The gender-based violence and recovery Centre (GBVRC) is an integrated post-SV service–delivery model within a government referral facility, the Coast Provincial General Hospital (CPGH), in Mombasa, Kenya. CPGH is the second-largest government hospital in Kenya, with a 700-bed capacity. It serves as the tertiary referral Centre for the entire coastal region, with an estimated catchment population of 3.5 million people. We describe its development, implementation, achievements, and challenges and present a data set from several thousand survivors using it.

This GBV model is integrated in the sense, first, that services are provided within a section of the hospital’s outpatient department and referrals are made to and from other departments as necessary. Second, in addition to emergency clinical care provided to SV survivors, mental health support, paralegal services and links with police, judiciary, local leaders, and the wider community are also availed to survivors, and all of these are coordinated at the Centre using established standard operating procedures. Third, clinical staff hired by the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) Kenya are seconded to work at the GBVRC, which is run by the CPGH.

Every month, the GBVRC staff hold meetings with representatives from key hospital departments to review each case treated during the month, identify gaps in management and the referral process, and implement quality-improvement measures. Hospital departments represented during these meetings include outpatients, accident and emergency, laboratory, pharmacy, social services, administration, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and mental health.

Impact – January to December 2019

1.  From program inception in May 2007, the center has registered and responded to 8,025 survivors, an average of 617 per year or 20 per week
2. In January to December 2019, 574 survivors received services:
3. 80% of survivors are girls aged 18 years and below. Of the 12% male survivors, 80% are below the age of 12 years. Most perpetrators are related to or well known to the survivor.
4. Engaged 10 paralegals to accompany survivors to the police station after leaving the GBVRC, to follow-up cases with the police and ensure the cases proceed to court, educate survivors and their families to discourage out-of-court settlements and remind survivors of court dates.
5. Engaged a part-time child psychologist to provide home-based counselling given that majority of survivors are less than 16 years.