While gender norms are the root cause of sexual and gender-based violence, this violence often increases further as conflict, economic crisis, natural disasters, pandemics, and other challenges because
- Sexual and gender-based violence can be used as a political instrument in conflicts, further compounding the effects of fragility and presenting risks for human and societal dimensions of fragility.
- Torture, rape, forced prostitution or forced marriage have been strategies used in countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan or Uganda to humiliate the enemy, weaken families and break down the social fabric of societies.
- Abductions of girls and women by Boko Haram in Nigeria, notably the 2014 Chibok kidnapping of schoolgirls, became a new model for advancing the group’s cause and getting international attention.
- Following Ethiopia’s northern war in 2020, rape and sexual violence have been reported
- In Kenya, calls for help against domestic violence increased by 34% in the first three weeks of the curfew imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
- During the post cyclone Idai period in Mozambique in 2019, cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by people in positions of power when assigning relief items have been reported
Source: -The organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD state of fragility report 2022)
