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Fighting Gender-Based Violence in Refugee Camps

Recently, a serious and pervasive problem was brought to the world's attention through a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children UK, "Sexual Violence and Exploitation: The Experience of Refugee Children in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone" (UNHCR/Save the Children UK), that describes sexual abuse and exploitation of refugee and displaced children, primarily girls, in those three countries. Increased focus in recent years on issues of gender-based violence perpetrated during conflict has heightened public awareness of the nature and scope of war-related abuses suffered by women and children. For example, press reports during the wars in Bosnia and Rwanda brought wartime rape and sexual assault to the public eye. But war is not the only grounds for violence against women and children, and combatants are not the only perpetrators. Refugee and displaced women and children are highly vulnerable to on-going abuse, exploitation and discrimination by persons in power--when fleeing or fighting, when crossing checkpoints, when seeking asylum, when trying to build a temporary life in a refugee camp, and following repatriation to their home countries. If there can be any good news in all of this, it is that efforts are under way to address and prevent gender-based violence in humanitarian settings.

The Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium was established in 1995 to promote the institutionalization of reproductive health services in humanitarian settings worldwide. The Consortium's seven member agencies represent a mix of service delivery, advocacy, development, humanitarian relief, research and training organizations. The Consortium has developed initiatives to address gender-based violence in humanitarian settings, including Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Thailand and Yugoslavia. JSI Research and Training Institute is implementing a program to provide technical assistance to these and other humanitarian assistance programs for refugees and displaced persons. This assistance is available to any agencies providing services to refugees or displaced people. The Consortium is also leading a research initiative to establish key tools and guidelines for assessing gender-based violence programs, including monitoring and evaluation. Through this research initiative, an overview of existing gender-based violence in refugee settings with an annotated bibliography has been documented and is available on the consortium's website: http://www.rhrc.org

Experience in the field has shown that successful sexual- and gender-based violence prevention initiatives require a well-coordinated, multi-sectoral approach. Effective programming must also actively engage the refugee and internally-displaced communities and address the full array of survivor needs. The Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium uses a two-pronged approach, targeting both humanitarian actors as well as refugees themselves. Using a community-based approach, the Consortium works with local organizations, host governments and refugees to improve awareness of human rights, gender equality and gender-based violence. Working with health, social services, security and legal justice systems in refugee settings, the program is also helping to establish compassionate, confidential and appropriate assistance to survivors of gender-based violence.

As the recent report from UNHCR and Save the Children illustrates, in many settings, those who are expected to help refugees are sometimes the ones who take advantage of their vulnerability. The Consortium is committed to identifying and removing the contributing factors in refugee environments that exacerbate violence. It also seeks to address the root causes of gender-based violence by influencing change in gender relations through respect for human rights. The Consortium works with UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations to establish and support refugee women's groups, youth groups and groups of men who support gender equality. This is a long-term process, for which the most effective solution lies in empowering refugees themselves--by reducing their poverty and dependence, and making them aware of their rights and the assistance available to them.

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