Abuse Along the Margins: Gender Based Violence During Displacement

The forcibly displaced live their lives in the margins. Armed conflict and its dramatic immediate aftermath grab news headlines and capture our attention, while those that must flee and live in protracted exile are often forgotten about. Just as men and women experience the violence of war differently, they also experience displacement and life in camps in different, gendered ways. Set up for an immediate crisis response, refugee and internally displaced people (IDP) camps are not equipped, staffed, or funded well enough to provide more than the absolute basics for human survival. Women and children, particularly girls, are often at increased risk of gender-based violence. Sexual abuse of women and children by humanitarian workers in camps has recently been well publicised (Csaky 2008, Naik 2002), but what may be less well known are the increased risk of both sexual and domestic violence within families and by host communities and others against displaced women, children, and to a lesser extent, men. The first half of this chapter will discuss key concepts relating to forced migration and gender-based violence and the second half will examine the case study of Congolese refugee camps in Rwanda.