The UN High Commissioner for Refugees recently released a report highlighting the disproportionately high rates of sexual and gender-based violence(SGBV) that women and girl refugees experience in Jordan in the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis. The socio-economic condition of these women worsens the longer they stay in their country of refuge, as many of them are not allowed to work. As a result, the majority of refugees live below the poverty line and are forced into sex work or child marriage. Refugees living in shelters are at an especially high risk of violence, and are particularly vulnerable to intimate partner violence.
UNHCR has strengthened its support for NGOs in Jordan, and is creating lead roles for refugees in the programs that raise awareness of and attempt to prevent SGBV, including a series of local workshops and self-defense classes taught by refugee women. Additionally, UNHCR provides emergency assistance to women throughout refugee camps in the region and offers various resources, as well as legal, medical, and psychosocial support.
Compiled from: “Prevention and Response to Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) - Midyear 2019”, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Sep. 22, 2019).