Over 1.3 million people have fled persecution in Myanmar for nearby Bangladesh. About one-quarter of those migrants are women and girls of reproductive age.
Over the last year, UNFPA, the United Nation’s reproductive health and rights agency, has supported 20 women-friendly safe spaces for Rohingya refugees. The spaces provide care to women and girls in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, including 30,000 women who are pregnant or nursing.
Here are seven ways in which these women-friendly safe spaces have helped support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of refugees in the camp:
1. Called “homes of peace,” safe spaces provide a sense of community.
For many Rohingya women and girls, the first time they have had access to sexual and reproductive healthcare has been in refugee camps.
To dispel misconceptions about women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in the camps, UNFPA made an explainer video in the refugees’ Rakhine language and local Bangladeshi. Unfortunately, many women and girls felt unsafe leaving their shelters at night to attend a showing of the video.
Instead, screenings were done at safe spaces, also called shanti khana, or “homes of peace”.
2. Safe spaces support gender-based violence prevention and care.
There are currently 20 active safe spaces for women and girls in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. 17 of those spaces were specifically created for Rohingya refugees.
Safe spaces for Rohingya refugees support the program, Girls Shine. Girls involved in the program learn about child marriage, puberty, and safety mapping. Safety mapping is when local knowledge is pooled and guides are created detailing which areas people in the community feel are important and which areas they feel safe to be in.
Safety mapping is one tool that prevents gender-based violence. The safe spaces also provide medical, psychosocial, and legal services for survivors of gender-based violence, including post-rape care.