JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The intertwining nature of gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) underscores the urgent need for the health sector to strengthen the coordination of services to enhance health outcomes. Importantly, GBV and VAWG are intricately linked to a spectrum of SRHR challenges, ranging from unintended pregnancies to severe maternal, gynaecological, and mental health outcomes. Recognizing the interplay between GBV, VAWG and SRHR challenges highlights the necessity for a comprehensive health sector response. A systematic review of the health sector response to GBV, VAWG and SRH will be conducted with the aim of understanding the prevalence and diversity of health facility-based coordinated responses to GBV, VAWG and SRH, lessons learned, successes and challenges in the Commonwealth and selected African countries.

Objective:

To collate and review existing information on the health sector response to understand the prevalence and diversity of health facility-based coordinated responses to GBV/VAWG/SRH, and lessons learned, successes and challenges in the Commonwealth and selected African countries.

Methods:

A mixed-methods systematic review will be conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses - Protocol Guidelines. The Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome framework will be applied to screen and select relevant sources guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review will include published papers, preprints and grey literature published in the last 10 years and conducted in the 24 Commonwealth and seven selected African countries. Electronic databases to be searched for the latterwill include Pubmed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, EbscoHost, Web of Science, Embase, Psycinfo, Cochrane, Cinahl, IMEMR, Poplin and websites of key organisations. A narrative quantitative approach will be used to present the results.

Results:

The review will follow the methodology outlined in this protocol to evaluate the prevalence and diversity of health facility-based coordinated responses to GBV, VAWG, and SRH, as well as lessons learned, successes, and challenges in the Commonwealth and selected African countries. The results of this review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. These results will also be shared at relevant conferences, with the Ministries of Health, and with other key stakeholders.

Conclusions:

The evidence generated will inform recommendations for addressing and mitigating the effects of GBV/VAWG on SRHR outcomes and health sector coordinated services in the Commonwealth and selected African countries.