Following the Money: Is Humanitarian Aid for Gender-Based Violence Responsive to Heightened Risk Factors of Gender-Based Violence?

Women and girls suffer disproportionately from humanitarian emergencies, especially in terms of heightened risks of gender-based violence (GBV). Despite a wealth of evidence documenting these risks and long-term consequences, humanitarian funding for GBV remains minimal. Through statistical analysis of the recently published and first-ever national-level estimates of humanitarian aid for GBV, this article explores whether humanitarian aid for GBV is responsive to rates and heightened risk factors of GBV in emergencies. The results indicate that humanitarian funding for GBV is generally not significantly associated with rates of known risk factors of GBV. While these findings are not surprising, they are important in exposing humanitarian shortfalls and identifying tangible entry points for improved humanitarian practice.HIGHLIGHTS Disparities between required and actual humanitarian aid for gender-based violence (GBV) are widening.Humanitarian aid for GBV is not associated with levels of GBV in recipient countries.Humanitarian aid for GBV is not associated with many known risk factors of GBV in emergencies.Results suggest the need to scale up humanitarian aid for GBV and for better systems to track allocation of funds.