File:Providing access to support for Syrian women at risk of gender-based violence (11173759155).jpg

Syrian refugee women talk to a gender-based violence (GBV) counsellor in an unfinished apartment block in northern Lebanon. The apartment complex is being rented by dozens of Syrian refugee families, many of whom are living two or three families to each apartment.

Many of the women here have already been subject to GBV during the conflict in Syria and are traumatized and afraid of being identified. The outreach sessions are run the by NGO Heartland Alliance and local NGO Lecorvaw, with support from UNICEF and UK aid. They provide the women with immediate counselling and advice on how to access further support.

Crises such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the Syrian conflict can leave girls and women more vulnerable to violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual assault, forced marriage and trafficking. Targeted interventions to prevent such abuse are often not prioritised in the first stage of an emergency because the violence is not considered life-threatening.

Leading humanitarian agencies met in the UK on 13 November 2013 to endorse a global commitment that will prioritise the protection of girls and women from violence and sexual exploitation in emergency situations. To find out more, please see: www.gov.uk/government/news/greening-girls-and-women-must-...