Responding to gender-based violence in disasters

Abstract

To the Editor: In the editorial Responding to Gender-based Violence in Distasters: Grappling with Research Methods to Clear the Way for Planning, Rosborough et al discuss challenges to measuring and reporting on gender-based violence (GBV) in disaster-affected populations. The authors also comment on our research contribution, which documented an increase in GBV among female internally displaced people following Hurricane Katrina well into a protracted phase of displacement. We greatly appreciate the editorialists' commentary and summary of the salient barriers to adequately assessing the prevalence of GBV in the context of disasters. Here, we seek to clarify our methods and choice of baseline GBV prevalence estimates.