Executive Summary
Over 120 million people were forcibly displaced in 2024, with more than half being women and children. The majority were estimated to originate from, and be hosted by, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries. Displaced women face heightened vulnerabilities from pre-existing structural inequalities intensified during displacement.
As different women have different needs, the quest to save lives must operationalise inclusive and intersectional approaches to aid, which account for diverse and contextual needs and which ‘leave nobody behind’ by reaching the most vulnerable groups at different stages of forced migration.
Key domains of women’s needs in forced migration—and related recommendations—include:
• Protection: Women face disproportionate risks of sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, and exploitation. Survivors require immediate case management, safe shelter, legal counsel, and psychosocial support.
• Sexual and reproductive health: Women on the move have specific and critical sexual and reproductive health needs. Critical gaps exist in menstrual hygiene management, contraception access, testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and emergency contraception for sexual violence survivors.
• Maternal and newborn health: Inadequate care for pregnant women and mothers in displacement settings pose a risk for both mother and child. Barriers exist to accessing maternal and newborn health care in host countries, due to restrictive policies, language barriers, and cultural insensitivity, with racism compounding vulnerabilities.
• Mental health: Women on the move commonly experience deteriorating mental health. Often a dehumanising nature of forced migration, trauma, uncertainty, and caregiving responsibilities severely impact women’s mental health, requiring specialised support. All women on the move deserve treatment with dignity and humanity by service providers, recognising their agency and autonomy.
• Spiritual well-being: Many displaced women value spiritual well-being, often intersecting with emotional and psychosocial well-being. Faith serves as an important coping mechanism, yet humanitarian interventions often overlook spiritual dimensions of resilience. Faith sensitivity of service providers is key.
• Livelihoods: Livelihood opportunities are vital for enabling women on the move to remain resilient and selfreliant. Forcibly displaced women often lose their livelihoods and sources of income. Due to employment barriers, many displaced women are forced to work in the informal economy, further increasing their vulnerability to labour and exploitation.
• Education: Refugee women with low levels of formal education or literacy may experience exacerbated social marginalisation. The educational capital of refugee women is often undervalued and unrecognised, pushing them into insecure or exploitative work.
• Accommodation: Women on the move require adequate and safe accommodation responsive to their gendered needs. Unsafe, overcrowded shelter in transit and host countries exposes women to additional violence and risks of exploitation.
Key recommendations for humanitarian actors to consider include:
• Implement route-based programming across forced migration pathways.
• Extend provision of mobile health services for women on the move.
• Ensure gender-balanced composition of relief teams to improve access to aid.
To cite this policy briefing, use the following reference:
Pertek, S., Sharma, E., & Azasi, E. (2025). Addressing the needs of women and girls on the move: Toward an inclusive, intersectional and culturally sensitive approach [Policy briefing]. Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS).