Why Preventing Gender-Based Violence Is Essential to Water Security: Lessons from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine

Aug 27, 2026 | Sawsan Gharaibeh, Naomi Clugston, Gemma Ferguson, and Tamara Bah
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security
View Original

Gender-based violence (GBV) is pervasive across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Throughout the Arab States region, 37 percent of women and girls have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lifetime, compared with a global average of 35 percent. This risk is particularly high as it relates to water. Across MENA, women and girls face heightened risks of GBV while collecting water. Because women are responsible for household water collection, water scarcity and insecurity require them to travel longer distances or take isolated routes, increasing their exposure to harassment, assault, and other protection threats. UNICEF’s regional analysis finds that these risks are particularly severe in conflict-affected and displacement settings, where damaged infrastructure, insecurity, and limited access to basic services make collecting water even more dangerous. In refugee-hosting communities in Jordan and Lebanon, for example, inadequate access to water and sanitation increases women’s unpaid care burdens and protection risks.