Conflict, Displacement and Overlapping Vulnerabilities : Understanding Risk Factors for Gender-Based Violence among Displaced Women in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been embroiled in decades-long conflict that has resulted in the forced displacement of millions of people and extremely high rates of gender-based violence. Much attention has been focused on conflict-relat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/528551635471118716/Conflict-Displacement-and-Overlapping-Vulnerabilities-Understanding-Risk-Factors-for-Gender-Based-Violence-among-Displaced-Women-in-Eastern-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36470 |
| Summary: | Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
has been embroiled in decades-long conflict that has
resulted in the forced displacement of millions of people
and extremely high rates of gender-based violence. Much
attention has been focused on conflict-related sexual
violence; however, it is important to recognize that
intimate partner violence is one of the most pervasive forms
of gender-based violence in the world, including in conflict
settings. This paper is among the first to use a large,
randomized survey to analyze both sexual violence and
intimate partner violence as outcomes. Displacement
increases a woman’s risk of past-year intimate partner
violence by 6 percent and experiencing war abuses increases
the risk of lifetime intimate partner violence by 9 percent,
after adjusting for other risk factors. Both exposure to
war-related experiences and displacement independently
increase the risk of past-year sexual violence by 6 percent,
after adjusting for other risk factors. Forced displacement
and traumatic war-related experiences are risk factors for
intimate partner violence and sexual violence in this
setting. Acknowledging these risks and creating programs
that explicitly address the high risk of violence faced by
displaced and war-affected women can more effectively break
the cycles of violence that are often perpetuated in fragile settings. |
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