Gender and Armed Violence
Armed violence affects women, men, girls, and boys in different ways—as both perpetrators and targets of armed violence. Across cultures, most acts of violence are committed by men, and men and boys also account for the majority of firearm-related deaths and injuries.
- In Rio de Janeiro, young men are 24 times more likely than women to be killed by armed violence, while men between the ages of 15 and 29 are twice as likely to die from armed violence as the rest of the male population.
Women and girls are targeted by a number of forms of gender-based violence in different ways:
- rape;
- domestic violence or intimate partner violence;
- murder;
- sexual abuse.
Small Arms Survey Publications
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Battering, Rape, and Lethal Violence: A Baseline of Information on Physical Threats against Women in Nairobi, by Claire Mc Evoy, December 2012. Working Paper No. 13
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Peace without Security: Violence against Women and Girls in Liberia, September 2012. Issue Brief No. 3
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Guatemala en la encrucijada. Panorama de una violencia transformada (in Spanish), by the Geneva Declaration Secretariat, CERAC, and the Small Arms Survey (Executive Summary in English and Spanish, and Press Release in English and Spanish also available). Published by the Geneva Declaration Secretariat and CERAC.
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Femicide: A Global Problem, February 2012. Research Note No. 14, Armed Violence.
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Global Burden of Armed Violence 2011: Lethal Encounters, by the Geneva Declaration Secretariat. Published by Cambridge University Press. October 2011.
More information
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Securing the State: Haiti Before and After the Earthquake, by Athena Kolbe and Robert Muggah, 2011. In Small Arms Survey, Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security.
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Tackling Violence against Women: From Knowledge to Practical Initiatives, by Jennifer Milliken with Elisabeth Gilgen and Jasna Lazaravic, published by the Geneva Declaration Secretariat, June 2011.
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The Other Half: Girls in Gangs, by Helen Moestue and Jasna Lazarevic, 2010. In Small Arms Survey, Small Arms Survey 2010: Gangs, Groups, and Guns.
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Large and Small: Impacts of Armed Violence on Children and Youth, by Jonah Leff and Helen Moestue, 2009. In Small Arms Survey, Small Arms Survey 2009: Shadows of War.
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Global Burden of Armed Violence 2008, by the Geneva Declaration Secretariat, September 2008.
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Armed Violence Prevention and Reduction: A Challenge for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, by Keith Krause and Robert Muggah, June 2008
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Guns in the City: Urban Landscapes of Armed Violence, by Oliver, Jütersonke, Keith Krause, and Robert Muggah, 2007. In Small Arms Survey, Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City.
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Few Options but the Gun: Angry Young Men, by James Bevan and Nicolas Florquin, 2006. In Small Arms Survey, Small Arms Survey 2006: Unfinished Business.
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A Common Tool: Firearms, Violence, and Crime, by Nicholas Florquin and Christina Wille, 2004. In Small Arms Survey, Small Arms Survey 2004: Rights at Risk.
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Other Publications
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Bloom, Shelah S. 2008. Violence against Women and Girls: A Compendium of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators. Chapel Hill (NC): Measure Evaluation.
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Bastick, Megan, Karin Grimm, and Rahel Kunz. 2007. Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict – Global Overview and Implication for the Security Sector. Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).
More information
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Ellsberg, Mary. 2006. Violence against women and the Millennium Development Goals: Facilitating women’s access to support. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Vol. 94. Pp. 325—32.
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WHO (World Health Organization). 2005. Addressing Violence against Women and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Geneva: WHO.
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Garcia-Moreno, Claudia et al. 2005. WHO Multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence. Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO).
More information
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Ellsberg, Mary and Lori Heise. 2005. Researching Violence Against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists. Washington D.C.: World Health Organization and Program for Appropriate Technology in Health.
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Walby, Silvia. 2004. The cost of domestic violence. London: Department of Trade and Industry, Women and Equality Unit.
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Further Resources
- UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women): Facts and Figures on Violence Against Women
- World Health Organization: Violence against women


