HIV, Gender and Vulnerability Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HIV Programme Managers, Public Health Officers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PH-038

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with HIV prevention, testing, treatment or community health programming, gained through work experience, prior training or academic study.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

HIV programmes can fail to reach people at greatest risk when gender inequality, stigma, violence, poverty, criminalisation, disability, migration status and age are treated as background issues rather than service-design factors. Health and social care professionals need to identify who is being excluded, understand the barriers they face, and redesign testing, treatment, prevention and referral pathways accordingly. This course addresses the practical decisions involved in delivering HIV responses that are rights-based, gender-responsive and safe for populations experiencing multiple vulnerabilities.

Participants examine the epidemiology of HIV through a gender and vulnerability lens, using intersectional analysis and the socio-ecological model. They assess how harmful gender norms influence HIV acquisition, disclosure, treatment adherence, intimate partner violence and access to sexual and reproductive health services. The course covers differentiated HIV service delivery, HIV prevention options, safeguarding, confidential case management, community engagement, stigma reduction and disaggregated monitoring data. Participants learn to analyse service barriers, select appropriate responses and incorporate gender and vulnerability indicators into programme planning.

Teaching combines short technical briefings with public health cases, facilitated group analysis, role-played service interactions and structured planning work. Cases reflect settings such as antenatal care, adolescent health services, community testing, HIV treatment clinics, humanitarian programmes and workplace health initiatives. Participants leave with a gender and vulnerability assessment template, a service-barrier analysis, a safeguarding and referral checklist, and a practical action plan for strengthening an HIV programme or service pathway.

The course is suited to professionals responsible for HIV, sexual and reproductive health, community health, safeguarding, social protection, humanitarian assistance and workplace health programmes. It is particularly relevant where teams must improve access and retention for women and girls, men and boys, adolescents, key populations, people with disabilities, displaced people and survivors of violence.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply intersectional gender analysis to identify HIV-related vulnerabilities and service barriers
  • Interpret sex-, age- and population-disaggregated HIV data for programme decisions
  • Assess HIV service pathways using the socio-ecological model and barrier analysis
  • Design gender-responsive HIV prevention, testing and treatment service adaptations
  • Use WHO 5Cs principles to strengthen consent, confidentiality and counselling practice
  • Develop safe referral pathways for gender-based violence and protection concerns
  • Select stigma-reduction interventions using contact, information and rights-based approaches
  • Produce a gender and vulnerability action plan with measurable indicators

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Stronger ability to identify gendered barriers affecting HIV uptake and retention
  • Practical language for discussing stigma, violence and disclosure risks sensitively
  • Greater confidence adapting HIV services for priority and underserved populations
  • Reusable methods for safeguarding decisions and confidential referral conversations
  • Evidence-based approach to presenting equity findings to programme decision-makers

For your organisation

  • Better targeting of HIV resources towards populations facing documented access barriers
  • Safer service pathways for clients experiencing violence, coercion or disclosure risks
  • Improved retention planning through gender-responsive differentiated service delivery
  • More credible donor reporting using disaggregated equity and vulnerability indicators
  • Reduced risk of discriminatory practices, confidentiality breaches and unsafe referrals

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how gender and intersecting vulnerabilities shape HIV risk, access and outcomes.

  • HIV prevention, testing, treatment and viral suppression service cascade
  • Gender, sex, sexuality and gender identity distinguished accurately
  • Intersectionality identifies overlapping sources of exclusion and unequal power
  • Socio-ecological model maps individual, relational, community and structural influences
  • Human rights principles applied to HIV service access decisions
  • Vulnerability versus risk: avoiding deficit-based descriptions of communities

Participants can analyse how gender norms and power relations affect HIV-related decisions and outcomes.

  • Gender norms influence condom negotiation, testing and treatment decisions
  • Power analysis identifies control over money, movement and healthcare
  • Masculinities and HIV help-seeking examined without stereotyping men
  • Unpaid care work affects appointment attendance and treatment continuity
  • Economic dependence increases exposure to coercion and transactional sex
  • Transformative gender approaches address norms, relations and institutional practices

Participants can identify priority populations and analyse the barriers affecting their HIV service access.

  • Key populations defined using local epidemiology, law and community evidence
  • Adolescents face consent, confidentiality and provider-attitude barriers
  • Disability inclusion addresses communication, physical access and decision-making support
  • Migration and displacement disrupt treatment continuity and documentation access
  • Criminalisation and policing can deter HIV prevention and care
  • Intersectional profiles prevent single-category targeting and missed service barriers

Participants can recognise violence-related risks and establish safe HIV service responses and referrals.

  • Intimate partner violence affects disclosure, adherence and clinic attendance
  • LIVES approach structures first-line support for violence disclosures
  • Immediate danger screening distinguishes urgent protection and clinical needs
  • Informed consent governs HIV testing, data sharing and referrals
  • Confidentiality protocols reduce unintended disclosure and retaliation risks
  • Referral pathway mapping identifies verified medical, legal and psychosocial support

Participants can select and adapt HIV prevention approaches for different gendered vulnerabilities.

  • Combination prevention links biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions
  • PrEP eligibility discussions address autonomy, safety and adherence support
  • Condom programming considers negotiation power, access and partner violence
  • Post-exposure prophylaxis pathways require rapid, confidential clinical access
  • Sexual and reproductive health integration improves prevention service reach
  • Community-led prevention increases relevance, trust and accountability

Participants can design testing and linkage services that protect rights and reduce exclusion.

  • WHO 5Cs frame consent, confidentiality, counselling, correct results and connection
  • Client journey mapping exposes delays, costs and unsafe service touchpoints
  • Index testing safeguards against coercion, violence and involuntary disclosure
  • HIV self-testing distribution requires clear linkage and support options
  • Adolescent-responsive services protect privacy while meeting safeguarding duties
  • Linkage tracking distinguishes client choice from avoidable service loss

Participants can adapt HIV treatment and retention systems for clients facing practical and social barriers.

  • Differentiated service delivery matches treatment models to client circumstances
  • Multi-month dispensing reduces travel burden and missed work appointments
  • Peer navigation supports linkage, adherence and re-engagement after interruption
  • Viral load literacy strengthens informed treatment decisions and retention
  • Appointment systems identify mobility, caregiving and safety constraints
  • Treatment interruption reviews separate individual circumstances from service failures

Participants can identify stigma mechanisms and plan practical measures to reduce discrimination.

  • Stigma framework distinguishes anticipated, internalised, enacted and institutional stigma
  • Provider bias audits identify discriminatory language, rules and behaviours
  • Contact strategies challenge stereotypes through structured lived-experience engagement
  • Rights-based counselling protects autonomy, dignity and informed choice
  • Complaint mechanisms require accessibility, confidentiality and non-retaliation safeguards
  • Facility standards address privacy, waiting times and respectful communication

Participants can use disaggregated data and indicators to monitor equitable HIV service performance.

  • Disaggregation by sex, age and population reveals service inequities
  • Data quality checks test completeness, consistency, timeliness and confidentiality
  • Equity indicators compare testing, linkage and suppression across groups
  • Gender indicators measure norms, decision-making, violence and service experience
  • Client feedback methods capture barriers absent from routine reporting
  • Ethical data governance protects small populations from identification risks

Participants can produce a practical gender and vulnerability action plan for an HIV service or programme.

  • Problem tree analysis separates root causes from visible service gaps
  • Gender analysis matrix prioritises barriers, stakeholders and feasible responses
  • Theory of change links activities to equitable HIV outcomes
  • Referral protocols assign responsibilities, consent steps and follow-up boundaries
  • Implementation plans specify actions, owners, resources and review dates
  • Personal application plan commits immediate improvements for participants' work settings

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Gender and vulnerability assessment template
  2. HIV client journey mapping worksheet
  3. Gender-based violence safeguarding and referral checklist
  4. Disaggregated HIV indicator dashboard template
  5. Stigma and discrimination service audit checklist
  6. Gender-responsive HIV action plan

Who should attend

  • HIV Programme Managers — need to target services for underserved populations
  • Public Health Officers — need to integrate gender evidence into HIV planning
  • Clinical Service Managers — need safer testing, treatment and referral pathways
  • Gender and Safeguarding Specialists — need to connect protection responses with HIV services
  • NGO Project Coordinators — need practical approaches for community-based HIV programmes
  • Monitoring and Evaluation Officers — need meaningful equity and vulnerability indicators

Skills and tools covered

Gender analysisHIV service designVulnerability assessmentSafeguarding referralsStigma reductionDisaggregated data use

Tools and standards

Socio-ecological model, WHO 5Cs for HIV testing services, LIVES first-line support approach, Gender Analysis Matrix

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings to establish HIV, gender, human rights and safeguarding concepts. Facilitated case work examines service barriers faced by adolescents, women living with HIV, key populations and displaced communities. Small-group analysis applies gender analysis matrices, client journey mapping and disaggregated data review. Simulated conversations develop skills in consent, confidentiality, disclosure and referral. Participants use structured planning sessions to adapt methods and tools to a current programme, facility or community service pathway.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with HIV prevention, testing, treatment or community health programming, gained through work experience, prior training or academic study. They should understand common HIV service terms such as testing, antiretroviral therapy, viral suppression and referral. Experience working with women, adolescents, key populations, displaced communities or survivors of violence is useful but not essential. The course does not require clinical qualifications, statistical software skills, prior gender-specialist training or detailed knowledge of a particular country’s HIV laws and policies.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic HIV prevention, testing and treatment terminology, or have relevant experience in health, social care or community programming. You do not need clinical qualifications, specialist gender training or advanced data analysis skills.

Bring a laptop or tablet if possible, together with non-confidential information about a service pathway, programme challenge or population group you work with. Course materials are provided, and participants should not bring identifiable client records.

It suits HIV programme staff, clinicians, public health officers, safeguarding specialists, NGO personnel and monitoring staff. It is designed for professionals who influence service design, delivery, referral or performance monitoring.

A general HIV prevention course usually focuses on biomedical and behavioural prevention methods. This course concentrates on how gender inequality, violence, stigma, discrimination and other vulnerabilities affect access to every point of the HIV service pathway.

You will be able to assess barriers affecting a specific population, review the safety of referral arrangements and identify gaps in service data. The templates support immediate work on programme plans, facility procedures and community outreach models.

The course includes approximately 32.5 contact hours, delivered from 08:30 to 16:30 each day with breaks. Time is divided between technical input, facilitated case analysis, group work, simulated service conversations and structured application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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