gender-based violence
Last updatedWhat to know
Gender-based violence refers to violence perpetrated against an individual because of their gender or gender expression. It primarily affects cis and trans women and girls but also impacts all marginalized genders.
Other systems of oppression — like racism, classism, transphobia, and homophobia — can compound the effects of gender-based violence and who experiences it. For example, trans women of color are more likely to be the victim of gender-based violence than cis white women.
While gender-based violence can be used as an umbrella term, being as specific as possible about the type or acts of violence being discussed (without sensationalizing or including unnecessarily graphic detail) provides clarity to audiences.
Gender-based violence has reached crisis levels among Native American and Alaska Native women in the US and Canada. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis makes Native American and Alaska Native women and girls far more likely to experience gender-based violence than other groups. Native American and Alaska Native women face higher rates of violence (including rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, murder, stalking, and kidnapping) than national averages.
Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking wherein victims are forced, through violence, coercion, or manipulation, to perform sex work. Though there are no official counts of sex trafficking victims in the US, we know that the majority (though not all) are women and girls, and that one in six runaways in the US are child sex trafficking victims. In 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children supported law enforcement in more than 17,000 cases potentially involving child sex trafficking.
While sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking, not all human trafficking is sex trafficking. Sex work is not sex trafficking, and needless associations of the two can draw connections where there may not be one. Sex workers consent to sex work; victims of sex trafficking do not (though consensual sex workers can sometimes become victims of trafficking).
Misinformation plagues many topics, including stories of sex trafficking. Using statistics from reliable sources and clearly labeling conspiracy theories or unproven claims as such can help combat misinformation.
Additional resources
- 13 sex trafficking statistics that explain the enormity of the global sex trade (USA Today)
- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls: A snapshot of data from 71 urban cities in the United States (Urban Indian Health Institute)
- Transforming the Culture of Power: Recommendations to Combat Gender-Based Violence (Center for American Progress)
Summary
Gender-based violence refers to violence perpetrated against an individual because of their gender or gender expression. It primarily affects cis and trans women and girls but also impacts all marginalized genders. While “gender-based violence” can be used as an umbrella term, being as specific as possible about the type or acts of violence being discussed (without sensationalizing or including unnecessarily graphic detail) provides clarity to audiences.