To Address Gender-Based Violence, We Need Creativity, Collaboration and Courage

Aug 20, 2020 | Bjorn Andersson
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One glaring truth the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced when it comes to gender-based violence is that it is a humanitarian, development and socioeconomic crisis—a persistent and daunting triple threat whose solutions must be grounded in gender equality and human rights.

Even before the pandemic, gender-based violence was a debilitating challenge globally, with on average one out of three women experiencing some form of violence in her lifetime. In Asia and the Pacific, the percentage of women disclosing experience of physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner ranged widely across different countries, from 15 percent in places like Lao PDR and Japan to 64 percent in several Pacific countries like Solomon Islands and Fiji. 

Not long after WHO declared a Covid-19 pandemic in March, UNFPA forecast that an estimated 31 million additional incidents of gender-based violence could be expected globally, if lockdowns last for at least six months, with women confined indoors with their abusers. For every three months such restrictions continue, an additional 15 million incidents could be expected.