Achieving Gender Equality for Women Experiencing the Deepest Vulnerability: A Focus on Gender-based Violence in the Lives of Childbearing Refugee Women in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi

Gender equality is key to accomplishing all Sustainable Development Goals. Gender-based violence (GBV) is rooted in gender inequality and encompasses acts harmful to women that adversely affect their health outcomes. For refugee women of childbearing age, GBV has important implications for maternal morbidity and mortality and refugee women who flee to low-income countries like Malawi are faced with additional vulnerabilities associated with being located in a country already wrought by poor maternal health indicators related to gender inequality. This mixed methods study will provide foundational knowledge about the experiences of GBV in the lives of childbearing women living at Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi. Findings will advance the development of future healthcare interventions and policies to promote and protect the health of childbearing women survivors of GBV in refugee camps and women resettled in states like Minnesota. The project directly supports outcomes tied to SDGs #3 and #5 while also addressing issues related to SDGs #11 and #16.