says that there is no transport and so you have to look for your own transport which is difficult. [Interview with Female Congolese SGBV survivor. 15/11/2018]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are shelter facilities to cater for the protection of survivors in the settlement. HIJRA has a shelter in Kabahinda, each police unit in the settlement has a protection house and some families are provided with accommodation in Mbarara town where only UN staff have access to the survivors. However, the gap in the available shelter services is the inability to meet the basic survival needs of the SGBV survivors adequately. HIJRA provides material support to nursing mothers in form of baby clothes, money and food supplements but only for two weeks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLivelihood programs had also made limited impact on improving the economic empowerment of women in the settlement. Some adolescent girls and young women could not enroll at the vocational training institute in the settlement due to failure to raise half of the fees as per the requirement. There is another programme at the settlement which equips women with skills in tailoring and hair dressing but many of those who had attained these skills were unable to start income generating activities due to lack of start-up capital.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe duration and the scope of the programs of some actors constituted a big gap in the interventions. Refugee respondents complained that NGOs come to the settlement but do not stay for long. An illustration was drawn from HIJRA\u0026rsquo;s work. HIJRA has a ceiling on the cases they handle in a week. They handle 15 cases a week and if a survivor reports when they have reached their ceiling they do not help the person.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. DISCUSSION","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe study aimed at identifying the gaps in response intervention for SGBV in Nakivale refugee settlement. While UNHCR reports and some studies done on SGBV in the Settlement provide the prevalence and nature of the SGBV phenomenon in the settlement, none of these discusses at length the gaps in the redress mechanisms (UNHCR, 2019; Kwiringira, 2018).The results of this study indicate that there were both SGBV preventive and response interventions in Nakivale refugee settlement, which are similar to SGBV services in refugee settlements in other parts of the world (URNNAM for Justice and Human Rights, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Ngala, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Prevention of SGBV was mainly done through public education consisting of community sensitization using various modes of passing on information to refugees. Although the community sensitization programmes were comprehensive with different components, these were limited in coverage in terms of the areas covered and in most cases sensitization meetings were organized in areas surrounding Base Camp where most of the humanitarian agencies and service providers were concentrated leaving out the other zones in the settlements; Juru and Rubondo. In this regard, the programmes lacked coherence and some could not be sustained for a considerable period of time to be able to make some impact because they were project based, but also the new arrivals usually missed out on the sensitisation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe response interventions were multi-sectoral in nature, composed of various services offered by key sectors in the redress framework to meet the unique needs of the SGBV survivors. This was found to be in line with the UNHCR Guidelines for SGBV redress in conflict and post-conflict situations which emphasize that SGBV redress framework should promote a multi-sectoral approach with the key sectors to SGBV prevention and response all involved. A multi-sectoral approach is imperative therefore, for a holistic and sustainable response to SGBV because no single type of response or sector can adequately address SGBV (Inter-Agency Standing Committee \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Liebling et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, the four main sectors recognised by this approach that have a responsibility to respond to the needs of the survivors are: health, psychosocial, legal and security. The findings indicate that the SGBV redress framework in Nakivale was representative of these key sectors. The key sectors that offered response services were; health, police, community services and courts of law. Other services offered besides those stipulated by the UNHCR Guidelines were economic empowerment, and education and training\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs indicated here, although the response services offered at Nakivale were comprehensive, the access to these services of SGBV survivors was limited. As already indicated, the service providers were concentrated in the centre of the settlement near \u0026lsquo;Base Camp\u0026rsquo; where the offices of UNHCR and OPM were located, leaving Juru and Rubondo zones far from here underserved. The limited geographical scope covered by the SGBV service providers in the settlement meant that some survivors missed out on the critical response services.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLack of a streamlined reporting system clearly understood by the refugee community and among the SGBV service providers was a big hindrance to reporting of SGBV cases in the settlement. Available literature e.g Ssanyu et al., (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) shows that SGBV cases are usually under-reported due to socio-cultural perceptions surrounding the SGBV phenomenon and lack of knowledge on where to report. It is likely that in a situation where people are already traumatized by being refugees, the chances of not reporting are aggravated by lack of a clear reporting system (UNHCR, 2019; Roupetz et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Community-based approach in SGBV redress is very critical in SGBV programming to ensure that survivors, communities and at risk populations are active partners in preventing, mitigating and responding to GBV and that all perspectives are considered and the interventions do not reinforce power dynamics but building on existing community-based protection and coping mechanisms (Christian Aid Ireland, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Shaw \u0026amp; Funk, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e ). Community participation in the design of existing SGBV interventions in the settlement was low, which subsequently affected the uptake of these services by the community. The lack of awareness of existing SGBV services among some refugee communities in the settlement especially those who lived far from the center reveals that limited efforts were done to involve the communities in the planning processes of the interventions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is now widely recognized that provision of livelihood opportunities is a critical intervention in refugee communities because of its high potential to mitigate transactional sex and forced prostitution among women and adolescent girls (Williams, 2018). Economic support provided in a conflict sensitive manner becomes an additional pillar to the multi-sectoral approach as an essential assistance to survivors to rebuild their lives, relationships and acceptance into society. In this context, economic empowerment is regarded as an additional support that requires more prominence owing to the benefits it gives to survivors of SGBV in rebuilding their lives. Despite this critical role economic empowerment plays the survival of women and adolescent girls in refugee contexts, in Nakivale refugee settlement the inability to provide start-up capital by the humanitarian agencies that trained women and young girls in livelihood skills turned out to be a big gap in the redress framework.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLack of logistical support for the survivors affected the effectiveness of the SGBV referral pathway in the settlement. This is a critical issue that bars survivors from accessing all the required response services for SGBV in most refugee settlement across the globe (Refugee International 2015; Sebba, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Some of the agencies offering SGBV response services were not able to readily offer logistical support needed by the survivors to access all the services especially when referred to the hospital in Mbarara. More to this, survivors were offered shelter services for only two weeks after which they had to find where they stay. This poses a risk to the women because they are often forced to go back to the abusive homes for lack of where to stay and discourages others to report cases of domestic violence.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOffering opportunities to families with girl child survivors of sexual violence and women survivors of domestic violence for resettlement in another country is a good initiative but its implementation in the settlement was haphazardly done and it did not yield the expected results. Instead, this led to fabrication of SGBV cases especially defilement and wife battery to justify the application for resettlement to another country. This intervention also hyped the number of cases of SGBV in the settlement yet the actual number of incidences is not as high as what is reported.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. CONCLUSION","content":"\u003cp\u003eSGBV being multidimensional, manifesting in many forms; physical, psychological, economic and sexual, requires a comprehensive and multi-sectoral redress approach. The analysis in this study to identify the gaps in the SGBV redress interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement was underpinned on UNHCR Guidelines for SGBV redress in conflict and post-conflict situations (2015) which emphasize comprehensiveness of the interventions and the multi-sectoral nature of the redress framework. The SGBV redress framework at Nakivale was multi-sectoral, comprising of interventions by the key sectors to SGBV response; health, legal, psycho-social, safety and security, and economic empowerment, and comprehensive with both preventive and response interventions. This study revealed that there were still glaring gaps in the redress interventions. Reporting of cases was still a challenge mainly due to socio-cultural perceptions and social stigma surrounding the SGBV phenomenon, and lack of a streamlined reporting mechanism across the settlement. This poses a big challenge for the effectiveness of the referral pathway for SGBV response. The efficacy of the preventive programs was also largely affected by the limited scope and duration of the activities of most humanitarian actors in the settlement. Prevention and response to SGBV in refugee settlements being core to the protections of refugee populations and given the multi-dimensional manifestations of SGBV, its redress now requires integration of SGBV prevention and response in programming across all sectors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoving forward, this study suggests a range of potential strategies to increase the efficacy of SGBV redress interventions in Nakivale refugee settlement. There is great need to improve awareness and knowledge on SGBV forms, consequences and response services available in the settlement. More mass information campaigns should be organized in form of billboards to increase the pictorial presentation of SGBV. Other modes of public education that can be more effective include documentary films in the vernacular languages of the different nationalities in the settlement. Male engagement in sensitization programmes should be scaled up, for instance, enhance the Kyimeeza Programme and mobilize more people to attend as this can be an important space for the community to air out their views on SGBV. The role of the community leaders in sensitization should also be enhanced because these are instrumental in mobilizing people to attend sensitization programmes and can be influential in revitalizing the SGBV committees at village level. Capacity building of community actors in SGBV redress such as RWS, religious leaders and elders is critical to equip them with knowledge and skills to enhance their capabilities in handling SGBV cases.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is need to streamline the reporting process so that the community is clear of the first service point where survivors report cases. This is even more critical to sexual violence cases where the survivors need to get some specific medical services within 72 hours after rape/ defilement including PEP and emergency contraceptives. The toll free line introduced by UNHCR for the community to report cases and call on police is not enough to cover the whole settlement. All the key actors in SGBV response should have toll free lines to increase promptness in response. This will also facilitate the police to arrest perpetrators of SGBV more promptly.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSGBV actors in the settlement need to scale up their programmes in terms of scope and duration to increase the coherence of the programs. More budgetary allocations need to be put to prevention programmes to work towards norm change in the community to develop positive attitudes towards women. This will require public education geared towards behavioral change. Host governments and humanitarian actors should promote GBV integration in refugee settlements. The potential of each sector to implement their projects in ways that mitigates the risks for women, girls, men and boys to SGBV should be explored and actions for redress are integrated into programming by the different sectors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLivelihood improvement is an important aspect of the SGBV redress framework. Economic deprivation is key driver of SGBV phenomenon both in the domestic space and in community in refugee communities. SGBV actors can work closely with institutions in the livelihood sector to develop approaches to livelihood options for survivors and high-risk groups of women. Second chance education should be an integral part of the programming for the education sector in refugee communities in Uganda. UNHCR and the Government of Uganda can consider providing bursaries for adolescent girls to enable them enroll at the vocational training institute in the resettlement.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics and Guidelines\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was cleared by Mbarara University of Science and Technology Research Ethical Committee in August 2018 on behalf of Uganda National Council of Science and Technology. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was cleared by Mbarara University of Science and Technology in August 2018. Informed consent was availed to the research participants/respondents who participated voluntarily.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll the authors support the view to publish this manuscript\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur datasets are available but may not be published as per ethical clearance because it contains personal and sensitive information\u0026nbsp;from the respondents. The corresponding author can be contacted regarding the data and materials, [email protected]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interest\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work is part of the South Initiative VLIR-OUS project on: Sexual and Gender-based Violence against Protracted Refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda: Addressing gaps in Knowledge and Responses. This research project was funded by the Flemish Inter-university Council (VLIR-UOS) through the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Makerere University\u0026nbsp;and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; Contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll the authors contributed to this manuscript from proposal development and grant application through fieldwork, writing and compilation of this manuscript.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial acknowledgement to VLIR-OUS, the Flemish Inter-university Council for sponsoring this South Initiative Project. We thank the management of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Makerere University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel for all the support accorded to the research team during the implementation of the project. Special gratitude is extended to our research assistants: Justus Asasira, Dorcus Achen and Noel Kansiime. We appreciate the contributions of the Administration of the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Refugee Desk Office, refugee leaders and refugees, UNHCR, Operating and Implementing partners. We thank the research participants for their time and willingness to take part in the research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul type=\"disc\"\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDisclosure\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis manuscript has not been published elsewhere.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical trial number\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAlsaba, K., \u0026amp; Kapilashrami, A. (2016). Understanding women\u0026rsquo;s experience of violence and the political economy of gender in conflict: the case of Syria. \u003cem\u003eReproductive health matters\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e24\u003c/em\u003e(47), 5-17.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAraujo, J. D. O., Souza, F. M. D., Proen\u0026ccedil;a, R., Bastos, M. L., Trajman, A., \u0026amp; Faerstein, E. (2019). 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Facts and figures: Ending violence against women [https://www. unwomen. org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures]. \u003cem\u003eDey and Thakar\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWorld Bank Group\u003cstrong\u003e.\u003c/strong\u003e (2023)\u003cstrong\u003e.\u003c/strong\u003e Tackling Gender Based Violence in Fragile Contexts. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2023/03/07/tackling-gender-based-violence-in-fragile-contexts\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWorld Health Organization. (2007). WHO ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies. In \u003cem\u003eWHO ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"sexual and gender-based violence, Nakivale Refugee Settlement, intimate partner violence, response interventions, Uganda","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7712317/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7712317/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003ePurpose\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eGlobally there is increasing public awareness and denunciation of the horrors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in armed conflict leading to significant progress in crafting interventions for SGBV prevention and response in emergency situations. There remains a general lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of these efforts. Thus, this study analyzes the gaps in SGBV interventions in one of the refugee communities in Uganda.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing qualitative research, this paper analyses the gaps in the SGBV response interventions in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The study employed in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and documentary reviews to gather information. The sample was drawn purposively from the Rwandans, Burundians, Congolese, and Somalis who have been in the settlement for five or more years, providing a perfect environment for analyzing SGBV interventions among the protracted refugees. The study participants were 110 which included both males and females.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFindings indicate that while the SGBV redress framework in Nakivale Refugee Settlement is multi-sectoral with prevention and response interventions by key sectors including health, legal, psycho-social counseling, safety and security, and economic empowerment, there are also big gaps in the referral pathway due to lack of a streamlined reporting system.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe efficacy of SGBV prevention interventions is affected by the limited scope and duration of the activities of most humanitarian actors in the settlement.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"An Analysis of Gaps in Sexual and Gender-based Violence Interventions in Refugee Communities: The Case of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-20 12:41:07","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7712317/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7b3caedd-edec-4509-ba66-432e705cbc8d","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 20th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-24T11:39:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-20 12:41:07","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7712317","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7712317","identity":"rs-7712317","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}