The Shadow Pandemic: Policy Efforts on Gender-Based Violence during COVID-19 in the Global South

Abstract

Even before COVID-19 hit, one in three women experienced violence by a partner or sexual violence by a non-partner, according to the World Health Organization. With the pandemic, the risk of violence against women and children, especially within the home, increased further as people sheltered at home while facing great financial and emotional stress. Our assessment of government policies in a cross-regional sample of countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa since the pandemic's onset in early 2020 finds that: governments increased communication and digital services addressing GBV, such as hotlines, counselling, and reporting mechanisms, but struggled to meet increased demand for emergency services; states with existing robust GBV services were better prepared to continue service provision during the pandemic; beyond this, the gender ideology of the political leader made a difference in prioritisation and visibility; in Latin America, national-level responses were heterogeneous, ranging from dismissiveness by the presidents of Mexico and Brazil to new and proactive policies by the government of Argentina; and in neither Uganda nor any of the countries studied in MENA were shelters classified as essential services. Even in South Africa, where shelters were classified as essential, lockdowns complicated access. There is an urgent need for stronger policy responses to GBV, and not just for humanitarian reasons. The United Nations has estimated the economic costs of violence against women at about 2 per cent of global GDP. Governments need to ensure that emergency GBV services exist beyond hotlines and remain open and accessible around the clock. Non-governmental organisations play a vital role in GBV service provision but should not substitute for government provision. German and EU policies should encourage and support the development of GBV infrastructure, including first-response services, shelters, and gender-sensitive social protection programmes.