This paper investigates the mutual relationship of gender-based violence (GBV) and cyclone-related disasters based on a case study of a coastal region in Bangladesh, carried out after the 2016 Cyclone Roanu. The paper maps out different forms, experiences and impacts of GBV before, during and after cyclones. It argues that cyclones lead directly and indirectly to GBV, and that GBV makes women and children more vulnerable to the effects of disasters. This paper also develops a conceptual framing that draws on Nixon’s (2011) ‘slow violence’.