Since 2013, tens of thousands of Central Africans have fled their country and find refuge in the Northern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ACTED implements protection interventions in Bondo territory, Bas-Uélé province, to support Central African refugees and asylum seekers, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In particular, ACTED contributes to preventing gender-based violence and supporting survivors, a complex process in this landlocked territory of the DRC that requires both urgent actions and longstanding support to strengthen resilience.
Certain acts of GBV are not always recognised as such.
GBV can take many forms, whether it be sexual, physical or psychological and is complicated by the individual context of each act.
At present, both conflict and displacement are commonly recognised as circumstances which increase rates of GBV. However, clearly, GBV occurs at the everyday level; in conjugal, intra-family or community violence. Certain community practices and beliefs, such as forced marriage, equality at school or at work, or domestic abuse, are yet to be fully acknowledged as for their status as GBV.
Gender-based violence takes many forms depending on the socially prescribed differences between men and women: rape, sexual assault, physical assault, forced marriage, denial of resources, opportunities or services, and psychological and emotional violence.
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ACTED monitors victims of GBV. In concrete terms, this means directing and accompanying the persons concerned to support services, but also providing psychosocial or psychological follow-up.
ACTED intervenes both urgently and on community resilience in the longer term, actively involving communities, government structures and humanitarian actors to better prevent violence, rescue victims and mitigate the consequences of these acts.