Women and children make up 70% of the world’s internally displaced population. To mark International Women’s Day, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) highlights how the challenges young girls face around world increase when violence or conflict forces them to flee their homes. This briefing looks at the situations of displaced girls in five countries – Afghanistan, Central African Republic (CAR), Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Palestine – and explores some of the measures governments and aid workers have taken to help them.

Introduction

Violence, conflict, disasters and displacement have different impacts on men, women, girls and boys. Women and girls suffer higher rates of gender-based violence (GBV) at such times yet all too often the participation of women and girls in the humanitarian response and post conflict processes feature too low to

contribute to a significant change. In societies where women’s role is more submissive or subservient, existing inequalities and vulnerabilities are often made worse.

These trends have led the UN to pass resolutions that aim to improve gender equality by better protecting women and girls, and broadening their participation in processes that affect their lives.

What is GBV?

GBV is an umbrella term for any harmful act perpetrated against a person’s will based on socially ascribed gender differences between men and women of all ages.

Such acts violate a number of universal human rights protected by international instruments and conventions. Many but not all forms of GBV are also illegal and constitute criminal acts under national law and policies.

Girls, referred to here as women under the age of 18, become easy targets for smugglers, armed groups and even members of their own family in times of conflict, violence and disaster. During displacement, they are prone to abuse and violence from within their own communities. Such acts take place in a chaotic environment characterised by a lack of shelter, privacy and child protection mechanisms, the sudden disruption of social fabric and severely depleted resources.

Young girls can also fall victim to harmful traditional practices, and are often given secondary consideration after their male siblings. Many are not empowered to say “no” and are unable to defend themselves. They become ever more vulnerable, with one violation likely to trigger others, and with each one any hope of regaining their childhood recedes.

National authorities and the humanitarian and development sectors have a role to play in mitigating the disruption and trauma that girls suffer during displacement. This means intervening at the onset of humanitarian crises to protect their human rights and working to advance social, political and economic equality in the longer term. Recent studies have shown that gender equality, particularly in education and employment, contributes to economic growth.

This paper focuses on the disruption of childhood and education, early and forced marriage, and female-headed households. It explores some of the projects that the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), its partners and national NGOs have set up, and which have succeeded in responding to girls’ protection needs. These stories highlight the amazing resilience capacities of displaced girls who have been supported and helped to bounce back, to restore their stolen childhood again and to be better equipped for the future.