JICA-RI Hosts TICAD7 Pre-event "Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Conflict-affected Areas: Lessons from the Case of Refugee Settlement in Uganda and Japan"

Gender-based violence (GBV) not only harms the mind and body of affected individuals, but also creates elevated psychological and social barriers to seeking help and telling others about the experience. Yasuo Fujita, JICA-RI deputy director, gave the opening words. He said JICA-RI considers "Peace and Development" one of its main research clusters and introduced the research project "Conflict and Gender Based Violence: The role of aid in help-seeking and recovery process for victims," an on-going project since April 2017. He said the purpose of this seminar was to promote discussion based on the findings of this research project and identify the support that needs to be implemented, with a focus on help-seeking behavior rather than on the reality of GBV experiences.

After this presentation were multiple-angle talks on the situation and problems of GBV aid by four of the seminar's speakers, with JICA-RI Senior Research Fellow Ako Muto as moderator. The speakers were Junichiro Kosaka, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representation in Japan (UNHCR Japan), Yusrah Nagujja, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Uganda, Chris Dolan, the Refugee Law Project at Uganda's national Makerere University, and Muneko Ishimoto, certified social worker and member of multiple women's support organizations.

Nagujja (UN Women Uganda) introduced efforts to bring women into the GBV aid process through capacity building projects primarily for South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. She said while the need for improved SGBV services has been recognized, the overall funding of the response is so poorly met that trauma support continues to be under-prioritized. She also stressed the need for comprehensive and long-term support by gender mainstreaming, women empowerment and collaboration with other sectors (health, education, food and nutrition, environment, peace building).

Dolan (Refugee Law Project) talked about the unique stigma of male victims. Because GBV often has a significant impact on a man's sexual identity, many victims cannot come forward, and because there is a social knowledge gap regarding rape of males, there is not much support available to men. He stressed the importance of enabling the victims to talk about what has happened to them and engaging all in ending GBV against women and men.

Ishimoto (certified social worker) talked about GBV cases in disaster-struck areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake. She explained the persistent and deep-rooted acceptance of violence in Japan and argued that GBV is not “somebody else's problem.”

There were many questions from the audience, showing a high interest in the problems of GBV in refugee settlements.

Interview: “Challenges Faced While Helping Male Victims of Sexual Violence in Conflict Situations” with Chris Dolan, Refugee Law Project