Gender-Based Violence: Why Speaking Up Matters

In 2024, around 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members, according to the United Nations. That is one death every ten minutes. These are not abstract numbers. Each one represents a life interrupted and a failure to protect.

In Sudan, Aisha was sixteen when armed men entered her home in Khartoum. Her mother had already died from kidney failure. As fighting spread through the city, she lived alone. One night, two men came to her door. They returned later and raped her. She fled to Kassala while pregnant and deeply traumatized. The family that took her in eventually asked her to leave, saying she was too much to handle. Shame and stigma followed her when she needed care most. She later found medical and psychological support at a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) center. Her future remains uncertain.

In the United States, Dr. Tamara MC grew up in a polygamist cult in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s. She was married at twelve and lived with her husband for eight years before escaping at twenty. Girls in her community rarely went to school beyond religious lessons. Tamara spent much of her childhood caring for the cult leader’s children. Only men were allowed multiple spouses. After decades of weekly therapy, she now speaks openly about her past. Healing, she says, is not a finish line. It is ongoing.

In Spain, Aminata Soucko survived female genital mutilation and forced marriage in Mali. She later fled to Valencia with a husband who controlled her movements and blocked her from learning Spanish. A chance meeting with another woman from Mali helped her enroll in language classes. That step changed her life. Aminata now runs Red Aminata, an association that offers Spanish lessons and safe spaces for refugee women. She is working to open a specialist center for women and girls who have survived gender-based violence.

These stories come from different countries, but the patterns are the same. Violence thrives where people are isolated and where support systems fail. Conflict makes this worse. In Sudan, reports show a sharp rise in survivors seeking gender-based violence services in early 2024. Many more never come forward. Fear, stigma, and the lack of real accountability allow abusers to continue.

Forced removal or evacuation increases risk. By mid-2024, over 122 million people were displaced across the world. In humanitarian camps, females are often exposed to risks because of unsafe shelters, poor lighting, and limited privacy. These conditions expose them to repeated harm.

Support changes outcomes. In Timor-Leste, a seventeen-year-old named Ana arrived at the Centro Esperança Ba Feto shelter after sexual violence. Her family blamed her and cut ties. At the shelter, she received counseling, vocational training, and steady support from staff. Programs under the Together for Equality project help survivors rebuild skills, confidence, and direction.

Prevention also works. In Cameroon, an eight-year-old girl attended a school session on body safety. When she was assaulted, she recognized the abuse and told her mother. She received medical care and the case went to court. In Nicaragua, communities developed local action plans to prevent violence. In Togo, faith leaders helped end harmful widow cleansing practices by explaining human rights laws that respected existing beliefs.

Research shows that change has more impact when women lead it. Grassroots groups reach families, police, health workers, and religious leaders without provoking backlash. Engagement with males is essential because most violence is committed by men. Teaching boys espect for women at an early age reduces future harm.

Action starts close to home. Believe survivors. Listen without judgment. Challenge sexist language and victim-blaming, and make women’s support more accessible through free shelters and legal aid.

If you can volunteer, many groups need help answering hotlines, transporting survivors, or handling basic paperwork. Donations, even small ones, pay for counseling, legal support, and emergency shelter. Learn the signs of abuse, including emotional control, economic restriction, child marriage, online harassment, and stalking.

Policy is also important to survivors. We need laws that protect them and systems that enforce consequences for violating these laws. Funding for shelters, education, and prevention programs is not optional. It is essential.

Violence does not happen by accident. It continues when communities look away. Silence shields perpetrators, but speaking up gives room for recovery and imposes accountability.

Survivors who tell their stories often pay a high price. They do it anyway. Shame belongs with perpetrators, not with those they hurt. Justice should follow harm, not courage.

We cannot undo what has already happened. But we can reduce what comes next. Each time someone challenges a harmful joke, supports a survivor, or insists on accountability, the risk decreases. Change is slow, but it is real. It begins when silence ends.

Sources:

United Nations report on femicide:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/25/one-woman-or-girl-killed-every-10-minutes-by-intimate-partner-un

UNFPA stories of displaced survivors:

https://www.unfpa.org/stories/uprooted-three-displaced-survivors-gender-based-violence-share-their-personal-journeys

UNFPA stories of displaced survivors (WHO mirror):

https://pmnch.who.int/news-and-events/news/item/24-11-2024-uprooted-three-displaced-survivors-of-gender-based-violence-share-their-personal-journeys

Dr. Tamara MC survivor interview:

https://www.thepixelproject.net/2024/01/12/the-survivor-stories-project-2024-tamara-mc-51-usa/

Aminata Soucko’s story in Spain:

https://www.unhcr.org/us/news/stories/spain-survivor-gender-based-violence-finds-her-voice

Ana’s story in Timor-Leste:

https://www.undp.org/timor-leste/stories/gender-based-violence-survivor-finds-hope-and-healing

Cameroon education campaign success:

https://cm.usembassy.gov/gender-based-violence-success-stories-from-the-north-west-region/

UN Women on prevention strategies:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women

UN Women ten ways to prevent violence:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/ten-ways-to-prevent-violence-against-women-and-girls

International Rescue Committee on GBV prevention:

https://www.rescue.org/article/what-gender-based-violence-and-how-do-we-prevent-it

UNHCR on gender-based violence:

https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/protect-human-rights/protection/gender-based-violence

World Bank on addressing GBV:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/brief/addressing-gender-based-violence