PAHO launches rapid assessment tool to improve care for women survivors of sexual violence

Dec 08, 2025 News

The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) last week launched a rapid assessment tool to improve care for women survivors of sexual violence, amid persistently high levels of violence against women in the Americas, where an estimated one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence in her lifetime.

In a press release PAHO said the tool offers the region’s public health sector a practical, evidence-based instrument to evaluate services in emergency rooms and clinics, identify critical gaps in post-rape care, and strengthen the healthcare provider’s response to one of the region’s most pervasive human rights and public health challenges.

The new tool, which was unveiled in a webinar about improving care for women survivors of sexual violence, with over 400 participants, will enable countries to translate regional commitments on violence against women into concrete improvements in health facilities, by measuring how well services meet survivors’ needs and guiding next steps to strengthen care.

“Every woman and girl who has been sexually assaulted deserves timely, sensitive, and comprehensive health care,” said Britta Monika Baer, PAHO’s Advisor on Violence and Injury Prevention. “Health systems are not just responders—they are lifelines whose actions can restore dignity, prevent lifelong injury and trauma, and break the cycle of violence. By prioritising survivor-centered care and equipping health workers, we can ensure that no survivor is left behind.”

The rapid assessment tool builds on PAHO’s Strategy and Plan of Action on Strengthening the Health System to Address Violence against Women 2015–2025, which recognises the central role of the health sector in both responding to and preventing violence. When Ministries of Health requested practical tools to monitor progress against regional indicators and improve services with limited resources, PAHO developed this rapid assessment tool with support from the Government of Canada. The tool is the direct result of extensive collaboration with teams from Ministries of Health and regional focal points on violence against woman, ensuring that the instrument reflects the realities and operational needs of health services in Latin America.

Timely and compassionate care

In the Americas, where rates of sexual and physical violence remain high, timely and compassionate post-rape care is critical to prevent unintended pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of survivors. The first-of-its-kind tool was initially designed in Spanish and tailored to health services in the Americas. The evaluation tool draws on World Health Organisation (WHO) clinical and policy guidelines on intimate partner violence and sexual violence, as well as existing quality-assurance instruments from partners. PAHO adapted these guidelines to the context of the Region, with a focus on core elements of post-rape care and front-line support competencies.

The tool has been piloted in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru in a process that included close collaboration with Ministries of Health, national and subnational health managers and hundreds of health workers. The active engagement of practitioners in countries not only strengthened the relevance of the tool, its adaptability to diverse contexts and implementation modalities, but also built institutional capacity for its roll-out and uptake.

The tool was then validated through a series of meetings with experts and Ministry of Health focal points. By helping services assess how they identify survivors, guarantee privacy and informed consent, provide lifesaving interventions, and connect women to other services, the tool generates crucial data and capacity to mitigate the consequences of sexual violence for women’s health and wellbeing so that every woman and girl can access quality, respectful care and move toward a life free from fear and violence.

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PAHO, post-rape care, rapid assessment, sexual violence, Violence Against Women

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