Addressing Sexual Violence against Men, Boys, and LGBTIQ+ Persons in Humanitarian Settings: A Field-Friendly Guidance Note by Sector

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that, in addition to women and girls, perpetrators target some men and boys, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and other (LGBTIQ+) individuals with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics for sexual violence in conflict, flight, and displacement.1 Men/boy survivors and LGBTIQ+ survivors—like women/girl survivors—have significant medical, mental health, and other needs. Despite increasing awareness of sexual violence against these populations, many humanitarian workers are unclear on how to meet the needs of these diverse survivors.

The Women’s Refugee Commission developed this Guidance Note in response to these needs. The aim of the Guidance Note is to outline key actions and considerations for service provision per sector to support frontline workers to better address sexual violence against men, boys, and LGBTIQ+ persons. The Guidance Note draws upon and consolidates existing humanitarian guidance, including guidance related to health, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), child protection, and GBV, and contextualizes the existing guidance with learnings from our research to provide additional insights and context for service providers. The Guidance Note is a starting point to complement existing guidance and is based on current knowledge of these issues. It is intended to be a living document, and is not comprehensive or definitive.