Measuring the shadow pandemic: Violence against women during COVID-19

Generated by UN Women based on Rapid Gender Assessment Surveys on the impacts of COVID-19 on violence against women (VAW RGAs), with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Download Annex: Phase I questionnaire

Download Annex: Phase II questionnaire

EXPLORE THE DATA | COUNTRY EPORTS | EXPLORE MORE

Emerging data from a new UN Women study confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a shadow pandemic of violence against women

COVID-19 has intensified violence against women

Socio-economic stressors such as employment and external stressors such as food insecurity and family relations have a significant impact, not only on experiences of violence or feelings of safety but also on women’s well-being overall.

Women are feeling more unsafe at home

The findings revealed that women are feeling less safe at home as conflicts between adults at home has increased, along with the occurrence or threat of physical violence, or because other women in the household have been hurt.

Women feel less safe in public spaces

Violence against women in public spaces remains a key deterrent to women’s mobility during COVID-19. It limits their access to employment, essential services, and recreational activities. It also negatively impacts their health and well-being.

Women are reluctant to seek help outside the family

For violence that occurs within the home, most women tend to seek help from family than from the authorities, but more women seek help from police when it comes to sexual harassment in public spaces.

Violence against women during COVID-19 is linked to other negative outcomes

2 in 5 women said that COVID-19 has worsened their overall mental and emotional health.

Women who experienced or know women who experienced violence since COVID-19 were 1.3 times as likely to report increased mental and emotional stress as women who did not.

EXPLORE THE DATA

Indicator

Violence against women during COVID-19

Women who reported that they or a woman they know experienced a form of violence since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know experienced physical violence since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know experienced verbal abuse since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know experienced sexual harassment since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know EVER experienced a form of violence (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know EVER experienced physical violence (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know EVER experienced verbal abuse (%)

Women who reported that they or a woman they know EVER experienced sexual harassment (%)

Women's safety at home or in public during COVID-19

Women who reported that their feelings of safety at home became worse since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that they feel unsafe at home in the last 6 months (%)

Women who reported that conflict among adults in the household became more frequent since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that there was frequent conflict among adults in the household in the last 6 months (%)

Women who reported that their feelings of safety walking alone at night became worse since COVID-19 (%)

Women who reported that they feel unsafe walking alone at night (%)

Women who reported that they feel unsafe walking alone during daytime (%)

Women's perception of VAW during COVID-19

Women who thinks that domestic violence became more common since COVID-19 (%)

Women who thinks that domestic violence is common in the community (%)

Women who thinks that violence against women in the community increased since COVID-19 (%)

Women who thinks that violence against women is a problem in the community (%)

Women who thinks that sexual harassment became more common since COVID-19 (%)

Women who thinks that sexual harassment is common in the community (%)

Women's mental / emotional stress and food insecurity during COVID-19

Women's experience of VAW and likelihood that their emotional health is being negatively affected during COVID-19 (X times

Women's feelings of safety at home and likelihood that their emotional health is being negatively affected during COVID-19 (X times)

Women's feelings of safety in the public and likelihood that their emotional health is being negatively affected during COVID-19 (X times)

Women who reported that their overall mental and emotional health was negatively affected by COVID-19 (%)

Women who feel unsafe at home and their likelihood of food insecurity in the household during COVID-19 (%)

Women who are moderately or severely food insecure during COVID-19 (%)

COUNTRY REPORTS

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Call to Action

Put women at the center of responses, including policy solutions >>
- to ensure that women’s voices, needs and rights are reflected in pandemic responses, recovery, planning and decision-making.
Allocate additional resources and include evidence-based measures >>
- to address violence against women and girls in COVID-19 recovery and response plans through holistic and multi-sectoral measures that are fully integrated within national and local policies.
Strengthen services for women who experience violence, including where COVID-19 has increased existing risk factors and vulnerabilities. >>
- Efforts implemented since the onset of the pandemic to strengthen services must be maintained as a priority of recovery plans, and all women and girls must be aware of and able to access quality available services.
Invest in medium- and long-term prevention efforts to end violence against women and girls >>
- that address gender norms, root causes and risk factors, especially for those that have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Prevention initiatives can include messaging to influence social norms through media, dedicated curricula in both formal and informal education systems, and economic and livelihoods support to women and households.
Ensure that gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data are collected regularly, including to measure the impacts of COVID-19 and short- and long-term violence against women and girls >>
- This includes resuming national prevalence survey data collection on VAW and strengthening administrative data systems. Ensure that data capture intersectionality and marginalized groups. To this end, further investments in gender data are paramount. If regular prevalence surveys cannot be conducted, the VAW RGAs have proven to be an innovative solution.

About the Study

UN Women conducted Rapid Gender Assessments specifically focused on VAW and COVID-19 (VAW RGAs). The study is producing the first set of reliable, cross-country, and nationally representative data on topics related to VAW, women’s safety at home and in the public sphere during COVID-19 and access to resources, services, among others.

The VAW RGAs were implemented in 13 countries (from April - September 2021): Albania, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Paraguay, Thailand and Ukraine.

The study was supported by national statistical offices (NSOs) or national women’s machineries and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The survey research partner was Ipsos. A technical advisory group guided the process and regular consultations were done with external partners to inform the study.

Highlights