UNHCR warns of devastating spike in risk of gender-based violence for women and girls forced to flee

Across the world, more than 60 million women and girls who are forcibly displaced or stateless face high risks of gender-based violence. 

While gender-based violence remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations worldwide, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warns that the risks are heightened for women and girls experiencing situations of conflict, or who have been forced to flee their homes. 

According to UN Data, reports of conflict-related sexual violence increased shockingly by 50 per cent last year compared to the previous year. Women and girls accounted for 95 per cent of verified cases. 

These numbers represent a small fraction of the reality, as many cases of these abominable violations and violence affecting women and girls’ health, dignity, security, and autonomy go unreported. In many remote locations, humanitarian access is cut off or resources and assistance are scarce. Access to justice also remains limited, and survivors fear retaliation and social marginalization.

Our colleagues working in situations of conflict around the world continue to hear from female survivors about the horrors they have faced, from brutal violence, torture, sexual exploitation, sexual violence – including as a weapon of war – to the denial of fundamental human rights, including self-agency and autonomy. 

For instance, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), women and girls are facing an unbearable plight as their bodies have become an extension of the “battle ground” amid cyclical violence and worsening insecurity, including in designated displacement sites. According to humanitarian data, reports of gender-based violence increased this year, with the majority of those violations reported as rape.

In Chad, women have reported being raped while fleeing the conflict in Sudan. In Afghanistan, increasing restrictions on women and girls, high rates of domestic violence at home, and the overall worsening economic situation are contributing to a mental health crisis, with UNHCR partners reporting an increase in the number of patients seeking help.

Among the litany of risks and abuses faced by refugees and migrants moving on routes towards the Mediterranean, sexual violence and exploitation, enslavement, and human trafficking continue to be reported. Humanitarian estimates are that 90 per cent of women and girls moving along the Mediterranean route are raped. 

Survivors of sexual violence who have fled to neighbouring countries often remain in precarious situations, owing to the additional risks of gender-based violence they may face during their displacement, and delays in accessing services which may be limited. 

In addition to conflict-related sexual violence, forcibly displaced women and girls also face high risks of intimate partner violence. In certain displacement settings, the risks for them were estimated to be 20 per cent higher than for non-displaced women and girls.  

Intersecting forms of discrimination also add to risks, including for women and girls with disabilities, who are living in poverty, or who have diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics.  

These are only a few illustrations of this chronically underreported pandemic. Across the world we see mounting attacks on women’s rights – from violence to restrictions on women's autonomy and agency, among others.  Women-led organizations – including refugee-led ones – are bearing much of the backlash. 

The need for gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response services for women and girls affected by forced displacement and conflict far exceeds available funding. For instance, for six major regional refugee response plans – covering humanitarian needs for refugees from the DRC, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, South Sudan and Syria – gender-based violence programming for the entire year for all participating organizations amounting to $236 million are currently only 28 per cent funded. 

UNHCR fears that without adequate funding, millions of forcibly displaced women and girls may not be able to access critical services next year. Early and effective GBV prevention and response measures are life-saving and life-changing. Across the world, these programmes are having a measurable impact on the lives of displaced and stateless women and girls, as well as their host communities. During this year's 16 Days of Activism, we urge more support to address GBV.

For more information, please contact:

• In Geneva, Shabia Mantoo, [email protected], +41 79 337 76 50