Sexual and gender based violence has been called the “least condemned crime” in conflict and fragile situations,1 and the stories are far too familiar. Three Eritrean women were repeatedly raped by their smuggler in Libya, according to a May 2015 Amnesty report.2 African women and girls arrive in Italy pregnant as a result of their rape, according to a UNICEF report.3 A CARE International report on South Sudan in May 2014 suggested “many categories of gender-based violence are pervasive and engrained in social norms and practices.”4 A joint Italian-IOM initiative offers testimonials to would-be migrants of those who suffered as victims of gender-based violence on their journey to Europe.56

Internationally, governments and multilaterals agree sexual and gender-based violence is one of the major risks migrants and asylum seekers face on their journeys to Europe and South Africa. A World Bank/UNHCR report on forced displacement and mixed migration in the Horn of Africa stated, “[Sexual and g]ender-based violence [(SGBV)] is a pervasive challenge across the Horn of Africa, particularly in those countries affected by persistent conflict.”7 The United States Department of State stated in a report published on April 13, 2016 on Egypt, “Refugee women and girls, particularly sub-Saharan Africans, faced significant societal, sexual, and gender-based violence.”8

Lost in the testimonials and acknowledgements of the risks SGBV poses is how prevalent and perhaps commonplace SGBV has become among migrants and asylum seekers. Between November 2014 and June 2016, RMMS Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4mi) interviewed over 1,700 migrants and asylum seekers originating from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia on a variety of topics, including gender-based violence. Throughout the interview period, migrants on the move reported 563 reported incidents of SGBV, including 334 incidents of rape, along the migration routes across the eastern tier of Africa. All enumerated incidents below were either directly witnessed or were survived by the respondents directly.

65 respondents reported surviving sexual abuse themselves in 227 incidents, whereas 103 respondents witnessed an additional 336 incidents. Rape is the most commonly witnessed type of SGBV, and survivors report a constellation of other SGBV incidents as well as rape..........................

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Berhane Habtemariam