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Gender-based violence (GBV), understood as interpersonal physical or psychological violence resulting from normative gender roles and unequal power relationships based on sex, is a pervasive problem worldwide. Sexual violence (SV), one component of GBV, is associated with significant reproductive health risks, including unwanted pregnancy and the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Results from a 2009 national survey in Guinea show that, depending on geographic region, between 13% and 52% of women aged 15–64 had been raped since the age of 15.1 Nevertheless, Guineans and international observers alike were shocked by the brutal rapes that were perpetrated on September 28, 2009, following a political demonstration in a stadium in Conakry. Many organizations and service providers have noted that the events of September 2009 underscored the urgent need for more services and better quality services to prevent and respond to GBV throughout the country.
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