In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck Syria on February 6, 2023, thousands of people have moved to collective shelters to seek temporary refuge. To date, according to local and government sources, about 6,000 people have been killed and more than 12,000 injured across Syria.

 

Based on the available data and initial assessments and observations, most crisis-affected people in collective shelters are women and children. These shelters lack basic facilities, including gender-segregated latrines and women and men are often sheltered in the same room, without partitions. These living conditions significantly increase the risk of gender-based violence (GBV) incidents.

 

This document provides an overview of the initial GBV risk mitigation issues that are being identified through assessments, monitoring, and direct observation of the earthquake response. It also serves as a basis for some of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) system-wide scale-up operational benchmarks agreed upon by the Whole of Syria Strategic Steering Group (SSG).