We Demand Change: Violence against Women and Girls in the Greater Horn of Africa during COVID-19
Publisher: SIHA Network
Date: 2020
Topics: Conflict Causes, Gender, Public Health
Countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Uganda
There is an attitude that VAWG is unimportant in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This briefing paper endeavours to highlight just how untrue and unjust that attitude is. The disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls in the Greater Horn of Africa stems from structural and systemic inequalities that existed before the pandemic. Closely following the social, political, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, SIHA staff in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda have observed an increased prevalence of VAWG in these countries. Evidence of this dangerous trend has been extracted from SIHA’s work in the region, alongside insights from SIHA staff and members, and an amalgamation of the lived realities of women and girls that have been documented over the past two months.