Gender-based violence (GBV) exists in every society worldwide and is exacerbated in emergencies. There is already an unsettling amount of information on GBV occurring against the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is also becoming increasingly clear that many of the measures deemed necessary to control the spread of the disease are not only increasing GBV related risks and violence against women and girls, but also limiting survivors’ ability to distance themselves from their abusers as well as reducing their ability to access external support. As such, it is critical that all actors involved in efforts to respond to COVID-19 across all sectors take GBV into account within their programme planning and implementation.
This document, by the Inter-Agency GBV Guidelines Implementation Support Team with the inputs of the GBV Guidelines Reference Group, is intended to support non-GBV specialist humanitarian actors to identify COVID-19, GBV-specific risks in their sectors, and take actions to mitigate those risks. This document does not claim to be an exhaustive set of guidance, nor should the content be treated as static. Instead, it contains an initial summary of potential options for adapting established good practice to this unprecedented situation.