Gender-based violence

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a clear and damaging consequence of gender inequality as well as a mechanism used to enforce discriminatory norms and maintain unequal gendered power relations.

GBV can take various forms, including physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and digital violence. Women and girls are most commonly victims. People whose identities challenge prevailing gender norms, such as gay boys and men and gender non-conforming people (such as trans and other queer women) are also particularly at risk. Intersecting marginalisations, such as those based on class, race or religious inequalities, deepen peoples' vulnerability to GBV and restrict their ability to access justice and support services.

GBV is sustained and sanctioned by oppressive gender norms such as male authority and dominance over female bodies and masculinity being defined in terms of toughness and heterosexual virility. Transforming such gender norms is thus central to preventing and eliminating GBV. Feminist movements worldwide have been seeking to change such norms through street protests, digital campaigns, art, advocacy for legal reform, and community-based prevention and response work, among other strategies.

Resources on the ALIGN platform discuss how gender-based violence affects women and girls and LGBTQI+ people across different spaces, the impact of feminist activism on GBV-related gender norms, and the role of education in shifting the norms that underpin GBV.

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