An Intersectionality Approach to Addressing Gender-Based Violence Against Internally Displaced Women Living in IDP Camps in Northern Nigeria

In the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, gender-based violence continues to be widespread. Women and girls living in IDP camps are not only vulnerable because of their gender and displacement status, they become even more vulnerable because family and community structures have broken down. This article aims at discussing the intersectional paradigm, developed primarily in the past two decades, and how it helps us to better understand gender based violence of the IDPs. It argues that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to gender based violence against women in general and IDP women in particular. A more complex analysis is needed to understand how race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and displacement status intersect with violence against women. These intersecting vulnerabilities which makes them exposed to gender-based violence from a number of different perpetrators equally lead to a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services. The plight of women living in IDP camps, lack of protection and especially the pressing need for a specific protection regime is the focus of this article. Using analytical study to inquire into the connection between power and gender-based violence against vulnerable persons of concern such as IDP, findings reveals that structural contexts elevate risks of gender-based violence (GBV) targeting internally displaced (ID) girls and women living in IDPs camps and therefore, the intersectional approach, not typically used in the post-conflict situation literature, must become a significant part of its framework.