COVID-19 Puts More Women and Girls in Danger from Abusers

By Mariana AndreuJuly 22, 2020Since COVID-19-related lockdowns began, gender-based violence (GBV) has increased globally.More women areconfined at home with their abusers, more are afraid to go to health facilities because of COVID-19, andfewer are able to report violence safely without their abusers knowing. In countries that have long had low rates of gender-based violence,reports of domestic violence have increased. France has seen a 30% increase, Argentina 25%, Cyprus 30%, and Singapore 33%. In Canada, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, demands on domestic violence response, hotlines, and emergency shelter have all risen.And we know these numbers don’t tell the whole story—less than 40% of women who experience violence globally are able to report it and seek help, according to UN Women.COVID-19 has interfered with many global health programs and interventions, especially those targeting gender-based violence. As a result, public health professionals are worried about the increases in GBV—both those that we can detect through reported data and those that may go unnoticed during the pandemic.We need more dataIn Devex’sGender Data Series: Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, Henriette Jansen from UNFPA, Emily Janoch from CARE, and Laura Scanlon from Maido have talked about data collection methods and modern technologies that prioritize the safety of women and girls.Whenever we collect data as part of our w...

Source: IntraHealth International - July 22, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: cbishopp Tags: COVID-19 IntraHealth-UNC Summer Fellows Gender Equality Source Type: news