Confronting Gender Based Violence: Global Lessons for Healthcare Workers (Coursera)

Confronting Gender Based Violence: Global Lessons for Healthcare Workers (Coursera)

This course introduces participants from the healthcare sector to gender based violence (GBV), including global epidemiology of GBV; health outcomes; seminal research; and clinical best practices for GBV prevention, support, and management. A core curriculum is supplemented by lectures that contextualize the content with specific examples and programs from around the world.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

The core curriculum introduces learners to a global perspective on gender based violence (GBV), and includes a review with Dr. Claudia Garcia-Moreno of the new WHO guidelines on responding to violence. Students who wish to receive Honors Recognition will complete the honors module, which expands on the core material and highlights special circumstances and programs.
This is an in-depth course with 2 components:
1) Core curriculum introduces GBV from a global perspective, with an emphasis on ensuring a strong health sector response to GBV and teaching key competencies for social workers, physicians, nurses, midwives, community health workers, counselors, and other healthcare workers. Completion of the core content is required for students to pass the course.
2) Honors curriculum offered by experts from around the world helps students dive deeper into certain issues, and touches on unique populations and specialized topics. Completion of Honors curriculum is required for those students who wish to receive a Certificate of Accomplishment with Honors.
After taking the course, students will be able to:

  • Describe the global epidemiology of leading forms of GBV and the evidence linking GBV to poor health.
  • Articulate the challenges, strategies, and WHO guidelines for integrating GBV response within the health sector.
  • Describe the components of a comprehensive clinical assessment, treatment, and management of a GBV survivor.
  • Describe the appropriate psychosocial support and management of a GBV survivor.

Module 1 – Introduction to GBV- Epidemiology and Health Impact GBV comes in a variety of forms, each with health consequences for the survivor. An understanding of these issues helps inform a comprehensive and multi-sectorial response for preventing and responding to GBV.
Module 2 – Health Care Response, Screening, and Psychosocial Support Recognition of health impacts of GBV has led to calls to address GBV within the health sector. Support for GBV survivors extends beyond clinical exam and assessment. Safety planning, harm reduction, and access to psychosocial support must be ensured.
Module 3 – Clinical Care for GBV Survivors Caring for GBV survivors requires compassionate, confidential, and nondiscriminatory clinical assessment. Competent medical and forensic examination, along with appropriate documentation, is essential.
Honors Module – In-Depth Information and Special Topics This module provides additional materials for those who wish to explore specialized topics and gain a more advanced grasp of the complexities of addressing gender-based violence. Core course topics are expanded upon, and special populations and programs are highlighted. Special topics include violence in humanitarian settings, against adolescents and sex workers, and human trafficking. Further information is provided on epidemiology, policy, and ethical guidelines, as well as the use of mHealth in GBV screening and care. We’ll cover the unique challenges of GBV research, and explore programs that encourage men and boys to be engaged in the prevention of violence against women.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Introduction to GBV - Epidemiology and Health Impact
GBV comes in a variety of forms, each with health consequences for the survivor. An understanding of these issues helps inform a comprehensive and multi-sectorial response in preventing and responding to GBV.

WEEK 2
Health Care Response, Screening, and Psychosocial Support
Recognition of the health impact of GBV has led to calls to address GBV within the health sector. And support for GBV survivors extends beyond clinical exam and assessment. Safety planning, harm reduction and access to psychosocial support must be established as well. This module will also cover the unique challenges of GBV research.

WEEK 3
Clinical Care for GBV Survivors
Caring for GBV survivors requires compassionate, confidential and non-discriminatory clinical assessment. Competent medical and forensic examination along with appropriate documentation is essential.

WEEK 4
Additional Materials and Wrap-Up
Final readings, discussions, and honors lessons

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Future Healthcare Payment Models (Coursera) Coursera
Northeastern University

Future Healthcare Payment Models (Coursera)

This course will review the drivers of healthcare cost and solutions that have been proposed to address cost, quality and value of health care. Many point blame for high costs on payment models that pay healthcare providers for every service they provide to patients, essentially paying more for volume and service intensity. This is called a Fee for Service (FFS) payment model. Some solutions, arguably the more sustainable solutions, are the combined strategies of new payment models, care management, insurance plan designs, consumer engagement tools, and technology.

Jun 24th 2026
4 Weeks
Psychosocial and Spiritual Aspects of Palliative Care (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado System

Psychosocial and Spiritual Aspects of Palliative Care (Coursera)

In this course, you’ll learn how serious and life-threatening illnesses often affect emotional and spiritual well-being. Illnesses can increase stress as patients and families learn to live with a “new normal” that may often focus on illness. You’ll learn how to tell when normal sadness (or grief) becomes something more serious and needs to be addressed.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Disease Screening in Public Health (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Disease Screening in Public Health (Coursera)

Current and future public health is characterized by the increase of chronic and degenerative diseases, corresponding to the worldwide ageing of the population. The increasing prevalence of these conditions together with the long incubation period of the chronic diseases and the restless technological innovations, offer new opportunities to develop strategies for early diagnosis.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
eHealth: More than just an electronic record (Coursera) Coursera
The University of Sydney

eHealth: More than just an electronic record (Coursera)

The MOOC, "eHealth: More than just an electronic record!", is multidisciplinary in nature, and aims to equip the global audience of health clinicians, students, managers, administrators, and researchers to reflect on the overall impact of eHealth on the integration of care. It explores the breadth of technology application, current and emerging trends, and showcases both local and international eHealth practice and research.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Surveillance Systems: Analysis, Dissemination, and Special Systems (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Surveillance Systems: Analysis, Dissemination, and Special Systems (Coursera)

In this course, we'll build on the previous lessons in this specialization to focus on some very specific skills related to public health surveillance. We'll learn how to get the most out of surveillance data analysis, focusing specifically on interpreting time trend data to detect temporal aberrations as well as person, place, and time in the context of surveillance data.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Interprofessional Healthcare Informatics (Coursera) Coursera
University of Minnesota

Interprofessional Healthcare Informatics (Coursera)

Interprofessional Healthcare Informatics is a graduate-level, hands-on interactive exploration of real informatics tools and techniques offered by the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota's National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. We will be incorporating technology-enabled educational innovations to bring the subject matter to life. Over the 10 modules, we will create a vital online learning community and a working healthcare informatics network.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Population Health: Fundamentals of Population Health Management (Coursera) Coursera
Leiden University

Population Health: Fundamentals of Population Health Management (Coursera)

What are the principles of Population Health Management as a pro-active management approach to improve health and to tackle health disparities? In this course we will discuss the basic principles of Population Health Management that will help you as (future) health care professional or policymaker to analyse current healthcare challenges and to design possible solutions using the Population Health Management Approach.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Engaging in Enterprise Growth and Innovation (Coursera) Coursera
Northeastern University

Engaging in Enterprise Growth and Innovation (Coursera)

You will explore the challenges and processes for harnessing technological innovation for new-business development, with special focus on digital healthcare transformation. You will gain an understanding of enterprise growth and innovation topics through readings, cases, and exercises, including learning how firms from different industries gain competitive advantage through distinctive products and services. The vast expertise of faculty combined with topic perspectives from the Mayo Clinic make this an engaging and unique course.

Jun 24th 2026
4 Weeks
Career 911: Your Future Job in Medicine and Healthcare (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

Career 911: Your Future Job in Medicine and Healthcare (Coursera)

This course aims to help high school students, recent graduates, and those considering career transitions explore health care career options and learn strategies for entry into the health care workforce and health related fields. There are lots of amazing job opportunities in medicine and healthcare! Join us, as we share the strategies and secrets for getting those jobs.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Leading Change in Health Informatics (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Leading Change in Health Informatics (Coursera)

Do you dream of being a CMIO or a Senior Director of Clinical Informatics? If you are aiming to rise up in the ranks in your health system or looking to pivot your career in the direction of big data and health IT, this course is made for you. You'll hear from experts at Johns Hopkins about their experiences harnessing the power of big data in healthcare, improving EHR adoption, and separating out the hope vs hype when it comes to digital medicine.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Fixing Healthcare Delivery 2.0: Advanced Lean (Coursera) Coursera
University of Florida

Fixing Healthcare Delivery 2.0: Advanced Lean (Coursera)

Lean or Toyota Production System (TPS) is responsible for revolutionizing the auto industry by creating highly reliable and safe cars and trucks. In this course healthcare providers, administrators, engineers, and healthcare professional students will be taught how to apply the principles and tools of Lean to health care. They will learn how to identify and remove of waste, design standardized work, apply 5S, map Value streams, create process maps, conduct rapid improvement events (RIEs), level workflow, use A3 forms and Paredo charts, apply error proofing, and create effective visual controls.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks