Syrian refugee women and their children attend a mobile gender-based violence (GBV) outreach session in an unfinished apartment block in nothern Lebanon. The apartment complex is being rented by dozens of Syrian refugee families, many of whom are living two or three families to each apartment.

Many of the women here have already been subject to GBV during the conflict in Syria and are traumatized and afraid of being identified. The outreach sessions are run the by NGO Heartland Alliance and local NGO Lecorvaw, with support from UNICEF and UK aid. They provide the women with immediate counselling and advice on how to access further support.

Crises such as the current natural disaster in the Philippines and the Syrian conflict can leave girls and women more vulnerable to violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual assault, forced marriage and trafficking. Targeted interventions to prevent such abuse are often not prioritised in the first stage of an emergency because the violence is not considered life-threatening.