UN refugee agency launches new guidelines to combat violence against women

The United Nations refugee agency has launched revised guidelines for combating sexual and gender-based violence against displaced women and children in a bid to ensure better delivery of services and protection of those at risk.

The 158-page book launched last Friday is a revision of the first edition published in 1995 by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While the original version focused on issues related to sexual violence, the revised guidelines include trafficking, domestic violence, genital mutilation and demands for sexual favours in exchange for offers of assistance among other issues.

“This is a milestone in a process to ensure better delivery of protection to refugee women and children,” UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Kamel Morjane said in launching the publication, entitled “Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons – Guidelines for Prevention and Response.”

The refugee agency is distributing the new guidelines to its staff worldwide and to key partners such as governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other UN agencies. The publication will be translated into some other key languages to facilitate its use in the field.

“The guidelines without effective implementation are nothing. Too often, there can be a gap between policy guidelines and their implementation,” UNHCR Director for International Protection Erika Feller stressed.

To test their applicability in the field, UNHCR piloted the new guidelines in 32 countries around the world prior to the launch. The agency sought feedback from partner agencies, refugee leaders and refugees themselves, incorporating their proposals into the final document.

According to a World Bank report, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that as many as 2 million women are trafficked across borders annually, while in Africa, more than 90 million women and girls are victims of female genital mutilation.