1/3/2018 FY 14: Gender-based violence among stateless and national populations in Cote d'Ivoire Gender-based violence is prevalence in Cote d’Ivoire, though there are no differences in violence victimization nor perpetration between national and stateless populations. Evidence suggests, however, that statelessness and the lack of rights that follow, place stateless populations in situations of vulnerability. Further, fear of deportation and poor access to well-paying positions limits access to healthcare for stateless populations and may do so when seeking care and protection following experiences of violence. Ensuring access to documentation and citizenship is critical to improving the access to basic rights among these populations. Until then, services to ensure access to care and protection without proof of citizenship are urgently needed. The following recommendations are drawn from this study: Health access: The Ivoirian government is in the process of scaling up GBV programming, which includes focal points in each locality. At this time, it appears that this program is heterogeneously implemented and mostly targeted to urban settings. The government should ensure that that GBV programs are scaled up in rural settings and accessible regardless of nationality, which will allow stateless persons who experience GBV to access appropriate services. Access to justice: Access to justice is limited for stateless persons by the need for documentation of legal status and, often, by the need for payments to receive medical certification of gender-based violence. Removing requirements related to documentation and payments for medical certifications will aid in opening the pathway to reporting cases and ensuring protection against GBV. Process of documentation: The process to improve documentation of citizenship status is a long, complicated and costly process. This leaves a large population either at-risk of statelessness or fully stateless. It is critical for the government to simplify process of documentation to reduce the number of people who are stateless or at-risk of statelessness. While the prevalence of GBV is similar among stateless and nationals, there are significant barriers that exist for survivors to GBV who are stateless. The misconceptions and stigma surrounding the burden of showing proof of documentation before one can report experiences of GBV to authorities and before accessing GBV services; the fear of deportation; and the financial burden placed on survivors of GBV to access for GBV services are towering barriers for persons are stateless or who do not have documentations of nationality. A national approach to improve GBV awareness and addressing misconceptions and reducing financial burdens to access needed services regardless of one’s documentation status will resolve challenges in accessing GBV care and reporting among the populations. Until the process of documentation is simplified, stakeholders involved in stateless issues can separately address barriers related to access to education, access to bank accounts for financial protection, and access to healthcare and perceptions of deportation associated with accessing healthcare. JHU AND ASA STUDY TEAMS The study was designed, collected, analyzed, and interpreted by the following team members: Johns Hopkins University Afrique Secours et Assistance Dr. Alexander Vu (Principal Investigator) Mme Alice Koiho Dr. Andrea Wirtz Cintilla Kouassi Sahnah Lim Anne Leon Kaza Diane Katele Kone Benjamin Boa Pierre Muhoza ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The achievement of this study is due to the support and involvement of many people and organizations. We thank the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Afrique Secours et Assistance for their support in connecting us with local communities and in some locations providing housing for our study team. We acknowledge and appreciate the input of Dr. Leslie Roberts who provided consultation to sampling and statistical methodology. This project was funded as a gift of the U.S. Government (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration). Appendix 1 Detailed Study Methodology Qualitative research Qualitative research was conducted from February 21 to 28, 2017 in six sites of Cote d’Ivoire: Central region (Bouafle, Koupela, Garongoro); Southwestern region (Bagohouo, Nidrou), and Abidjan. The areas around the Central and Southwestern regions contain the largest concentration of stateless persons in Cote d’Ivoire because of the large concentrations of cocoa plantations in these regions. Participants: Inclusion criteria for in-depth interviews required participants to be ≥18 years, born to parents or from a single head of household who is not Ivorian nationality, whose parents do not have national certificate from any country that neighbors Cote d’Ivoire, and currently without birth certificate from any country. Service providers were required to have at least one year of experience serving the stateless population, providing service in some capacity to the target population. These participants included health promoters, social workers from the local justice system and from local hospitals, non-governmental organization service providers, police representatives and administrators for the Ministry of Health/Social Affairs. https://www.state.gov/j/prm/policyissues/prmfund/276832.htm 12/27