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Remarks of the UN Special Representative Pramila Patten at the High-Level Dialogue – UNFPA

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Remarks of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, at the High-Level Dialogue Series convened by UNFPA

Segment II – Gender Equality & Rights in addressing GBV in COVID-19 Response

10 June 2020

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How can applying an analysis of intersecting inequalities enable us to offer a different understanding of the impacts of GBV in the context of COVID-19 and the solutions including for prevention?

I would like to commend the initiative of UNFPA.

COVID-19 is indeed causing an unprecedented crisis that is disrupting lives, health, economies and societies.

COVID-19 does not discriminate but its impact does. Evidence is already showing how the impacts of COVID-19 are different for women and men, and how they are exacerbating existing gender inequalities and posing an additional burden for women and girls.

COVID-19 has altered perceptions of safety and security for millions of people in social isolation, particularly women and girls. As communities around the world are forced to stay at home, women and girls are at a heightened risk of domestic violence, child abuse and other forms of gender-based violence.

Gender-based violence does not begin with disasters like COVID-19. But the chaos and instability it causes is providing an enabling environment that may exacerbate or spark diverse forms of violence including sexual violence. GBV is a hidden consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic which is further intensified in the contexts of conflict, violent extremism, terrorism, displacement and migration.

GBV takes many forms and happens everywhere – in homes, in detention facilities and in camps for internally displaced persons and refugees. It happens at any time, such as while performing daily activities like collecting water and fuel.

In a number of conflict countries, my Senior Women Protection Advisors have signaled how with the increase in the need to collect water and fuel, which is a role performed by women and adolescent girls, the increase in the number of trips made and the distance travelled, is putting women and girls at a greater risk of sexual violence. Similarly, they have signaled the heightened risks of forced and early marriage faced by adolescent girls as families seek to mitigate dire economic consequences of COVID-19. In Somalia, girls forced to stay at home due to COVID-19, are undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as cutters resort to door to door FGM.

With international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts and peace processes stalled as the world responds to COVID-19, an escalation of violence in some conflict settings has been noted. Sexual violence is used as a tactic of war and terror by different armed and terrorist groups who see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of governments is turned towards the pandemic.

COVID-19 is already having negative impacts on the reporting of cases of sexual violence, on service provision to survivors and on justice and accountability.

Already a dramatically under-reported crime, CRSV now risks being further obscured by the pandemic due to the imposition of quarantines, curfews and other restrictions on movement; limited access to first responders; fear of contracting COVID-19. Restrictions on the movements of police and security forces is creating a rule of law vac­uum in remote communities and is increasing the prevalence of gender-based violence.

A direct outcome of the pandemic is an increased burden on health services as resources are being prioritized for the COVID-19 response. The diminishing of routine health services means barriers to service provision for victims of sexual violence, including reduced supply of essential services, and reduced access to sexual and reproductive health.

COVID-19 is also posing serious challenges to the effective functioning of justice systems. With the lockdown on judges, prosecutors and lawyers, judicial activity is paralyzed, and trials stalled. There are also limitations on the availability and capacity of law enforcement and judicial authorities to receive and process reports on incidents of sexual violence. While combatting impunity for sexual violence is a fundamental aspect of deterring and preventing such crimes, the lack of access to justice is opening doors to a context favorable to impunity.

As we strive to ensure that gains made are not rolled-back or reversed, there are important lessons to be drawn from previous public health emergencies including the 2013-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa where similar increases in gender-based violence were observed.

During Ebola, public health infrastructure also came to a grinding halt. In a desperate attempt to control the virus, governments also employed many of the current social distancing strategies- school closures, curfews, and quarantines.

What happened as Ebola spread throughout West Africa was that while resources were prioritized for the Ebola response, heavily burdened relief efforts failed to account for the needs of women and girls. GBV was largely ignored in response and recovery planning. Unfortunately, many governments and organisations waited until Ebola was under control before addressing these needs. By then it was too late.

As we design our policy and program responses to prevent and respond to GBV, we must draw from those valuable lessons learnt.

Unequal gender relations and patriarchal norms are aggravated, with the potential to further magnify and modify risk and protective factors. Gender-based violence against women is one of the fundamental social, political and economic means by which the subordinate position of women with respect to men and their stereotyped roles are perpetuated. This violence is a critical obstacle to achieving substantive equality between women and men as well as to women’s enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

This crisis raises particular concerns for the marginalized and most vulnerable in soci­ety. Marginalization creates vulnerability. Inequality already affects the enjoyment of human rights by certain marginalized communities. The pandemic is revealing underlying structural inequalities that are causing certain groups to be disproportionately affected.

Women are not a homogenous group. Because women experience varying and intersecting forms of discrimination, which have an aggravating negative impact, gender-based violence affects women to different degrees and in different ways. The discrimination experienced by women is multidimensional and is exacerbated by other forms of discrimination based on factors such as age, ethnic origin, disability, poverty levels, sexual orientation, gender identity, migrant status, marital and family status, literacy and other grounds. Women who are members of minority, ethnic or indigenous groups, refugees, internally displaced or stateless often experience a disproportionate degree of discrimination.

It is imperative that:

  1. the national response plan on COVID-19 be grounded in a strong knowledge of gender dynamics, and gender relations, with sex and age disaggregated data that takes into account the differing experiences, the gendered roles, needs, responsibilities and dynamics of all vulnerable groups;

  2. an intersectional approach which includes a consideration of where gender intersects with other inequalities/oppressions is adopted in designing and developing appropriate context-specific responses. A complete picture of intersecting types of discrimination must be taken into account to understand and effectively address and prevent the spectrum of gender-based violence.

  3. We must all advocate at all times for an intersectional, inclusive, gender responsive and feminist-informed pandemic response where every COVID-19 response plan, every recovery package and budgeting of resources, addresses the gender impacts of this pandemic.

Concretely, Governments need to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment are both integrated as a cross-cutting commitment in prevention, response and recovery, and made an integral factor in effective COVID-19 mitigation strategies and actions. Women are critical enablers in such efforts and need to be centrally engaged in driving solutions for COVID-19.

  1. Prevention and mitigation initiatives need to be integrated across sectors. However, a top-down approach with interventions coordinated and implemented through centralized agencies, is not enough. A bottom-up approach is strongly recommended with interventions emerging from within the communities that they will most affect. Community gatekeepers including religious, traditional, women, and youth leaders should play a key role in both virus and GBV mitigation initiatives. They can also serve as early warning and alert groups within the community.
  2. Last but not least, data collection and analysis is the backbone of results-based programming. It is critical to the effectiveness of targeted service delivery, advocacy and policy development. Comprehensive data on the gendered impact of COVID-19 must be collected.

CONCLUSION

The impact of COVID-19 will be wide scale, longstanding, and likely generational.

How we respond today, presents a unique opportunity to course-correct and to tackle the root causes of discrimination and widespread inequalities that have been harmful for so many women and girls made more vulnerable both to the dis­ease and to the economic and social impact of the response.

The coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity for the international community to act in solidarity and turn this crisis into an impetus to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, to address structural inequalities and deficits that have consistently held women back and to re-imagine and transform societies. Response and recovery planning must ensure that those most impacted by COVID-19 are not forgotten and are not left behind.

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Question:

Imagine gender-responsive health systems in the post-COVID-19 world. What would be the essential elements to ensure the delivery of better sexual and reproductive health services, including for GBV?

A gender-responsive health system is one which:

  • places a gender perspective at the centre of all policies and programmes affecting women’s health and involves women in the planning, implementation and monitoring of such policies and programmes;
  • promotes women’s health throughout their lifespan;
  • ensures universal access for all women to a full range of high-quality and affordable health care, including sexual and reproductive health services;
  • ensures the removal of all barriers to women’s access to health services, education and information, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health, and, in particular, allocates adequate budgetary, human and administrative resources;
  • includes interventions aimed at both the prevention and treatment of diseases and conditions affecting women, as well as responding to violence against women;
  • pays special attention to the health needs and rights of women belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, such as migrant women, refugee and internally displaced women, the girl child and older women, indigenous women, women with disabilities or women living with HIV/AIDS; and
  • is consistent with the human rights of women, including the rights to autonomy, privacy, confidentiality, informed consent and choice;

From the perspective of my mandate, survivors of conflict-related sexual violence need immediate, life-saving health care. This includes comprehensive clinical management of rape to manage injuries, administration of medication to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and prevention of unwanted pregnancies.

While limited services for post-rape medical and psychosocial care may be available in some urban centers, such services are typically less available in rural or remote areas, with extremely limited access in acute humanitarian crises, particularly conflict and displacement settings.

Health services, when accessed in time, can provide vital interventions, such as emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy (within 120 hours) and Post–Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) medication to prevent HIV infection within 72 hours of possible exposure.

The essential components of a health system that delivers better sexual and reproductive health services is one that is:

  • accessible and provided in a timely manner
  • free for all
  • equipped for comprehensive clinical management of rape
  • respectful of survivor safety, confidentiality and autonomy and
  • able to deal with diverse groups of survivors, including men and boys, and children born as a result of sexual violence.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to increased use of health hotlines and telemedicine, which provide good options for remote access to consultations. However, this cannot replace the in-person treatment and counseling support that many survivors of sexual violence need.
  • Post COVID-19, Governments should mainstream the “one-stop center” model in their healthcare systems to ensure comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence.