Blog

The context

The countries of Southeast Asia are economically, politically and culturally diverse. Despite their social, ethnic and cultural complexity, women and girls continue to experience intersecting inequalities. According to OECD, 70 percent of women in Southeast Asia – approximately 340 million live in countries where discrimination is assessed as high or very high.

The prevalence of violence against women across the region is high. Among ever-partnered women, experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime range from 11.3 percent in Indonesia, to 58.8 percent in Timor Leste. The rates of non-partner sexual violence among all women aged 15 and above in their lifetime range from 1.8 percent in the Philippines to 15.4 percent  in Indonesia, with limited data for other countries. Despite some progress in protecting LGBTQIA+ rights across the region, the LGBTQIA+ community continues to experience exclusion and discrimination in many Southeast Asian countries, due to a variety of cultural, social and historic reasons.

Globally, women with disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups to intersecting forms of discrimination. Women and girls with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are two to four times more likely to experience IPV than women without disabilities, and are at greater risk of non-partner sexual violence. While women and girls with disabilities experience higher rates of violence, they are often prevented from accessing support services and participating in broader women’s rights movements. In Cambodia, a 2021 evaluation found that while women and girls with disabilities experience similar levels of physical, sexual and emotional violence by their intimate partners, they face significantly higher levels of violence by other family members. Similarly, women with disabilities in Indonesia are at higher risk of experiencing greater injustice than any other group and have limited access to a wide range of public services in education, health, politics and economics.

The risk of GBV increases in situations of conflict, natural disasters and humanitarian crises. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 45 percent of the world’s natural disasters impacting more than 75 percent of people affected globally by disasters. The region also experiences the highest level of conflict compared to other regions. Multiple overlapping humanitarian crises, including conflict and disasters in Myanmar, have resulted in increased risks of GBV, trafficking and harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage (CEFM). There is increasing evidence to suggest that climate change and environmental degradation increases risks of GBV, sexual exploitation, trafficking and CEFM in slow-onset climate contexts and acute climate-related disasters such as flooding and landslides. For example, in the aftermath of typhoon Pablo in the Philippines, a quarter of women aged 18-24 reported experiencing IPV, and domestic violence increased three-fold in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hotlines responding to incidences of violence in Singapore and Malaysia reported increased calls by up to 57 percent, including from women migrant workers.

The Platform

The Southeast Asia Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention Platform (the Platform) is a AUD20 million investment of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), over a period of five years (2024 to 2029). The investment addresses the need and demand for increased investment in, and coordination of, GBV primary prevention initiatives in the Southeast Asia region.

The Platform’s overarching goal is to prevent GBV in Southeast Asia through evidence-based advocacy, dialogue, policy, and practice.

The Platform is guided by the principles of being survivor-centred and trauma-informed, locally-driven, inclusive and diverse, adaptable, collaborative, minimising harm, accessible and innovative. The Platform convenes partner governments, women’s rights organisations (WRO), non-governmental organisations (NGO), donors, international organisations, and regional bodies, to facilitate collaborate, build capacity and evidence, and improve and accelerate action to prevent GBV in all its forms.

Building on global evidence, the Platform supports practitioners to strengthen and increase locally informed and led, evidence-based policy and practice to prevent GBV within households, communities and countries, across diverse settings. This includes both careful and high-quality adaptation of evidence-based models from other regions, supporting the capture and use of locally informed and led GBV prevention evidence and practice, as well as support to develop, strengthen and test new and innovative approaches to GBV prevention. The Platform has established strategic partnerships with UN Women and UNFPA, who are undertaking complementary advocacy and policy influencing to enhance prevention. In addition, the Platform links Southeast Asian knowledge, capacity and practice to global, multilateral and Australian GBV prevention initiatives to extend and amplify program impacts and outcomes.