Using Expressive Writing and Telling in GBV programs: A Training Curriculum for Social Workers and Human Rights Defenders

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the gender inequalities in Lebanon and further exposed the weak protection system for women and girls.

With the restriction of movement and confinement to homes, there is the risk that the majority of cases of GBV remain unreported and unrecognised.

As part of the AHRC project 'Expressive Writing and  Telling in Crisis, Lebanon', the NGO, Akkar Network for development, explored how Expressive Writing and Telling could be a tool for combatting the silences around GBV during and after Covid 19.

This is the training curriculm which AND co-developed with UK-based researchers in Expressive Writing and Telling. It sets out the background, contexts and approaches of EWT, giving instruction and support to implementers, along with a full set of workshop exercises, consent forms and adaptable feedback options.

AND NGO report that EWT builds trust, establishes relationship (even when online or on the phone) and has built-in mechanisms for protection. It enables the eliciting of personal experience which can support other GBV mitigation mechanisms. The refinement by AND of this training program enbles it for use in other arenas.