Gender-Based violence refers to harmful acts directed at an individual based on

their gender. It is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful
norms.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious violation of human rights and a life-
threatening health and protection issue. It is estimated that one in three women
experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime.Both women and men
experience gender-based violence but the majority of victims are women and
girls.During displacement and times of crisis, the threat of GBV significantly
increases for women and girls.

Gender-based violence produces a variety of negative impacts for both

individual and the community, including chronic illnesses, poor mental
health, decreased sexual and reproductive health, physical injury, and even
death.
Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG), is a
global pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime.

The numbers are staggering: According to world bank

 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual

intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.

 Globally, 7% of women have been sexually assaulted by someone other than

a partner.

 Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an

intimate partner.

 200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.

GBV affecting development

GBV is not only devastating for survivors of violence and their families, but it has
also negative impacts on social and economic development. In some countries,
violence against women is estimated to cost countries up to 3.7% of their GDP –
more than double what most governments spend on education.(World Bank).
According to a 2013 World Health Organization study, Gender-based violence is a
human rights violation, but it also has broader repercussions for development. The
economic costs of lost productivity due to domestic violence conservatively range
from 1.2 to 2 percent of GDP—about most governments’ spending on primary
education in developing countries.

GBV in Bangladesh
GBV is the most pervasive form of human rights violation that women and girls are regularly facing in
Bangladesh. The VAW Survey 2015, jointly conducted by UNFPA and the BBS, revealed that 73% of
ever married women in Bangladesh have experienced any kind violence by their current husband, 55%
reported any type of violence in the past 12 months, and 50% reported physical violence in their lifetime.
The frequency and severity of GBV varies across the country, but the negative impact it has on individuals
and on families is universal and has direct links to overall development of Bangladesh. Violence against
women impoverishes individuals, families, communities and governments and reduces the economic
development of a nation. At the individual level as many as 14% of maternal deaths is associated with
GBV and at the national level the country loses 2.10% of GDP due to domestic violence (CARE
Bangladesh, 2013).

highlight eight ways to prevent GBV:

1. Strengthen relationship skills: Equipping adolescent girls and youth with vital
soft skills like effective communication and self-confidence to build healthy
relationships can protect them from GBV. Through our Protect Our Youth
Curriculum, we build adolescent girls and young women’s (AGYW’s) agency
and empower them with skills to mitigate the triggers of GBV. Our peer mentors
work with AGYW to cultivate positive perspectives on gender norms, raise
consciousness of gender-related risks, build assertiveness, and decision making
and negotiation, which are vital for equitable relationships.
2. Strengthen positive family relationships: Families have a critical role in
children’s upbringing, and should be places of sanctuary, growth, and
development. Parents and caregivers can be the first line of support for children,
and facilitate access to essential services. A number of factors, however, can turn
home environments into places of abuse and trauma. Our parenting programs
raise parent/caregiver awareness of GBV, and give them skills to build positive
relationships with children. Our Leave No one Behind and Insika yaKusasa
projects supported by the UN Trust Fund (through SWAGAA) and
USAID/PEPFAR (through PACT), respectively, reach over 4,000
parents/caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and AGYW,
including those with disabilities.
3. Facilitate access to post-GBV care services: With the interconnectedness of
communities, most perpetrators are related to survivors and family relations often
are prioritized over reporting. We are generating awareness and empowering
survivors to break the silence by combining GBV prevention with post-GBV care
services. We train community cadres and social workers to act as a GBV
response team that provides linkages to key resources, including the police,
social welfare offices, and health and legal services to facilitate access to GBV
care and support.
4. Build capacity to respond: Service providers need specific skills to minimize
the consequences of GBV. In the absence of survivor-centered trainings, the
risks of re-victimization, stigmatizing, victim-blaming, and confidentiality breaches
can be catastrophic for survivors. Survivors are often made to recount their abuse
multiple times, which is re-traumatizing and often discourages them from seeking
services in the future. To enable survivors to access high-quality post-GBV care
services, we adopt a system-wide approach to strengthen the capacity of the
social service workforce to put survivors first and do-no-harm. Our partnerships
with UNICEF and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
have enabled us to build GBV response readiness, including providing first-line
support and fostering gender-equitable attitudes.
 5. Focus on children and AGYW: Childhood and adolescence provide an
opportunity to shape positive norms of masculinity and femininity. Sadly, children
and AGYW are disproportionately subjected to GBV, and those with disabilities
have an even higher risk of GBV. It is crucial to address the intergenerational
cycle of violence and ensure that people with disabilities are part of the GBV
prevention continuum.
6. Respond to the shadow pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
further marginalized people who are vulnerable to GBV. Evidence that
humanitarian emergencies exacerbate inequalities and lead to new forms of GBV
is increasing. In partnership with UNICEF and FCDO, we have worked to build
response readiness among the social services workforce, and are strengthening
GBV surveillance systems. In addition, we have extended cash-based transfers
and savings groups to support caregivers of OVC and AGYW with disabilities.
We continue our economic empowerment interventions to help marginalized
families recover and thrive.
7. Discuss GBV in schools: Our Life Skills Education(LSE), a curriculum-based
program supported by the Global Fund (through CANGO), reaches over 115,000
learners in more than 280 secondary schools. We strengthen teacher capacity to
identify and respond to GBV in schools and help them coordinate with social
welfare, police, and health facilities to facilitate access to essential post-GBV care
services. Through the LSE program, schools model positive gender norms at a
critical age, creating safe and gender-sensitive environments
8. Transform attitudes, beliefs, and norms: GBV does not occur in a vacuum, but
is sustained by socio-economic and cultural contexts. We engage communities in
dialogues that spotlight the causes and consequences of GBV. In these
discussions, people critically reflect on their role in preventing GBV. Changing
mindsets and cultural norms takes time, but it can be done. Our GBV-prevention
work directly challenges masculine hegemony and shows that male allyship is
critical to mitigate potential backlash.

GBV Men

3 Types of GBV against Boys and Men

1. Domestic GBV against Boys and Men

This takes multiple forms such as physical (hitting, slapping, kicking, choking),
emotional (insults, name calling, humiliation) and sexual abuse (Rape, injury of
genitals), isolation, controlling interaction with other people, false allegations and
lack of access to children or fathers. Studies show that within a domestic setting
where a woman is the perpetrator, abuse is mostly unreported.

2. Institutional

Men and boys in institutions and prisons are particularly vulnerable to GBV.
Physically and intellectually disabled men are four times more likely to be the victims
of SGBV than others within an institutional care setting.
3. Conflict

Boys and Men are more likely to be killed during times of conflict than girls and
women. In over 25 countries, reports of sexual violence against boys and men are in
conflict-affected countries. Recent findings indicate that the prevalence is higher than
presumed with as many as one third of male ex-combatants experiencing SGBV.
Some of the many variations of GBV endured by boys and men during conflict,
imprisonment and terrorist tactics include forced recruitment, Rape, sexual abuse,
forced incest, group masturbation and homosexual acts as well as sterilization
through castration.