Victims of sexual violence in Senegal now only have to tell their story once

With Enabel’s support, Senegal currently has a pioneering initiative. Victims of sexual violence can now turn to a unique support centre offering all forms of assistance – psychological, medical, legal, socio-economic, social – as well as protection.

Gender-based violence is still quite common in Senegal. In the Kaolack region, around 20,1% of people are affected, according to a recent study (2025) by the national agency for statistics and demography. Moreover, practices such as female genital mutilation persist, despite progress in legislation and various awareness-raising campaigns in recent years.
 

Fragmented support services

The Senegalese government wants resolutely to put an end to all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. To this end, it has signed numerous international conventions and developed several strategic documents.

What was particularly lacking was support for victims and survivors of sexual violence. Although there are various places where victims can seek help, from government agencies to civil society groups, these services are not well coordinated.

For legal aid, a victim could go to a legal clinic, for medical care to a health centre, and for psychological support to yet another service. And each time, she would be forced to recount her deeply traumatic story again, with the risk of ‘secondary victimisation’.
 

Belgian expertise

Belgium has a lot of experience with unique one-stop centres where victims can go in peace and quiet for the help they need. Moreover, the Belgian agency for international cooperation, Enabel, had earlier opened similar centres in the DR Congo.

Both countries then agreed, through a cooperation agreement, to set up unique support centres as a pilot project in three regions: Kaolack, Fatick, and Kaffrine. In time, the Senegalese government wants to scale up the Belgian model to the entire country.
 

Socio-anthropological study

The Senegalese authorities and the contractor Enabel have thought carefully about the way in which they would take care of victims. That is why, in a first phase, they identified all institutions that were already providing assistance to victims of sexual violence.

In addition, Senegal called in Belgian expertise to carry out a socio-anthropological study. Goal: to determine the socio-cultural factors that were at the origin of sexual violence. After this study, the University of Ghent developed a model that met the specific needs of the target group, after which it was presented to the various stakeholders.

A team made up of people from different sectors played a key role throughout the process. Alongside the relevant government ministries, civil society organisations were also part of the team. By closely involving them from the beginning, they developed a sense of shared responsibility.
 

One-stop centre in Kaolack

In the end, the first one-stop centre was set up in Kaolack, within an existing health centre. Victims can access every type of help there and only have to explain their story once. Examples include:

• Psychological care: supporting mental recovery and reducing post-traumatic stress
• Medical care: helping people recover physically and preventing sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies
• Protecting victims: from the attacker, from judgment by others, and from additional trauma caused by the system or society
• Socio-economic support: helping victims overcome the social, economic and educational impacts so they can rejoin everyday and professional life
• Social support: helping victims feel accepted and avoiding stigma, both by professionals and by friends, family, and the community
• Legal assistance: formulate a complaint, appoint a solicitor, etc.
   

Awareness raising and training

A great deal of attention was also paid to raising awareness and training. This includes publicize legislation that punishes violence and other sexual assaults (such as the law criminalizing rape and paedophilia), teaching social workers about the consequences of early marriage, pregnancies, and female genital mutilation, and training police to help victims of sexual violence.

Having one support centre that gives full care to victims of sexual violence is a first for Senegal and a big step forward. But the learning process is far from over.

One area for improvement is making the support process digital. Ongoing training is also important, the initiative should reach more people in Senegal, victims should be able to stay temporarily at the support centre, and so on. However, a very crucial first step has already been taken.