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Posts tagged Gender Based Violence
Reconsidering Common Conceptions Around Sexual Violence in Conflict Contexts Evidence from the NorthWest of Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin and Colombia

By Anamika Madhuraj, Francesca Batault, and Sofia Rivas 

Sexual violence in conflict settings is often framed in narrow terms—strategically deployed, militarized, and perpetrated by armed actors. Yet, this framing can obscure more complex realities. Drawing on the Managing Exits from Armed Conflict (MEAC) Project’s evidence from the North West of Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin (LCB), and Colombia, this brief interrogates and expands upon six common assumptions about conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). It assesses whether these assumptions hold in the settings where MEAC conducts studies, or whether the reality is more nuanced and varied than often understood. In fast-moving humanitarian and policy environments, simplified narratives about CRSV may take hold out of necessity. But when these narratives become entrenched, they risk obscuring survivor experiences and misdirecting support. By critically examining these common conceptions, this brief surfaces key tensions, contradictions, and overlooked dynamics that challenge some dominant understandings of CRSV. Rather than reinforcing a singular narrative, the findings point to the need for more contextualized and survivor-informed responses. Effective prevention and response efforts must grapple with the full complexity of CRSV—the diversity of perpetrators, hidden forms, and lasting consequences—in order to prevent CRSV and meaningfully support those affected. 

Geneva, SWIT: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research UNIDIR, 2025. 25p.

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It’s Everyone’s Problem: Mainstreaming Responses to Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence

By Nina Jankowicz, Isabella Gomez-O’Keefe, Lauren Hoffman

Technology facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is not an in­tractable problem. But it must no longer be the responsibility solely of women’s advocacy groups. Others – technology companies, governments, civil society organizations, law enforcement, businesses, schools – must step up and work in unison to combat TFGBV in order to reflect its main­streamed effects on society. 

This report, drawing on a case study around the online harassment of Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, assesses the state of research on TFGBV as well as recent global policy progress made on this issue, and offers a number of practical solutions to make women and girls safer online.

The authors argue that TFGBV must be mainstreamed to be mitigated, centering women’s experiences in broader policy debates. Technology companies, governments, civic tech organizations, law enforcement, employers, schools, and others must mainstream their work to combat TFGBV to reflect its mainstreamed effects on society. To this end, the authors recommend a number of practical solutions to the specific and pressing issues that women and girls face online today. Addressing the urgent changes described here will not only make women and girls safer and ensure their voices are heard, but also improve the safety and free expression for everyone who uses the internet, building more robust, representative democracies.

The recommendations are presented under the following themes:

  • Ensuring platform accountability and action

  • Urgently addressing deepfake image-based sexual abuse

  • Supporting victims and survivors of TFGBV

  • Deepening research and mainstreaming advocacy.

New York: Institute of Global Politics, 2024. 41p.

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