Rohingya women and girls need our support and solidarity

Sexual and gender-based violence is a widespread phenomenon in any humanitarian setting. And when it comes to the Rohingya refugees living in the camps in Cox’s Bazar that are often described as sprawling, severely overcrowded, crammed, flimsy, fragile, unsafe, it becomes obvious how omnipresent it could be.

According to World Health Organization, an estimated one in three women worldwide experience sexual, gender-based violence or physical violence in their lifetime. 16 Days of Activism is a global campaign against gender-based violence that starts on 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ends in 10 December. As a part of that, different kinds of awareness raising activities, competitions, drama and discussions are arranged by NGOs in the camps to observe the days and to help community be aware of violence against women.

I have been working for the protection of children and women in the Rohingya camps for more than four years now. In my experience, Rohingya women have often been subjected to all kinds of unspeakable violence and abuse, sometimes by their intimate partners, sometimes by the gangs of their own community and previously by the Burmese mobs and military.

Based on my work and training, there are two ways to deal with the sexual and gender-based violence: one is response, another is prevention. ‘Prevention is better than cure' is a common English saying. The underlying meaning of it is very simple. It is better to stop something bad from happening than to deal with it after it has happened. The relation between the two is that if you can do better preventive programming, you won't need to respond more. Not needed to respond more is an indicator of good preventive programming as well. More cases or more responses indicate less prevention being done. But the best and ambitious prevention is the access to formal education that will educate women, empower them with skills and economic opportunities.

In the camps now, women and girls are the most helpless and powerless as formal education and economic opportunities that help women be empowered are largely missing. And consequently, it makes them vulnerable to abuse, violence, trafficking, and exploitation. I have seen that survivors of sexual and gender-based violence often become so devastated that they don’t want to live anymore, and it often leaves long-term consequences on their mental health.

After any sexual and GBV incident, as a response, survivors are provided with comprehensive information so they can make informed choices. The most important needs of a survivor are health, justice and support to heal from the trauma. I have had various training on gender-based violence and I have learnt that the needs of a survivor often fall into four categories - safety, health, psychosocial and legal. But what is often seen that people go to judge the survivor instead of support. The most terrible thing is that people often do not know what it means to be judgmental, or what are the non-judgmental and healing statements.

The idea of gender equality and equal opportunities and education for all is always said to be an important prerequisite for achieving sustainable development goals. It is true that eradication of gender-based violence takes time and it is a process more than one-stop achievement. So, ultimately all it requires is the access to quality education for all and to make people aware of it and to make public places safe for women and girls.

Rohingya women are most helpless, deserted, destitute and deprived. We cannot leave them to themselves. They are losing hope about finding a good future. They need our support and solidarity more than ever before. Let’s be united and help each other know and promote positive understanding and solidarity towards refugees. And let’s raise awareness about creating a safe and violence-free environment for women in the refugee camps, in our families, communities, societies we live in and institutions we work in.

Five years have passed since the Rohingya crisis, yet nowhere are conditions for the Rohingya improving -- neither safe repatriation nor any sustainable future in the camps. The situation has not improved as much as it should have. Issues concerning the safety and protection of refugees in the camps are deteriorating in many cases. There are multidimensional challenges that need to be addressed and worked on and the most important one is to work for a durable solution.

* Parvez Uddin Chowdhury is a humanitarian worker based in Cox’s Bazar.