Covid-19 and Climate Crisis Worsen Inequalities for Displaced Women and Girls

Mar 8, 2022
View Original

Conflict, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic are delivering a triple blow to the rights and safety of refugee, internally displaced and stateless women and girls, many of whom were already facing deep-rooted inequalities and discrimination.

Two years into the pandemic, we continue to see increased reports of gender-based violence, from domestic violence, forced marriages, child labour, to trafficking and exploitation.

In some contexts where families are hit by conflict, disaster, insecurity and spiraling poverty, girls are being taken out of school to work, beg, wed - and in the most extreme cases, to be sold.

Worsening socio-economic conditions aggravated by the pandemic, mean displaced women and girls are among those hardest hit. Millions are dependent on precarious employment in the informal economy – earning less and yet spending more to sustain their families. They are at greater risk of poverty and exploitation.

Gender inequality is both a root cause and a consequence of forced displacement. We know from our daily interactions that women and girls living in humanitarian crises and armed conflicts are at heightened risk.