These acts include domestic violence – which is a crime in many places and can be a violation of human rights law – as well as acts of sexual violence within the scope of international humanitarian law, such as rape and gang rape by weapons bearers, enforced prostitution and sexual slavery. Humanitarian agencies have estimated that in just the first six months of lock-down due to COVID-19, 31 million additional cases of GBV could have occurred. Human rights experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, have labelled the situation a pandemic in a pandemic and have called for ‘peace at home’, imploring States to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) through post-COVID-19 recovery plans. The spike in violence against women and their children since the outbreak of COVID-19 has been called a ‘shadow’ pandemic by Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. The global SGBV crisis requires a survivor-centred prevention and protection approach in all humanitarian activities, and international humanitarian law provides powerful protections to this end. It is a reminder of the strength and resilience of individuals and communities, but also of the magnitude of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), whose victims are diverse, including not only women and girls but also men, boys, and sexual and gender minorities. Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the start of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. We are witnessing a tragic backslide in the progress gained on preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian settings, and we can’t afford to let it happen. Yet, eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves faced with a frightening dichotomy: an increase in sexual violence in places affected by conflict and violence, coupled with a reduction of services available for victims and survivors. None of it should come as a surprise emergencies and crises have a well-documented history of deepening structural inequalities and exacerbating risks.
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