Countries across the globe have made various efforts to suppress transmission of COVID-19 and to mitigate its socio-economic impacts. This unprecedented crisis unfolds in the context of many pre-existing challenges, one of which is the gendered dimensions of access to basic necessities in a world rife with gender inequality. These challenges are now exacerbated by the pandemic and have a disproportionate impact on women’s enjoyment of human rights including economic, social and cultural rights.
While statistics seem to indicate that more men than women have died of COVID-19, in other respects the COVID-19 pandemic clearly disproportionally impacts women. Studies show that women are often disproportionately employed in lower-paid, and precarious informal employment. Lockdown measures severely limit these women from continuing their work and earning their living. For those women experiencing domestic violence, their increased inability to maintain a level of financial independence leaves them even more vulnerable to abuse – whether physical, emotional, or economic.
Other intersecting vulnerabilities experienced by some women also compound these risks in the context of lockdown.
Victims and survivors of domestic violence are also at higher risk of health problems, including sexually transmitted infections, gynecological dysfunction, chronic pain, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.[4] These health consequences often continue long after the abuse has ended.[5] They are also at risk of reproductive coercion by which abusers try to control their reproductive health by, as examples, sabotaging birth control or forcing them to terminate a pregnancy.
Finally, access to justice for women experiencing domestic violence and other forms of GBV is made even more difficult during lockdowns. Victims and survivors who generally lack community support and face potential secondary victimization when reporting instances of GBV face the additional risk of being accused of violating lockdown restrictions when they come forward to complain. Stretched policing resources focused on policing lockdowns mean GBV cases are even less likely to be prioritized. In many cases the limited functionality of courts will inhibit women’s access to protection orders to guard themselves against further abuse.
Edited by Gospel Nwabuisi
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