Understanding GBV in emergencies

1Defining gender-based violence

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines define GBV as any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person's will and that is based on socially ascribed differences between males and females (gender). It includes acts that inflict physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty, whether in public or in private life.

GBV affects everyone, but it disproportionately affects women and girls, because it is rooted in gender power inequality. Men and boys can also be survivors, particularly of sexual violence in detention or conflict, as can LGBTQI+ people and persons with disabilities, who are often more exposed and less heard.

The term "survivor" is preferred in psychosocial services because it emphasises the person's agency; the term "victim" is still used in the legal and medical sectors.

2The forms of GBV

The GBV Information Management System (GBVIMS) uses six core types, which provide a common classification across organisations:

• Rape: non-consensual penetration, however slight, of the vagina, anus or mouth with a penis or other body part, or with an object.
• Sexual assault: non-consensual sexual contact without penetration (unwanted touching, forced kissing, sexual mutilation).
• Physical assault: hitting, slapping, burning, choking and any non-sexual physical violence.
• Forced marriage, including child marriage: under 18, a child cannot give free and informed consent.
• Denial of resources, opportunities or services: confiscation of income or documents, being prevented from going to school, receiving care or collecting assistance.
• Psychological or emotional abuse: threats, humiliation, forced isolation, harassment.

Other terms describe contexts: intimate partner violence, by far the most common form, including in crises; sexual exploitation (sex exchanged for aid, shelter or money); female genital mutilation; trafficking.

3Causes, risk factors and consequences

The root cause of GBV is gender inequality: social norms that tolerate violence, male control over resources and decisions, impunity. Crises do not invent GBV, they exacerbate it through contributing factors:

• breakdown of family, community and rule-of-law protection;
• displacement, overcrowding, shelters without lockable doors, distant and unlit latrines;
• loss of livelihoods, which pushes towards survival sex and early marriage as an economic strategy;
• presence of armed men, collection of firewood or water in isolated areas;
• poorly designed aid distribution, controlled by intermediaries who abuse their power.

The consequences are serious and lasting: injuries, HIV and other STIs, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, fistula, psychological distress, suicidal thoughts, stigma, family rejection, loss of income, and sometimes death (femicide, suicide, obstetric complications).

4The principle: assume GBV is happening, and do no harm

The IASC Guidelines set out a central principle: all humanitarian personnel should assume GBV is taking place and treat it as a serious and life-threatening problem, regardless of the presence or absence of concrete evidence or figures. The absence of reported cases never means the absence of violence: shame, fear of reprisals and the lack of services mean that the vast majority of survivors do not speak out.

The practical consequence: no prevalence survey is carried out at the start of an emergency to "prove" the problem. Such surveys expose respondents to risk and add nothing to the immediate response. The WHO ethical and safety recommendations (2007) require in particular that the benefits to respondents outweigh the risks and that services be available before any data collection.

The do no harm principle applies to every action: a badly worded question, a poorly stored file, a photo, a name in a report or a focus group discussion about individual cases can expose a woman to deadly reprisals.