Working on gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response is not a new
theme. Governments, international organisations, NGOs, foundations and other civil
society actors have tirelessly been working on raising awareness and implementing
programmes to assist women and girls and sometimes men and boys to be active in
preventing violence at home, in communities and contributing to policy change on a
national level. GBV occurrence in conflict situations has also been widely researched,
although remains a sensitive and difficult topic to address.
The following three Asia-Pacific case studies, commissioned by
the IFRC as part of a global research initiative to bolster GBV prevention and response
during and after disasters, start to fill the abovementioned gaps and make valuable
recommendations for multi-sectorial action and follow-up in Bangladesh, Myanmar
and Samoa.