Gender-based violence (GBV) is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world. At least one in three females – over one billion worldwide – will experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, simply because they are female. GBV not only impacts the physical and psychosocial well-being of those directly experiencing violence, but it also harms others, including survivors’ children, and can have wider-reaching harmful effects on the social fabric of communities. In humanitarian emergencies, existing forms of GBV (intimate partner violence, child marriage, etc.) tend to increase in incidence and severity, while new forms of GBV – such as conflict-related sexual violence – may also emerge. Not only specific to certain countries or contexts, but GBV is also a ubiquitous global threat to societies that transcends cultural and economic boundaries.

As GBV can proliferate in complex emergencies, it can also exacerbate the risk of humanitarian conflict or crisis, disrupting states’ stability and economies writ large. This then threatens the stability of financial markets and financial forecasting. Therefore, the lens of violence prevention should be integrated into the core investment and risk processes and teams, rather than being limited to gender and compliance processes and teams. Gender-based violence poses multiple risks—operational, regulatory, reputational, and political—to investments of all types. GBV is complex and investors often cite a lack of clarity about what data exist and how to use those data in their work.

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