Normative frameworks’ role in addressing gender-based violence in disaster settings

Disaster Law Working Paper Series Paper No. 3

This paper examines the issue of gender-based violence in disaster settings from a legal perspective. It explores how both national and international legal frameworks address GBV in disaster settings or how they could be used to address it.

To illustrate a concreate situation of women’s vulnerability in the aftermath of a disaster, it presents Haiti earthquake as a brief case study and analyses national judicial system issues related to GBV, notably barriers to criminal procedures for violence against women.

The paper also suggests different strategies conforming with international standards to better address the issue of GBV in disaster settings.