Public health measures in a pandemic such as quarantines, school closures and channeling resources towards emergency service provision, expose structural realities of women and girls' lives globally, as well as point to inequities and weaknesses in our gendered socio-economic and health systems. While these policies may be essential and critical, there is need to address the context of women and girls' lives lest we cause more harm than anticipated. The spike in violence against women and children during humanitarian and public health emergencies is a manifestation of these inequalities and vulnerabilities. 1 This paper will discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and GBV in the context of lessons learned from prior emergencies to avoid ongoing missteps and urge the inclusion of women in all COVID-19 decision-making processes.
Data from over 80 countries suggest that 1 in 3 women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. 2 Moreover, women endure multiple and compounding forms of violence in emergency settings. In these contexts, at least 1 in 5 displaced women have experienced sexual violence. 3 In South Sudan, decades of war has meant that over 50 to 65 percent women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime, while 1 in 3 women have experienced non-partner sexual assault. 4 Women's and girls' vulnerability in crises are further exacerbated by the lack of access to their regular social networks and sources of social support, as well as health and other support services. Their exposure to violence increases as perpetrators might lash-out due to the economic strain caused by a pandemic, while their chances of leaving or resisting abusive relationships diminish. As service machinery operate in crisis mode to contain a pandemic, other critical services, particularly those needed by women and girls, often become unavailable or are de-prioritized and deemed non-essential. Moreover, fear of infection, restriction of movement and public unrest, as well as violence In recent times, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa highlighted how gender dynamics cannot be set-aside in the frenzy of an epidemic, to be dealt with later. Beyond paying attention to the gendered patterns of disease transmission and susceptibility, policymakers and researchers must be attentive to how societies are organized as we shape policy and programmatic response. As school closures and quarantines were enforced during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, women and girls experienced more sexual violence, coercion and exploitation. 5 Reports of violence were de-prioritized, uncounted and unrecognized. 6 Furthermore, young women and adolescent girls were unable to attend community meetings and receive instruction on how to protect themselves from the disease. 7 However, while women and girls were facing increased abuse and violence, failure to prioritize GBV funding alongside a failing health system and lack of coordination, the availability of services for survivors were severely affected in these countries. For example, in Sierra Leone, GBV services in the public health system were severely disrupted as resources and personnel were redirected.
However, a handful of GBV service centers managed by INGOs remained open and saw a 19% increase in women and girls accessing their health, counselling and case management services compared to the months before the crisis. 8 In Liberia, many GBV survivors were denied access to basic public health services out of fear that health workers would get infected. Police and justice systems were overwhelmed, which could have led to further increase in GBV as an 'atmosphere of impunity' was created. 9 In Liberia over 27% of people saw the police and justice systems as failing to handle GBV cases properly. Moreover, lack of access to basic sexual and reproductive health services (SRH) led to a 75 percent increase in maternal mortality in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as unintended pregnancy increased among young women in West Africa. 10
The COVID-19 pandemic is no different with early reports suggesting an increase in domestic violence and disruption of essential GBV and SRH services for women and girls when they need them most. Early evidence from China suggests that domestic violence has dramatically increased: a police station in China's Hubei Province recorded a tripling of domestic violence reports in February 2020 during the COVID-19 quarantine. 11 Groups working on domestic violence have reported that measures such as quarantines and social distancing have increased women's exposure to violence as confinement in physical spaces along with economic and health shocks have increased household stress levels.
However, support services are heavily strained due to the outbreak, particularly the healthcare and police services. Reports suggest that police have been reluctant to intervene and detain perpetrators due to COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons. 12 In some locations, authorities have reportedly converted women's shelters into homeless shelters. 13 UN Women has expressed concern that vital GBV health services may be diverted to deal with the outbreak. 14 Similarly, GBV prevention groups in South Africa are see- A judicial court in Beijing is using online court hearing and cloudbased platforms to handle GBV cases during the epidemic. 31 Similarly, telemedicine should be considered an alternative and secure way to provide women and girls access to contraceptives and abortion medication.
In addition, women's organization and other agencies are providing guidance on how to generate awareness and provide services in emergency context. Women's groups are publishing manuals and organizing livestream workshops that provide guidance on how to protect oneself during a crisis, including how to access legal aid. 32 They are organizing campaigns in social media to raise awareness as well as setting up support networks to help survivors. A network called 'Vaccines Against Domestic Violence' has over 2000 volunteers, who provide counseling and support families to resolve conflicts peacefully. 33 Similarly, international agencies that have experience working in humanitarian contexts such as the International Rescue Committee have guidelines on how to respond rapidly and set up mobile and/or remote GBV services. 34 Other strategies such as incorporating GBV training as part of cash transfers are showing promise. 35
We have another opportunity to do this right. The examples above clearly show that service provision as well as GBV prevention work is possible, and crises cannot be used as an excuse to disrupt/divert essential services and increase the vulnerabilities of those already hard hit by the situation. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction explicitly recognized the need to better integrate gender perspectives into emergency preparedness. 36 