In the breakdown of social and moral order that accompanies armed conflict, displaced women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. Perpetrators may include others who have been displaced by conflict or disaster, members of other clans, villages, religious groups or ethnic groups, military personnel or rebel forces. They may also be humanitarian workers from UN agencies or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), members of the host population or family members.

Gender-based violence defined

Gender-based violence (GBV) is any harm enacted against a person's will that is the result of power imbalances that exploit distinctions between males and females. Violence may be physical, sexual, psychological, economic or socio-cultural, perpetrated in private or in public settings. Although not exclusive to women and girls, GBV principally affects them across all cultures. GBV can occur throughout a woman's lifecycle, from early childhood marriage and genital mutilation, to sexual abuse, domestic violence, legal discrimination and exploitation.

Other forms of GBV that occur during conflict and its aftermath include: sexual abuse and exploitation; domestic violence; trafficking; forced impregnation or sterilization; forced marriage; forced prostitution; forced recruitment; and harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation or early marriage.

Learn more

Read about how the Women's Refugee Commission is working to reduce displaced women's and girls' vulnerability to GBV through:

Read about the Women's Refugee Commission's 2008 Voices of Courage honorees, who are leaders in their communities' efforts to end violence against women.