Session: Gender-Based Violence: Help-Seeking, Prevention, and Responses in Global Settings (Society for Social Work and Research 22nd Annual Conference - Achieving Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Justice)

Gender-based violence is recognized globally as a significant issue for social protection, public health, and human rights that crosses regional, social, and cultural boundaries. However, researchers have only recently begun to address cross-cultural differences relevant to gender-based violence, and the social structure and effects of cultural influences on help-seeking. This panel will explore the challenges and opportunities facing women confronting gender-based violence in post-conflict, low-resource, and transitional settings, comparing and contrasting how these challenges are manifested in different societal contexts. Each presenter will provide perspectives and insights from recent empirical research about how progress on eliminating gender-based violence can be achieved. The first presentation will examine the status of women in the family in Kyrgyzstan, and how cultural traditions and social norms justify gender-based violence and prevent women from help-seeking. The second presentation will discuss the intersections of gender-based violence and violence against children in Uganda, and the potential for development of a family-based prevention intervention. The third presentation will provide an overview of intimate partner violence among Latina immigrants and discuss women's help-seeking strategies and needs for services. The fourth panelist will focus on findings from a study with women resettling in the U.S. as a result of armed conflict and displacement. The final presentation will explore the experience and impact of immigrant detention on Central American women who migrate with and through complex and compounding experiences of violence. By comparing and seeking to synthesize the contributions of these perspectives, the panel will illuminate different contexts of gender-based violence among vulnerable populations, and barriers to intervention. The panel will discuss potential entry points and pathways for change that may help break down these barriers and facilitate successful social work responses.