Gender-Based Violence: The Silent Epidemic in Humanitarian Crises

Amidst the chaos and devastation of humanitarian crises, a silent epidemic rages on – the crisis of gender-based violence (GBV).

GBV is the most pervasive and prevalent humanitarian crisis today. It affects one in three women and girls worldwide with even higher numbers in emergency settings. Yet, the GBV sector is the most underfunded amongst all humanitarian sectors. 

While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, it continues to disproportionately impact women and girls due to deep rooted gender inequalities in our societies. Societal norms, cultural practices, and discriminatory laws often restrict women’s and girls’ most fundamental rights, including limiting their access to education, employment, and decision-making power. These inequalities become amplified in crisis situations, creating a fertile ground for exploitation and abuse. 

Ultimately, GBV concerns and costs us all - societally as well as financially. 

• Societally, GBV undermines the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. It has a range of negative consequences for the survivors, their families, and communities, including physical and mental health problems, social isolation, economic insecurity, increased risk of other forms of violence, and reduced participation in public life. Access to services for survivors of GBV, which is already chronically low, is often further reduced in times of crisis. 
• GBV also has a significant impact on the global economy. The World Bank estimates that GBV costs the global economy $1.5 trillion annually. This cost is incurred through a number of channels including lost productivity in workplaces, increased healthcare costs on a national level, increased criminal justice costs and reduced investments in education, healthcare and other social services. 

There is #NoExcuse for violence and it’s time that women and girls are able to live a life free from it. It’s a problem we cannot afford to ignore.

Why is GBV programming in emergencies so underfunded?

There are a number of reasons why GBV prevention, mitigation and response programming in emergencies is so underfunded. One reason is that GBV continues to be seen as a private matter or as an inevitable byproduct of war, rather than an issue of public health, human rights, prevention, protection, peace and development. This can lead to a lack of awareness and understanding of the problem, as well as a reluctance to invest in prevention and response efforts.

Another reason for the underfunding of GBV is that it is often not prioritised by humanitarians, governments and donors. This is despite the fact that GBV has a significant economic and social impact on individuals, communities, and societies as a whole.

How humanitarian crises exacerbate gender-based violence 

The humanitarian context, with its breakdown of law and order, displacement, and heightened vulnerability, exacerbates the risk of different forms of GBV, transforming it into a weapon of war, a tool of oppression, and a barrier to recovery and resilience. 

• During conflict and disasters, pre-existing gender inequalities can be magnified including women and girls’ risks of facing gender-based violence. In DRC, women often have to choose between leaving displacement camps in search for food and water but face sexual violence as a result, and staying within the camps but having to trade sex for survival. In Haiti, women and girls suffer violence from armed gangs. In Sudan, women and girls fleeing the conflict are reporting harrowing accounts of sexual violence, sexual exploitation and harassment by armed forces and parties to the conflict. In the OPT, where the humanitarian crisis is growing minute by minute, concerns over GBV are growing, yet without access, we cannot know the scale of needs.
• Climate change and climate-related disasters are also linked to increases of violence against women and girls, due to increases in displacement or the breakdown of social safety nets. For example, in Somalia, mass flooding and droughts increase food insecurity, which leads to girls dropping out of school at alarming rates. Out of school, girls are more vulnerable to child marriage. As food insecurity increases, so do women and girls’ responsibilities in the household, and as they face longer and further journeys to fetch water and food, they are subjected to increased risks of sexual violence.
• Economic crises can lead to increased poverty and unemployment, which equally make women and girls more vulnerable to violence. For example, last year, the economic collapse in Lebanon prompted a rise in domestic abuse cases against women and girls. Intimate partners faced more emotional and physical abuse because of increased tensions in the household. 

Innovative funding solutions for GBV

There are many innovative ways to fund GBV prevention and response efforts. On 6 November 2023, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Martin Griffiths, together with the Government of Germany as the lead of the ‘Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies’ convened a High-Level Roundtable with heads of UN agencies, donor countries and representatives of women-led organisations (WLO) to discuss concrete solutions to address the funding shortfalls for GBV and how to increase GBV prioritisation in humanitarian responses. Commitments made included:

• Prioritisation of GBV 

Including evaluation of it as part of Humanitarian Co-ordinator’s performance reviews as part of the four non-negotiables alongside Protection, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Accountability to Affected People (AAP).

Or, commiting to undertake follow-up action by country leadership and international mechanisms / organisations when the GBV sub-cluster is below funding threshold (in comparison to overall appeal) based on mid-year monitoring of field level funding levels by GBV AoR.

• Address GBV funding shortfalls 

Implement innovative solutions to fund GBV, such as making block grants and allocations for GBV a standard practice. Improve the tracking of funding for GBV and ensure local women-led organisations’ access to flexible, multi-year funding.

• Putting local women-led organisations (WLO) first

Include local women-led organisations in humanitarian coordination and decision-making at all levels. Local women civil society are crucial actors working on the frontline of every humanitarian response, ensuring humanitarian assistance - including GBV services - equitably reaches people in need.

These solutions, if implemented, are a significant step forward in the fight against GBV. They help to ensure that women and girls are protected from violence, that their access to the support and services needed to recover and rebuild their lives is ensured, and their full, equal and meaningful participation in humanitarian responses to emergencies, including in coordination and decision-making, guaranteed.

A long-term investment from the development sector is needed to address the underlying causes of GBV and promote sustainable prevention strategies.

Ultimately, the fight against GBV in humanitarian settings requires a paradigm shift from reactive response to proactive prevention. Investing in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, strengthening legal frameworks, and promoting positive social norms are essential steps towards creating a world where women’s and girls’ rights are respected, where they can live free from violence, pursue their aspirations and participate fully and equally in their societies.

Call to action

The time for action is now. If we come together across sectors, across stakeholders, and include the crucial local responders and survivors, we can leverage our collective expertise, resources, and passion to bring an end to gender-based violence against women and girls in crisis. 

Let us collaborate on innovative solutions, share knowledge, and put women and girls, their empowerment and the protection of their rights at the heart of our work everywhere. 

Only through unified action can we build a world where every woman and girl can live free from violence and where women’s full, equal and meaningful participation is ensured at all levels. 

I call upon my fellow members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) to contribute your ideas on innovative funding solutions that’ll help to prevent and end GBV for good, in the comment section of this article.