CEHAT Presents Research from Project UDAAN at SVRI Forum 2026

The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Forum 2026 was held from 5 to 9 October in Bangkok, Thailand, bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, activists, and organisations from across the world to share evidence and strategies for preventing and responding to violence against women (VAW) and other forms of gender-based violence.

CEHAT presented learnings from Project UDAAN, titled “Scaling up Health System Response to and Prevention of Violence Against Women in Primary Healthcare Settings: A Cluster Randomised Trial”, being implemented in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra. This is a collaborative project of CEHAT and MASUM funded by What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls, an initiative of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of UK government and with technical support from George Washington University and WHO, Geneva.

Representing CEHAT, Sanjida Arora participated in a panel titled “Understanding Pathways to Scale in VAWG Prevention: Lessons from Across the UK-Funded ‘What Works to Prevent VAWG - Impact at Scale’ Initiative.” As part of the panel, she and Abhijit Kumbharkar from MASUM, the implementation partner for Project UDAAN, jointly presented “Practice-Based Learning on Scaling a Health System Response to Violence Against Women in India.”

The presentation highlighted the practical realities of moving from a successful intervention to a health system response to violence against women that can be sustained and integrated into the primary healthcare system. The session was chaired by Alice Kerr-Wilson, from What Works to prevent VAWG / Social Development Direct.

Presentation link: https://www.svriforum2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Kajal-Jain-Sanjida-Arora_SVRI-scale-up-Health-System-India.pdf

Heena Sinha presented a poster on formative research exploring the role of community health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHAs) in preventing and responding to domestic violence against women. The research examined ASHA workers' perceptions of their role, the opportunities for community-level engagement, and the institutional support needed to enable them to respond safely and effectively.

The Forum provided CEHAT with an opportunity to share learnings from the Indian context and contribute to global conversations on strengthening health system and community-based responses to violence against women.