Sexual violence is a violation of human rights and a serious public health problem. It has a profound impact on physical and mental health, both immediately and many years after the assault. To date, sexual violence has received insufficient attention from researchers, policy-makers and programme designers and it has been a long struggle to have it recognised as a legitimate public health issue. The SVRI is an important contribution to eliminating sexual violence by simultaneously addressing the lack of research on the different aspects of sexual violence as well as drawing attention of a wide range of people including policy makers and the media, to this important public health issue. 

SVRI Forum 2009: Coordinated evidence-based responses to end sexual violence, Johannesburg, South Africa from 6 - 9 July 2009
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative would like to invite you to its first conference, SVRI Forum 2009: Coordinated evidence-based responses to end sexual violence, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 6 - 9 July 2009. The conference is aimed at promoting research on sexual violence, highlighting innovation and encouraging sharing and networking in the area of sexual violence. This global event will bring together over 200 participants working on sexual violence as researchers, gender activists, funders, policy makers, service providers, survivors and others. Simultaneous translation in French and Spanish will be available.

The three day event includes:

• Keynote and breakout sessions on the latest research and debates on the conference themes: Sexual violence and HIV; sexual violence and mental health; sexual violence and conflict and emergency settings; sexual violence and prevention; and health sector responses to sexual violence
• An analysis of current advances in health sector responses to sexual violence
• Networking opportunities to facilitate collaboration and partnerships among advocates, researchers, funders and policy makers
• A mentoring program to provide opportunities for small group and one-on-one consultations with senior researchers, policy makers, and community-based scholar/advocates
• Skills building workshops on: research; ethics and advocacy

Abstract Submission
You are invited to submit abstracts describing your research and advocacy efforts to address the many dimension of sexual violence. Abstracts should be submitted according to the conference themes. The call for abstracts welcomes multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural perspectives and preference will be given to efforts undertaken in, or focusing on low and middle income countries. There are four types of sessions that you can apply for: oral and posters presentations; round tables and seminar meetings. Abstract submission deadline date: Closed.

Through this conference and other activities the SVRI is building an experienced and committed network of researchers, policy makers, activists and donors who would ensure that the many dimension of sexual violence are addressed from the perspective different disciplines and with a multi-cultural outlook.  Please join our listserv or contribute to our online discussion.

SVRI Forum 2009 - Pre Conference Workshops: We take great pleasure in inviting you to participate in our pre-conference workshops. The workshops aim to support building capacity in various aspects of research on sexual violence. Workshops will take place on Monday 6 July 2009. Workshop times are 10:00 – 12:00 in the morning, and again from 14:00 – 16:00 in the afternoon. Available workshops include:

• Workshop 1: Challenges in Measuring Violence Against Women
  Presenter: Dr. Claudia Garcia Moreno (WHO, Switzerland)
• Workshop 2: Evaluation of programmes and services from women’s perspectives
  Presenters: Ms Alessandra Guedes (Freelance Consultant, Brazil) and Dr. Jill Astbury (Victoria University, Australia)
• Workshop 3: Demystifying research data for advocacy purposes
  Presenters: Ms Monique Widyono (PATH, USA) and Ms Shanaaz Mathews (MRC, South Africa)
• Workshop 4: Medico-legal responses to sexual violence
  Presenter: Prof. Rachel Jewkes (MRC, South Africa)
• Workshop 5: Using eHealth Technologies to Promote Research on Sexual Violence
  Presenters: Ms Hendra van Zyl (MRC, South Africa) and Ms Liz Dartnall (SVRI, South Africa)
• Workshop 6: A South-South Collaboration for Teaching Writing for Academic Publication on Gender and Sexuality - The Ese:o Methodology and Experience
  Presenter: Dr. Soledad Falabella (ESE:O, Chile)

Workshops can be booked online by completing the registration form, or by emailing Ms Mandy Salomo at Mandy.Salomo@mrc.ac.za. For more details on each workshop, please visit http://svriforum2009.svri.org/workshops.htm.

Consumer Health Informatics study report to evaluate the technologies used by the SVRI. (pdf format, 2811 kb)

Join us on Facebook! To provide you with another opportunity to interact with others working in the area of sexual violence the Sexual Violence Research Initiative has created its own Facebook page. Become a fan of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative. We look forward to seeing you online!

Background Paper on Guidelines for Researchers on Doing Research with Perpetrators of Sexual Violence (pdf format, 206 kb) Appendices (pdf format, 111 kb)

Research Priorities for Strengthening the Medico-Legal Response to Sexual Violence in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. A briefing paper. Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Liverpool VCT, 2008 (pdf format, 165 kb)

• Call for Nominations for Experts to Join the SVRI Coordinating Group: The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Coordinating Group requests nominations for experts to join the SVRI Coordinating Group. The SVRI is particularly interested in identifying candidates from, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia, with particular emphasis on China, although nominations of people from other parts of the world will also be accepted. Nominations should be sent to svri@mrc.ac.za by 27th January 2009.  Read more.
• Online Discussion: Improving effectiveness of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP)The Population Council is hosting an online discussion on the SVRI Online Discussion Forum from November 2008 to May 2009. The purpose of this discussion is to allow development practitioners to share information on best practices on administering PEP and emerging trends and lessons. Through this discussion we would like to explore the following:
  
  1. How do we ensure survivors adhere to PEP?
  2. What is the ideal regimen to give to survivors?
  3. What are the most appropriate doses for children?
  4. What follow-up strategies to enhance adherence to PEP are required?
  5. In what ways can communities be involved to help improve PEP adherence?
  6. How can advocacy strategies be applied to improve PEP adherence?

If you are not already a member of the SVRI Online Discussion Forum click here to register and join the discussion: http://www.svri.org/forums/

• South Africa: Group calls for more research on sexual violence