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Statement issued by the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies (Call to Action) on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender-based violence and relevant considerations in its humanitarian response:

The COVID-19 pandemic and international response is an unprecedented moment in recent history. As the pandemic spreads, women and girls will continue to experience the impacts of COVID-19 -- and the measures to control it -- differently from men and boys. Examples of these differences include: negative impacts on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including reduced access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services; women’s overrepresentation in the health and social sector workforces placing women at heightened risk of exposure to the disease; reduced access to education, particularly due to increased household responsibilities; and financial implications for women due to loss of household income.

Physical, sexual, psychological and economic forms of gender-based violence (GBV) – present in all forms, in every corner of the globe - increase during times of crisis due to shifts in social structures and norms combined with pre-existing and systemic gender inequality, a root cause of GBV. Existing inequalities for women and girls are exacerbated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Vulnerability to COVID-19 and other risks stemming from response measures may also be increased for those who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination such as indigenous women and girls, older women, women and girls with disabilities or for other factors such as race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, ethnicity, migrant or refugee status.
Women and girls living in humanitarian contexts will experience the impacts of COVID-19 more profoundly for many reasons, including shocks to already limited health systems.

Key GBV concerns within the COVID-19 pandemic include:

• Increased risk of violence, including intimate partner violence and psychological abuse, as well as increased severity in pre-existing violence;

• Discontinued or disrupted access to GBV response services – including GBV case management and clinical management of rape – as well as sexual and reproductive health services and rights;

• Increased risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, including by humanitarian actors;

• Increased risk of negative coping mechanisms and issues related to economic pressures, such as child, early and forced marriage; and

• Increased forms of economic violence where women and girls are denied basic necessities including food, income, education and medical treatment.

The Call to Action partners call upon states, international organizations and non-governmental organizations delivering humanitarian programming in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to follow the recommendations below.