MEASURING THE SHADOW PANDEMIC:

VIOLENCE AGAINSTWOMEN DURING
COUNTRY REPORT: JORDANEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In Jordan, women face an epidemic of violence
which, with the addition of COVID-19, has led
to a negative increase in vulnerability to all
forms of violence against women (VAW). As
a result, women felt less safe, have struggled with mental and emotional health issues, and increasingly found themselves indangerous situations over the past year. The
repercussions of COVID-19 vary in type andseverity based on pre-existing factors, including socioeconomic status and vulnerability toother stressors. This research delves into therelationships between measures of VAW andrelated demographic, behavioural and socioeconomic factors.

This study found that women’s baseline feelings of safety in Jordan have worsened as aresult of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it
was inside or outside of their households, withsignificant negative impacts on their mental
and emotional well-being as a result. Amongfactors associated with these feelings, external stressors such as food insecurity, family
relations and access to support services stoodout as having a significant impact not only on
experiences of safety (or violence) but also on
women’s well-being overall.

2

1. INTRODUCTION
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jordan’s
Population and Family Health Survey foundthat 19% of women aged 15–49 who had everbeen married had experienced sexual violencefrom an intimate partner at least once in their
lifetime and 21% had experienced physicalviolence.1
Since the pandemic began, rapid gender assessments conducted by UN Women using administrative data from police, VAW hotlines,
and other service-providers suggest that the
COVID-19 pandemic has increased risk factors
for women and intensified some of the existing forms of VAW. In Jordan, early after thestart of the pandemic, a rapid gender assessment conducted by UN Women reported that
62% of women respondents felt an increased
risk of physical or psychological violence due totensions caused by COVID-19.2
Measures implemented to limit the spread of
the pandemic, such as lockdowns and curfews,
have had an impact on VAW risk factors, especially for women and girls who faced multiple
forms of discrimination. Lockdowns in Jordan
have been consistent and strict throughout
the country’s two waves of COVID-19.3 The
Center for Global Development, in a series ofcollated reports on the impact of COVID-19 on
VAW, reported a quadrupling of self-reported
VAW cases in Jordan since the pandemic.4

Department of Statistics. 2018. Jordan Population andFamily Health Survey (2017-18).
2 UN Women. 2020. “UN Women Rapid Assessment of
COVID-19 on Vulnerable Women in Jordan” April.
3 Reuters. 2021. https://graphics.reuters.com/worldcoronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/
jordan/4 Center for Global Development. 2021. “Violence Against
Women and Children During COVID-19—One Year On and
100 Papers In: A Fourth Research Round Up”.

Within this context, UN Women commissioned
Ipsos to conduct a rapid gender assessment
survey on the impact of COVID-19 on women’swell-being and safety in 13 countries across regions. In adapting the surveying methodology
to be feasible in the COVID-19 context, proxymeasures on experiences of VAW were used tocollect data on sensitive topics to reduce therisk to the respondents, and thus may not bedirectly comparable to other studies conducted before the pandemic.
Having reliable data that were collected inline with methodological, safety and ethicalstandards, without putting women at greater
distress and risk of violence, was critical to informing where policies and programmes can
respond to the UN’s system-wide efforts toscale up actions to address VAW in responseto the impact of COVID-19.
This report details the findings of the survey
conducted in Jordan from 17 August to 15 September 2021. The survey was conducted withwomen aged 18 and older who had access toa phone – a population that estimated to beat least 68% of the total population of women
aged 18 years and older in Jordan5 – and there isa minimal gender gap in overall mobile phoneownership in the country.6

1

5World Bank. 2020. “Mobile cellular subscriptions,” WorldBank data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SET
S?end=2020&locations=JO&start=2020
6 Pew Research Center. Mobile Connectivity in Emerging
Economies p. 9

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

3

KEY FINDINGS
66%
of women said
that they or other
women they know
have experienced aform of violence.

42%

46%

33%

Verbal Abuse

DeniedBasic Needs

Sexual Abuse

13%

21%

of women feel unsafe intheir homes.

said this has gotten worse as a resultof the COVID-19 pandemic.

38%

39%

of women live in households withconflict among adults at least weekly.

said conflict between adults has
become more frequent as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic.

40%
of women think that the experience of
verbal or physical abuse at the hands ofa partner is common for women in theircommunity.

74%
said this has gotten worse as a resultof the COVID-19 pandemic.

41%

11%

of women think that physical harm,abuse and harassment are a problem
for women in their community.

of women think physical harm, abuse,and harassment has gotten worse since
the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

30% walking alone at night.
of women feel unsafe

6% walking alone during the day.
of women feel unsafe

24%
of women think that it iscommon for women to
be harassed in public.

4

2. EXPERIENCES OF VIOLENCEAGAINST WOMEN
2.1. Proxy measures of violenceagainst women in the community
When considering the measures of violenceagainst women at the community level in thisstudy, it is important to be aware of the methods used. Due to the remote nature of thissurvey, indirect questions were asked as proxy
indicators of VAW, so it was not possible to distinguish respondent experiences from those ofother women in their community or whether
this experience occurred within or outside of
the household. Therefore, while data from thisstudy should not be interpreted as prevalencedata, it nevertheless provides critical information on the impact of COVID-19 on women’s
perception of safety and well-being.
With this understanding of the approach,more than half of the respondents (66%) said
they either know a woman who has experienced a form of VAW (such as physical harm,
denial of basic needs, sexual harassment, restrictions or verbal abuse), or have experienced
this themselves at some point in their lives.
Since the start of COVID-19, almost a quarterof respondents (22%) said they know a woman
who has experienced a form of VAW or haveexperienced a form of VAW themselves. Verbal abuse and forced isolation were among themost common forms of VAW reported over a
lifetime, and all forms of VAW were more likely
to be reported by women who said they haveexperienced safety issues, whether in public

or in private. Similarly, since the start of COVID-19, women who felt unsafe, in public or private, were more likely than women in general
to have experienced or know someone who
has experienced VAW. Denial of basic needs
and forced isolation were the most common
forms of VAW occurring exclusively since theonset of the pandemic.7
In addition to personal experience of safety
being associated with VAW, women who
generated an income (73, compared to 64%
of women who did not) or had children in thehousehold (69%, compared to 58% of women
who did not) were more likely to say that they
have experienced, or know someone who has
experienced a type of VAW in their lifetime.
For women who generated an income, the experience of physical violence (40%, comparedto 31%), verbal abuse (54%, compared to 43%),or sexual harassment (46%, compared to 29%)
was significantly higher in their lifetime thanthose who did not generate an income. Women income-earners were no more likely to experience any singular type of VAW exclusively
since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, andthey were less likely to experience VAW generally only since the start of COVID-19 whencompared to those who did not generate income (17%, compared to 24%), likely driven byincreased experiences of denial of basic needs
and forced isolation since COVID-19 among
those who did not generate income.
7

Cognitive testing of this question revealed that, for many
women, forced isolation and denial of basic needs were
influenced by COVID-19-related measures and economic
stress. The results from this study suggest that women may
bear a disproportionate burden when it comes to COVID-19
effects; however, it is important to keep the overall context
in mind when interpreting study results.

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

5

FIGURE 1

Experience or knowledge of specific forms of VAW, over lifetime and since COVID-19
3%





15%

19%



1%



25%



All women

1%

35%



All women

1%

Forcedisolation

29%

All women

34%

Among women who felt
unsafe walking alone



12%

14%



All women

No experience or knowledge

Among women who felt
unsafe at home1%Among women who felt
unsafe walking alone

Experience or knowledge
in lifetime



40%



57%





33%
58%

Among women who felt
unsafe at home

52%



66%



43%

2%

52%











Sexualharassment

47%
32%



1%

34%

1%



Among women who felt
unsafe at home

48%





44%



51%



Among women who felt
unsafe walking alone



55%

48%

63%







29%

1%



37%

28%





Denial of
basic
needs

55%





42%

Among women who felt
unsafe at homeAmong women who felt
unsafe walking alone



57%

44%







50%





46%



20%

Among women who felt
unsafe walking alone



53%

21%



1%

50%





46%





51%

All women

Verbal
abuse



65%



Physicalviolence



33%



2%

59%
18%

40%





Among women who felt
unsafe at homeExperience or knowledge
exclusively since COVID-19

Note: “Don’t know” responses in the dark grey bars comprised 3% or less of total responses in each category

6

Women with children in the household werealso more likely than those without children
in the household to have experienced almost
all types of VAW in their lifetime: verbal abuse(50%, compared to 37%), denial of basic needs(44%, compared to 36%), forced isolation (47%,compared to 38%), or sexual harassment (35%,compared to 28%). Women with children in
the household were also more likely to haveexperienced specific types of VAW exclusively
since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This includes physical violence (16%, compared
to 10% of women without children in thehousehold) and verbal abuse (22%, compared
to 15%).

Moreover, respondents that experienced adecrease in income in the past year were particularly likely to also have experienced a typeof VAW exclusively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to those whose
income has been stable. Additionally, women
who said they or someone they know had experienced a type of VAW in their lifetime weremore likely to experience severe food insecurity. These figures suggest a relationship between experiences of VAW, household dynamics, and structural and economic factors.

FIGURE 2

Experience or knowledge of specific forms of VAW exclusively since the onset of COVID-19, bychanges in income in past year
Physicalviolence

Verbalabuse

Denial ofbasic needs

24%
16%

16%

Sexualharassment

32%

34%

22%

Forcedisolation

11%

Among women whose income remained the same

Younger women aged 18 to 29 were the most
likely to experience, or know a woman who
has experienced, forced isolation (45%) or sexual harassment (37%) in their lifetime, while
middle-aged women (aged 40 to 49) were
those most likely to have experienced physicalviolence (37%) or verbal abuse (53%), and older
women aged 60 and older were those less like-

19%

13%
9%

Among women whose income decreased

ly to have experienced or know a woman who
has experienced of any type of VAW (16% physical violence , 22% verbal abuse , 25% resource
restriction, 25% forced isolation and 12% sexual harassment). This may suggest that younger women are more open to discussing VAW,
or it may suggest that they are more at risk ofbeing exposed.

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

7

3. FEELINGS OF SAFETY
3.1. Personal safety inside the home
Regarding safety within the household, 2 in 10
women (21%) reported that over the past six
months adults in their household have argued
or had some sort of conflict among themselves

on a weekly basis. Nearly 2 in 10 respondents(17%) reported this happening daily. Almost 4
in 10 women (39%) said that conflicts between
adults in their household have become more
frequent since the onset of COVID-19.

FIGURE 3

Changes in frequency of household conflict as a result of COVID-19

All women

39%

Among women fromhouseholds withfrequent conflict
between adults
Among women fromhouseholds with
infrequent conflict
between adults

49%

62%

17%

More frequent

11% 1%

30%

67%

About the same

8%

14%

2%

Less frequent

Note: “Don’t know” responses in the dark grey bars comprised 2% or less of total responses in each category

Women who generated an income for theirhousehold and those with children in thehousehold were not significantly more likely
than women generally to have conflict in theirhouseholds; however, they were more likely to
say that household conflict has become more
frequent as a result of COVID-19. Further, those
who experienced frequent household conflict
were more than three times as likely (62, compared to those who experienced infrequent
conflict 17%) to say that the occurrence of conflict has increased as a result of the pandemic,
suggesting that the pandemic has escalated
existing tensions in the household.

The experience of conflict also appears to be
associated with feelings unsafe. While overall,more than 1 in 10 women (13%) said that they
have felt unsafe in their household in the last
six months, those who experienced frequent
conflict (at least weekly) between adults in
the household were four times as likely (20%)
as those who experienced infrequent conflict(5%) to feel unsafe in their homes. More than 2
in 10 women (21%) said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made things worse in terms of how
safe they feel in their homes.

8

FIGURE 4

Perceptions of women’s safety in the household, by frequency of household conflict
Felt unsafe at home

Felt less safe at home since
the onset of COVID-19

32%
20%

19%

13%

12%

5%

Frequent household conflict

Occasional household conflict

Women aged between 40–49 years, who lost
income in the last year, or who had children in
the household were more likely to feel unsafe
in their homes than the average. Additionally,
women who felt unsafe in their homes weremore than twice as likely compared to women
who felt safe to experience severe food insecurity. This reinforces the view that external
stressors and family composition alike can significantly impact household dynamics.

No household conflict

When asked why they have felt unsafe in theirhomes, women cited inability to reach out for
help, living with people they cannot trust, andverbal abuse as the main reasons. Women
who felt unsafe at home and were aged 18
to 29 were more likely to say they were livingwith people they could not trust (43, compared
to 25% of women 30 and older).

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

9

FIGURE 5

Reasons for women feeling unsafe in their homes (among the 13% who reported feeling unsafe)
I was unable to communicate/reach out for help

40%

There was verbal abuse in my household

38%

I was living with people I could not trust

32%

Other adults in the household had hurt me29%

Other women in the household had been hurt

23%Children in the household had been hurt

20%

My shelter is insecure (e.g., there are no locks)

18%

I had a serious medical condition or disability and felt vulnerable

17%

There is physical violence in my household

14%

There was substance abuse (e.g., alcohol or drugs) in the household

6%

Another reason

4%

Indicates reasons most closely tied to violence

3.2. Personal safety in public spaces
Within their communities, the majority ofwomen said they feel safe walking around theareas where they live during the day (93%), but
this drops to 67% when asked about walking
alone at night. While feelings of safety wereconsistent across age groups during the day,younger women aged 18 to 29 were significantly more likely to feel unsafe when alone
at night (35%), particularly when compared to
women aged 60 and over (11%), a group which
was also the most likely to say they never leave
the house alone (31%).

Additionally, women who said they think VAW
is a problem in the community were significantly more likely to say they felt unsafe walking around alone, whether it was during theday (10%) or at night (40%). Women who said
they or another woman they know had experienced a type of VAW in their lifetime arealso more likely to feel unsafe walking aroundalone during the day (8%, compared to 3% of
those who have not experienced VAW directly
or indirectly) or at night (34%, compared to22%), pointing to the societal implications that
VAW can have on women’s feelings of safetyin public.

10

FIGURE 6

Perceptions of safety while out in public, by experience or knowledge of VAW in a lifetime
Felt unsafe walking
alone during the day

Felt unsafe walking
alone at night

Felt less safe since theonset of COVID-19

34%

32%
22%

8%

21%

3%

VAW reported (respondentor someone she knows)

The study suggests that feelings of safety
in one’s community have been impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 3 in 10(29%) women saying they feel less safe alone
at night since the start of COVID-19. Lessened
feelings of safety in public spaces since the onset of COVID-19 were particularly pronounced

No VAW reported

among women who said they were alreadyfeeling unsafe walking alone during the day
or at night (47%, compared to 21% of those always felt safe), suggesting that the COVID-19
pandemic has exacerbated existing safety issues for women in Jordan already feeling at
risk.

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

11

4. PERCEPTIONS OF
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
4.1. Women’s perceived safety inside
the home
When considering the broader community,
40% of women said that they think that theexperience of verbal or physical abuse at thehands of a partner is common for women. This
number is particularly high among women
who are employed (48%) but there is only aslight increase among those who have children in the household (42%). However, forwomen who have felt unsafe in their home orreported frequent conflict in their household

this number jumps to 64% and 52%, respectively, and among women who said that theyor another woman they know has experienced
a type of VAW it is 56%.
Additionally, women who said that experiencing abuse at the hands of a partner is very
common were twice as likely to be food insecure (19%) when compared to those who said
that it is very uncommon (9%). These data reinforce the idea that women’s own household
financial situations play a large role in how
they perceive safety for women in the community more broadly.

FIGURE 7

Perceptions of partner abuse, by perceptions of safety
All women

10%

Among women who
thought violence, abuse, orharassment is a problem
in their community

14%

Among women who
had felt unsafe intheir home

Very common

31%

39%

42%

21%

33%

43%

Common16%

Uncommon

23%

4%

9% 2%

11% 2%

Very uncommon

Note: “Don’t know” responses in the dark grey bars comprised 4% or less of total responses in each category

About three-quarters of women (74%) indicated that the pandemic has made physical andverbal abuse at the hands of a partner worse
since the start of the pandemic, and among
women who said that physical and verbal
abuse at the hands of a partner is common
this increases to 85%. This finding is particu-

larly noteworthy as it is nearly twice the proportion of women overall who say that abuseat the hands of a partner is common, suggesting that even in situations where abuse may
not be perceived as common, the majority ofwomen believe that the COVID-19 pandemic
has led to increased violence.

12

Women who generated an income and thosewith children in the household were especiallylikely to indicate that domestic abuse is common (46 and 42%, respectively). They werealso especially likely to say that safety has gotten worse since the pandemic (79 and 76%,

respectively). Women who perceived VAW to
be a problem in their community or who said
that situations of abuse at the hands of a partner were common were also more likely to
say that safety has gotten worse (81 and 85%,
respectively).

FIGURE 8

Perceptions of partner violence, by experience or knowledge of VAW in lifetime
Thought abuse at the hands ofa partner is common

Thought abuse at the hands of a partner has
gotten worse since the onset of COVID-19

76%
56%

77%

71%

55%
33%

Yes

72%

No

Women or someone they know
has experienced physical abuse

29%

Yes

No

Women or someone they know
has experienced verbal abuse

These data points suggest that women may
be including their own experiences of VAW
and safety when reporting on the experiencesof women in their community, making themmore likely to think that abuse and safety issues at home are common in the community
overall.
Similar to experiences of violence outside thehome, 75% of women said that they believethat women would seek help if they experienced verbal or physical abuse at the handsof a partner. However, women with a primary-level education or less were far more likely
than those with higher levels of education to
say that women would seek help (82%) while
those with a college degree or higher were farless likely (68%), a pattern which does not appear in reporting violence in public spaces.
Again, similar to experiences of violence outside the home, 66% of women said that they
believed women would seek support primarily
from family, indicating a lack of trust in au-

Yes

No

Women or someone they know
has experienced physical abuse

Yes

No

Women or someone they know
has experienced verbal abuse

thorities such as police. In fact, more womensaid that they would primarily seek help fromwomen’s centres, groups or NGOs (13%) thanthe police (6%) in situations of violence inside
the home, despite 72% of women being awareof legal support or help in reporting the incident or dealing with police. Women who havefelt unsafe in their own home were less likely
to seek support primarily from family (56%)
and nearly twice as likely to primarily go towomen’s centres, groups or NGOs (21%), perhaps indicating trust issues with household orfamily members.
While three-quarters of women (74%) said thatthey knew of places that would help with basic
needs, less than half (43%) said that they knewof services for women that help by providing
financial support. These numbers dropped
among women who said they have felt unsafe
in their homes, to 27% and 56% respectively,
suggesting that much more could be done tobuild awareness among affected populations.

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

13

4.2. Perceptions of violence against
women in the community

abuse and the harassment of women are a
problem in their community, compared to 11%
of women 60 and older. Women with children
in the household were more likely to say they
think they are a problem compared to women
who do not have children in the household (25versus 18%, respectively). Women who havethemselves experienced safety issues, whether in public spaces or in the home, were also
more likely to think that VAW was a problem
in their community.

When asked about violence, abuse of theharassment of women in their community,
about a quarter (23%) of women said that they
believe they are at least somewhat of a problem and an additional 17% said that they area little bit of a problem. The perception of aproblem was higher for younger women aged
18 to 29, of whom 27% thought that violence,
FIGURE 9

Extent to which violence, abuse or harassment of women is a problem in the community

All women

7%

Among those who
felt unsafe walking
around alone

9%

Among those
who felt unsafe
in their homeAmong those who
experienced frequenthousehold conflictat least weekly

16%

17%

24%

18%

10%

A lot

58%

20%

31%

19%

2%

45%

16%

21%

Somewhat

34%

48%

A little bit

2%

1%

2%

Not at all

Note: “Don’t know” responses in the dark grey bars comprised 2% or less of total responses in each category

1 in 10 women (11%) said that they think violence, abuse or the harassment of women in
their community have gotten worse since theonset of COVID-19, while more than threequarters (77%) said that they have stayed thesame. Women who said that they have experienced safety issues, whether they were inside(21%) or outside (18%) the home, were more
likely than those who felt safe within theirhome or outside of it (9 and 8%, respectively) to
say that violence, abuse or the harassment of
women have gotten worse since the onset of
COVID-19, suggesting that while pre-pandemic
conditions may not be substantially different,
those that had pre-existing exposure or risk are
more likely to feel that the impacts of the pandemic enhanced their sense of risk.

144.3. Women’s perceived safety inpublic spaces
When it comes to women’s perception ofsafety in public, a quarter (24%) of women said
they think it is common for women to experience harassment and safety issues in public atnight, consistent with the 30% of women who
said that they themselves feel unsafe at night.
Similar to the patterns above, younger women
aged 18 to 29 were more likely than those aged
over 29 to say that it is common for women toexperience harassment and safety issues inpublic at night (28%), particularly when compared to those aged 60 or older (11%). This correlates with data on mobility, where women
aged 60 and older were more than three times

as likely to say they never leave the housealone compared to women aged 18–29 (16%and 5%, respectively). Women who said thatthey or someone they know had experienced aform of VAW in their lifetime were more than
twice as likely than those who did not to saythat facing safety issues when alone at night iscommon for women (29%, compared to 14%).
Approximatively half of women (53%) said thatthings have gotten worse in terms of feelingsof safety since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of experiencing safety and harassment issues when alone at night. This viewis slightly higher among women who said thatthey or someone they know had experienced aform of VAW in their lifetime (57%, comparedto 45% of those who did not).

FIGURE 10

Perception of women’s safety in public at night, by experience or knowledge of VAW in a
lifetimeThought women experiencing
safety issues while out at nightis commonThought women experiencing safety
while out at night has gotten worse
since the onset of COVID-19

57%
45%
29%
14%

Yes

No

A majority of women (82%) expected thatwomen experiencing harassment or abuse inpublic spaces would seek help, and nearly halfof these women (48%) said that they expected
women would seek help primarily from family – twice the number of women who said
they would seek help primarily from the police (25%), despite a high awareness (72%) ofservices that assist with reporting incidents
to the police. Younger women (aged 18 to 29)
were less likely (77%) than women older than
29 years to expect that women would seek
help primarily from family.

Yes

No

Although women cited an increased sense ofanxiety and fear outside of the household during the pandemic, over half of women (57%)
said that they leave their house at least oncea week. That said, over 7 in 10 (72%) have limited their social interactions due to constraints
related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was
slightly more common among women who
said that they or another woman they know
have experienced a type of VAW (75%).

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

15

5. IMPACTS OF VIOLENCEAGAINST WOMEN
Emotions and experiences of personal safety
in and out of the home may be strongly associated with women’s attitudes and perspectives
towards issues that arise in their life and theirability to handle them, as well as their generally mental and emotional well-being. Women

who said that they had felt unsafe, and particularly those who said that they had felt unsafe at home, were much more likely to show
signs of depression and hopelessness than theoverall sample, which was already more than athird of the female population in the country.

FIGURE 11

Measures of mental health, by feelings of safety
Had little interest or
pleasure in doing things
at least half of the days
since the onset of COVID-19

Not been able to stop or
control worrying at least
half of the days since theonset of COVID-19

Felt down, depressed or
hopeless at least half ofthe days since the onset
of COVID-19

All women

Felt unsafe at home

In addition to safety issues being associatedwith mental and emotional well-being, certain women were more likely than their peers
to report COVID-19 mental health impacts.
Examples include: women with lower education levels (58% not able to control worrying
and 44% feeling down and depressed at least
half the days since the onset of COVID-19), andrespondents who said that they have a disability (60% not able to control worrying, 47% had
little interest in doing things, and 48% feeling down and depressed at least half the days

38%
54%
48%

46%
66%
56%

39%
58%
50%

Felt unsafe walking around alone

since the onset of COVID-19). Single women
were less likely to say they experienced uncontrollable worrying more than half the days
since the onset of COVID-19 (35, comparedto 58% of separated, divorced, or widowed
women, and 48% of partnered women), andmore likely to say that the pandemic has not
had any impact on their mental and emotional
well-being (47, compared to 37% of separated,divorced, or widowed women, and 38% of partnered women).

16

Women who had reported experiencing safety issues, however, were much more likely
to say that the pandemic has had only negative impacts on their mental and emotional

health compared to women who had not experienced safety issues, regardless of whether
those safety issues were inside or outside thehousehold.

FIGURE 12

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, by feelings of safety

All womenAmong women
who felt unsafe
at homeAmong women who
felt unsafe walking
around alone

COVID-19 has
had only negative
impacts

28%

28%

4%

45%

36%

COVID-19 has had
both negative andpositive impacts

Additionally, women who felt a negative impact of COVID-19 on their mental or emotional
health were twice as likely to be moderately
or severely food insecure (48%) compared to
women whose mental and emotional healthwas not affected (24%). This suggests, as previous reports have found, that the negative
impacts of COVID-19 are felt the strongest by
those already experiencing hardship.
The impacts of violence against women in
public and private spaces was also observed
when analysing women’s socialization and

40%

33%

27%

4%

COVID-19 has
had only positive
impacts

6%

16%

33%

COVID-19 has
had no impact
at allmovement patterns. Women who felt unsafe
walking alone, whether it was during the day
or at night, were significantly less likely toleave the house daily (18%) when comparedto those that never felt unsafe in public (24%).
Additionally, women who said that they havefelt unsafe in their home were more likely to
say that COVID-19 has limited their interactions with their friends and social groups (79,compared to 71% of women who said that they
have not felt unsafe in their homes).

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

17

6. RECOMMENDATIONS
The impacts of COVID-19 on VAW in Jordan
are significant. Women in Jordan encounterviolence in public and in private spaces, at thehands of strangers and by those closest tothem. With around 38% of women likely experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity at
the time of the study and 66% saying they had
lost income, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, external stressors that can increase therisk of VAW are on the rise.
As a result of the intersectionality of VAW,
policy and programmatic interventions require tailoring to the factors driving different
experiences of violence. Not only does thetype of response that is best-suited to address
VAW vary based on the specific experiences ofwomen, but the resources they seek out vary
as well. This work stresses the importance ofpartnering with the existing infrastructurethat supports women in vulnerable situations
to empower communities with the full suite ofresources they may need to support women.
Considering this, the research supports threerecommendations:
1. Interventions that are meant to address
VAW should consider how policy interventions in other areas may alleviate some of theroot causes of VAW, including through fully
integrating VAW measures in post-COVID-19
recovery plans as an opportunity to build
back better.
This study has provided insights into someof the factors associated with VAW, such as
income fluctuations, food insecurity, lower
education levels and having children in thehousehold. Each of these substantive areas
encompasses its own policy domain where
there are programmatic interventions thatare specifically tailored to move the needle.
However, as we have seen, the double burdenof COVID-19, in addition to external stressors
such as financial hardships and food insecu-

rity, increase women’s vulnerability to VAW,
requiring all policy interventions, and particularly those created in response to the COVID-19
pandemic, to incorporate gender mainstreaming. Within this, the role of social protection
policies can be particularly powerful in alleviating many of the structural and economicroot causes of VAW.
For instance, while awareness of many services that support women is high, the data show
low expected usage. This suggests that policy
interventions, such as those that enhance thequality and accessibility of the response services available to women survivors of violence, as
well as the efficiency in the treatment of casesin order to reinforce trust in authorities, are vital to improving the reporting of VAW and theusage of these services. Among the support
mechanisms listed, mental health support services had the lowest awareness, at just 29%,
suggesting that mental health awareness andpsychosocial support programmes should be
expanded, and that current programmes could
improve awareness and usage, while destigmatizing VAW as something that should only
be dealt with within the family.
2. VAW-focused programmatic interventions
should address traditional gender roles and as
well as the limits of trust in institutions, capitalizing on community-level infrastructuresuch as women’s organizations.
With women’s roles being governed by traditional cultural and social norms, mostsurveyed women reported assuming nonincome-earning (93%) and caregiver (68%)
roles in the household. Women who ventured
outside were more likely to report experiences and knowledge of various forms of VAW,
whether in public or inside their own homes.
While the majority of women in Jordan generally feel safe, responses to the proxy indicators of VAW clearly show a large disconnect, as

18

women tend to say that experiences of VAW
are much more common in their community
than their reporting of their own personalsafety suggests. Similarly, although most
women know what resources are available tothem, few say they think a woman would avail
herself of those resources should she encounter violence. This suggests that significant programming should be undertaken to sensitize
women to VAW and how it can be addressed.
Additionally, given the substantial role thatsocial and gender norms have in Jordan, it iscritical that any such interventions work tostrengthen women’s trust in institutions andcarefully address intra-household conflicts,
working to engage men along with women.
If community-level infrastructure such as
women’s centres or community-based programming can be further strengthened byleveraging existing social networks, this willallow for better access to referral pathways
for women who experience VAW and encourage more effective reporting with less fear ofconsequences.
Both media and the education system havesignificant roles to play in advancing traditional gender norms and in encouraging
women to speak about their experiences with
VAW. Messaging around gender starts early

in a child’s life. Thus, educational reform, reinforced by strong messages in the media thatshow women in empowered roles, could havea significant impact on eradicating the underlying structures that contribute to continued
cycles of violence.
3. Support further research that goes beyond
understanding VAW prevalence to examine
its underlying social norms and behaviouraldrivers, particularly around breaking taboos
and help-seeking behaviour.
While this study provides insightful information about the current state of VAW in Jordan,
further research that seeks to understand thesocial norms and behavioural drivers that underlie the experience of VAW and help-seeking
behaviours is critical in order to end VAW in
Jordan. In-depth qualitative research is particularly useful in unpacking the “how” and“why” behind attitudes and behaviours and,through this, building a more thorough framework of the underling social and gender norms
and the reasons women experience VAW andseek help. This research could help to develop
campaigns to end VAW in Jordan and support
women survivors of such violence, making
them feel more safe and comfortable seeking
help through official channels.

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan

19

7. METHODOLOGY
The survey was fielded via Computer-Assisted
Telephone Interviewing using random-digit
dialing to mobile numbers between 17 Augustand 15 September 2021. The total number ofcompleted interviews was 1,204. During thesurvey period, COVID-19 infection rates weresome of the lowest Jordan has seen in the past
year, averaging less than 1,000 new cases perday, which is 13% of the country’s highest peak(from March 2020).

The sample was drawn via random-digit dialing among the population of mobile phone
numbers, so the sample population is limited
to women aged 18 or over with mobile phone
access. Women over age 60 were also specifically targeted with an existing database toensure adequate coverage of this age group.
However, the percentages for each age groupfrom this survey match the percentages foreach age group from Jordan’s Census data.8

Age group

Percentage of adult women based on Census data

Percentage of adult women from sample data

18–29

37%

37%

30–39

24%

25%

40–49

18%

18%

50–59

11%

11%

60+

10%

8%

8 Department of Statistics. N.D. Census population data.
http://dosweb.dos.gov.jo/population/population-2/

20

DEFINITIONSCommunity: A term referencing the geographic area in which the respondent lives.
Food insecurity: This study used the Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO)’s formulation
to measure food insecurity, with an eightstatement battery. These data can be used
to establish estimates of the proportion of
the sample who were moderately or severely
food insecure, which can also be disaggregated by other variables of interest throughthe use of the FAO Food Insecurity Experience
Scale (FIES) module. Any references in the report to prevalence of moderate or severe foodinsecurity represent estimates of the prevalence and should be interpreted as such.
Partnered: A term referring to women who
were married or living/cohabiting with a partner
Violence against women: Any act of genderbased violence that results in, or was likely
to result in, physical, sexual or psychologicalharm or suffering to women, including threatsof such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivationof liberty, whether occurring in public or in
private life.
Felt unsafe walking alone: Refers to women
who indicated that they felt “not very safe” or“not safe at all” walking alone outside during
the day (at question C02) or during the night(at question C03).

Experienced or knew someone who had experienced VAW: Refers to women who indicated that they, or another woman they knew,
had experienced any form of VAW. “Since
COVID-19” is added to indicate women who indicated that these incidents had only been occurring since the start of the pandemic.
Experienced frequent conflict: Refers to respondents who indicated that they experienced conflict or arguments in their homes atleast once a week during the last six months(at question C19).
Experienced infrequent conflict: Refers to
respondents who indicated that they experienced conflict or arguments in their homes“once or twice” or “never” during the last six
months (at question C19).
Violence, abuse and harassment are a problem
the community: Refers to respondents who indicated that physical harm, abuse or harassment of women is “a lot”, “somewhat”, or “alittle bit” of a problem where they live (at question C07).
Violence, abuse and harassment are not a
problem the community: Refers to respondents who indicated that physical harm,abuse or harassment of women is “not at all” aproblem where they live (at question C07).

Measuring the shadow pandemic:
Violence against women during COVID-19 in Jordan21© 2021 UN Women. All rights reserved.
The views expressed in this publication arethose of the author(s) and do not necessarily
represent the views of UN Women, the United
Nations or any of its affiliated organizations.
Produced by the Women Count programme
Editor: Jen Ross
Design: Ouissal Hmazzou

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