The West and East Africa Gender-Based Violence Due Diligence Tool is designed to equip investors with a structured way to identify, assess, and mitigate the material risks gender-based violence (GBV) poses to their investments, particularly within the sociopolitical contexts of West and East Africa. While GBV profoundly impacts individuals and communities—and, by extension, financial systems—its significance as an investment risk remains largely unrecognized or unmeasured within standard due diligence frameworks.

This tool reframes GBV from being solely a human rights concern to also being a political, regulatory, operational, and reputational risk for investors. Rooted in the understanding that GBV arises from entrenched power imbalances and systemic norms, this guide helps investors identify how companies might be exposed to GBV-related risks due to factors ranging from local norms and sectoral practices to state-level policy and enforcement mechanisms. The solution proposed is not direct intervention but rather integrating GBV risk analysis into existing due diligence processes to create accountability, raise awareness, and influence investment decisions in a way that aligns financial practices with the broader goal of reducing gender-based violence.

‍