Gender in humanitarian action
- Page updated on18 de April de 2025
Humanitarian crises do not affect women, girls, men and boys equally. On the one hand, men and boys experience armed conflict more as combatants, as perpetrators or victims of violence. On the other hand, women and girls in humanitarian crises have a greater vulnerability to loss of livelihoods, access to essential services, disruption of social interaction networks, sexual and reproductive health problems and gender-based violence in all its variants, as a result of pre-existing inequalities in power, opportunities and privileges.
Because of this, it is essential to integrate a gender vision in humanitarian action. This vision allows us to address the specific needs of women, girls, men and boys, and to contribute to reducing gender inequality. This, however, is not enough. It is also necessary to address the structural causes of inequality, with a gender approach that transforms the humanitarian system from within.
Table of contents:
Pre-existing gender inequality increases in humanitarian crises
Gender inequality already existed before the conflict and forced displacement began
When a conflict breaks out or a natural catastrophe occurs that results in massive forced displacement, they find themselves in a worse starting situation, which, far from being resolved, worsens acutely. This basic inequality has to do with access to resources, participation in decision-making and gender-based violence.
Women, in general, have worse access to paid employment, with no improvement in the last three decades. Less than two-thirds of women aged 25-54 are in the labor market, compared to 90% of men of the same age. They perform three times more unpaid domestic and care work than men and are much more at risk of living in poverty. They also have less access than men to education (especially secondary education) and occupy far fewer positions of power and decision-making, not only at the policy level, but also in their own communities and even in their families. Women and girls often lack autonomy in making decisions about their own bodies, lives and futures, including whether or not to marry and to whom, or whether or not to have children and how many.
Women and girls are also subject to violence fueled by this power imbalance. Gender-based violence can be public or private, within the family and the couple, and manifests itself as sexual violence and rape, forced and child marriages, genital mutilation, female infanticide, sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and girls, psychological abuse, deprivation of liberty, coercion, economic violence (forcing their economic dependence on the abuser) and even vicarious violence (instrumentalizing the pain of sons and daughters to harm their mothers).
Humanitarian crises and emergencies widen gender gap and inequality
A key element is the increased risk of gender violence, trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, forced marriages, or the limitation of their freedom of movement. In addition, girls' access (mainly) to education is reduced, in environments that are less safe for them. These girls are twice as likely (with respect to girls in stable contexts) to be left out of secondary education, and 2.5 times more likely than boys in the same environments.
These factors, together with the increased burdens of family care and unpaid work, condition the discrimination of women in access to information, means of production and economic resources. The problem increases when, after the sudden loss of the male income earner, women without paid employment or means of livelihood become heads of household. These women, in addition to facing insecurity and forced displacement, must now care for children without assistance, while trying to access basic resources for their survival with an increased risk of abuse, exploitation and violence, which usually comes from men.
Many women and girls also find that humanitarian response, justice, state social protection or early recovery initiatives post-crisis, when carried out without taking into account existing inequalities, are blind to their discrimination and needs. For example, even if they are offered to participate in microcredit or entrepreneurship programs, they are often left out of large reconstruction projects, which mostly benefit men. Women may even find it difficult to reclaim the properties (houses and fields) they left behind when fleeing if their husbands (usually the owners of these assets) have died, or to be able to report the discrimination and abuses they suffer to the justice system.
Humanitarian crises and emergencies also affect men, but in a different way
On the other hand, men and boys are often at greater risk of forced recruitment into armed groups, or are forced to risk their lives to protect their families and communities.
When men are displaced with their families in humanitarian crises they also suffer greater pressure to provide livelihoods for their families. However, this is not possible in humanitarian contexts where there is no access to new jobs or livelihoods. The frustration that many men experience in these crises often manifests itself in an increase in the frequency and intensity of gender-based violence towards women and girls, resulting in additional direct impact for them.
Humanitarian action must be carried out with a gender perspective
Humanitarian actors must understand the nature of gender inequality and respond to it. To do so, they must integrate a gender-sensitive approach at all stages of the project cycle, and in the standards of each sector.
The gender approach must be incorporated into the humanitarian project cycle
During the context analysis, a comprehensive gender analysis will help us understand how the crisis has impacted women, girls, men and boys, and analyze their specific needs.
In project design and formulation we must ensure that humanitarian interventions respond to these specific needs, that they contribute to overcoming existing inequalities and that they help reduce the causes and effects of gender-based violence. To this end, women and girls must be involved in the process. On the one hand, because they are the main ones affected and have right to voice and vote. On the other hand, because of their better knowledge of the families' needs. As a result of unequal gender norms, they are often left to care for children and develop these skills more. If this is not taken into account, it is possible to fall into the error of listening more to the voices of those who have more power -usually men-.
In implementation, we must avoid discrimination in access to resources and services offered, ensure that the way assistance is provided does not increase the risk of gender-based violence against women and girls, and facilitate the participation of men, boys, women and girls in activities and solutions. Interventions that challenge traditional gender roles can help engage men and boys in child and family care work, share workloads, provide new opportunities for women and girls to use their skills and abilities, and reduce the risk of gender-based violence, among other things. Regarding monitoring, it is important to use information disaggregated by sex and age and to include mechanisms to collect opinions and complaints from the people assisted.
Gender equality must also be mainstreamed in all sectors and types of action.
The integration of a gender equality vision in humanitarian action must also reach sector-specific approaches, creating new standards that all actors respect. In this way, general recommendations for the project and program cycle can be concretized into the most relevant actions for a given sector. Many tools are available for this purpose.
Some examples of specific considerations by sector or subject matter include:
- In some money transfer intervention schemes there may be barriers to women benefiting from them that need to be known and addressed.
- The way a refugee camp is organized and managed can determine the safety of women and girls and their freedom of movement and access to services within it.
- The education interventions must ensure that there is no discrimination in the schooling of girls and include content about gender equality for a transformative approach.
- The health services considered essential should include sexual and reproductive health services, from family planning and contraception to safe abortion and care for sexual assaults.
- Men should be involved in promotion of newborn and infant feeding and care.
- In planning WASH actions, it is key to ensure the privacy and dignity of all individuals, including aspects related to menstrual hygiene.
Some of these examples are elementary, while others seek to begin to bring about, from the opportunities offered by humanitarian response, a sustainable, fundamental change in gender norms and dynamics.
A sound gender approach must pursue a transformative goal
Gender-transformative approaches seek sustainable substantive change
Recognizing gender inequalities and responding to the different needs of girls, boys, women and men is fundamental but not sufficient. More and more humanitarian actors are moving towards a feminist and gender-transformative approach in emergency and crisis response.
This approach seeks to challenge and change gender norms that generate inequity and discrimination, unjust power dynamics, and the structures that sustain them. These norms, dynamics, and structures exist in the acute emergency and are maintained in the transition to protracted crises. To address them in the community, however, it is not enough to cross items off a checklist. There is a need for substantive change and a commitment to a feminist culture that challenges patriarchy in the organizations themselves and the humanitarian system.
There is great resistance to change within the humanitarian system.
The inclusion of a feminist and gender vision in the humanitarian reform has been, to date, less ambitious and comprehensive than it should be. Although there have been many declarative commitments and advances linked to gender equality, there has been great resistance to its operationalization. For example, there has been strong talk of reproductive health and rights for more than 30 years, but violence against women remains a global problem and humanitarian action has barely integrated safe abortion care. Similarly, terms related to empowerment and increased autonomy of women and girls appear in all project proposals, but local women's organizations still have hardly any funding or participation in decision-making at higher levels.
This slow progress is partly linked to the internal resistance of organizations and their staff. It is deeply rooted in humanitarian culture that talk of gender-transformative approaches can limit access to populations. However, there are many local organizations with an interest in working for change from within their own communities.
Similarly, there are those who believe that a gender-transformative approach goes beyond the goal of saving lives in emergencies. This is true. Moreover, it is possibly unfeasible in the first phase of response in many crises. However, what is common in today's humanitarian crises is that they drag on for months and even become chronic for years. When this happens, one can begin to lay the foundation for long-term, profound changes in gender dynamics and norms. From a Nexus approach one can look beyond "saving lives" and apply the humanitarian imperative in a coherent way.
Cross-cutting priorities
External links
- UN Women, 2023. UN Women humanitarian strategy 2022-2025.
- World Economic Forum, 2023. Global Gender Gap Report 2023.
- OHCHR, 2022. Comprehensive approach to promoting, protecting and respecting women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights in humanitarian situations.
- WRC, 2021. Gender-Transformative Change in Humanitarianism: A View from Inside.
- Care, 2021. Time for a better bargain: how the aid system shortchanges women and girls in crisis.
- OXFAM, 2019. Making gender-transformative humanitarian action a reality.
- ICRC, 2019. Challenging patriarchy: gender equality and humanitarian principles.
- OXFAM, 2018. Protected and Powerful: Putting Resources and Decision Making Power in the Hands of Women in Conflict.
- IASC, 2017. Gender in Humanitarian Action Handbook.
- IASC, 2017. Policy on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian action.
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