Noting that merely 2.4% of women survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), disclosing to someone, sought medical care (NFHS-V) (1), a national medical symposium was organized to understand barriers to access health care for the survivors of SGBV. The symposium sought to lay out an action plan to support requisite changes in policy and practice with the goal of improving the provision of and access to comprehensive medical care to survivors of SGBV.

The symposium brought together senior medical faculty (Forensic Medicine, Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Public Health), researchers, legal advocates, and women’s rights organizations involved in care for survivors of SGBV from across India.