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My first experience with the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence was, for lack of a better word, claustrophobic.

It was November 2008, and I had just arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The streets were jammed, the midday traffic halted. Along the streets of Kinshasa, women marched around my car, calling out slogans against their country’s epidemic of gender-based violence.

The level of attacks against women in the DRC has been called a pandemic, and perhaps the worst in the world. And as I saw those thousands of women taking to the streets of Kinshasa, it was clear to me that this violence could not be allowed to continue.

Among women aged 15 to 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war combined. It is perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation of our time. It takes many forms and occurs in many places: domestic violence in the home, sexual abuse of girls in schools, sexual harassment at work, rape by husbands or strangers, in refugee camps, or as a tactic of war.

In the words of Patrick Cammaert, a retired UN peacekeeping commander, “it is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier” in so many of the world’s most perilous places. 

Here at RI, we are working across the world (including in the DRC) to prevent violence against women in the face of displacement, conflict, and humanitarian crises. We press for attention, accountability, and action. We hold institutions to their commitments to keeping women safe.

Moving forward, we will continue to call on the US government to make ending gender-based violence (GBV) a part of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. By doing so, the US will commit to bringing women into the conversation across government, and to integrating gender policy into all of its programs. Indeed, it is especially important that this integration brings together policymakers from across agencies, is done with an eye toward sustainability, and focuses on both responding to and preventing violence against women. The rest of the international community must do the same by giving gender experts a robust role in all programming and policy efforts.

We are proud to be participating in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World.  During this time on the blog, you will see stories by my colleagues that reflect their experiences working against gender violence around the world.

Whether reporting on women stranded in Kenya’s urban slums, Iraqi women fleeing warfare in their home country, or Colombian women facing both conflict and climate displacement, Refugees International has long been a strong advocate for the world’s most vulnerable women. By sharing these stories, we hope to strengthen their voices.