Climate Change and Gender-Based Violence: International Legal Obligations and Proactive Strategies for Protection

This chapter examines the complex interplay between the impacts of climate change and gender-based violence (GBV), focusing on state and international legal obligations to protect, promote and respect the right of women to be free from violence. While the stressors associated with climate change are complex and cumulative, emerging advances in data analytics and predictive modelling offer new opportunities for proactive risk management. Significantly, such advances potentially transform the identification of GBV risks from reactive responses to proactive prevention, including through early action warning systems. Given the current and future availability of such knowledge and technology, states and international organisations are under de facto ‘due diligence’ obligations, stemming from their intersecting de jure commitments under international human rights and climate law. Critically these obligations include an ongoing responsibility to undertake research, analysis and communication about risks and effective management strategies to protect women in both an individual and collective capacity.