Pivoting to remote research on violence against women during COVID-19

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This SVRI Knowledge Exchange discusses when—and how—to safely proceed with remote data collection about VAW during COVID-19 (or similar public health emergencies). The discussion builds on recent publications developed by VAW experts, and is intended to be immediately applicable for organisations considering qualitative and/or quantitative research involving adult women during the pandemic.   Download

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When Returning to Normal Doesn’t Work for Half the World’s Population: How to Build Back Better

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The time immediately following a crisis, whether it be a peace process, rebuilding after a natural disaster or seeing a new government come into power, creates a window of opportunity to reimagine what the next phase of life can look like. When the status quo has been upended, there is a feeling that “normal” can be redesigned. With COVID-19, this opportunity seems more pressing than ever before as the pandemic has highlighted the inequalities that…

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Gender equality needed to address COVID-19 in conflict and peace

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“If we do not change the face of politics, if we continue to ignore the lessons of decades of women’s activism, if we continue to spend our resources on weapons rather than on social services, we will have a harder time recovering from this pandemic, preventing the next one, or overcoming the climate crisis. It is an easy choice to make.”   Read more

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COVID-19 and violence against women and girls: Addressing the shadow pandemic

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This brief presents emerging evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on violence against women and girls (VAWG). The brief advocates for measures that prevent and respond to VAWG in the current circumstances of lockdown as well as for investments that ensure the safety of women and girls in longer-term recovery plans. It makes recommendations to be considered by all sectors of society, from governments and multilateral institutions to civil society organizations, private companies, and…

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COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Gender Lens

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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to disruptions of both social and economic activities across the globe. While the early narrative described COVID-19 as the “great equalizer,” asserting that the virus is capable of infecting anyone, it is critical for policymakers to understand that the impacts of COVID-19 will not be the same for everyone. As experience from previous epidemics suggests, COVID-19 will impact groups who are most vulnerable and amplify any existing inequalities across…

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Ensuring Women’s Access to Cash Transfers in the Wake of COVID-19

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Governments around the world are implementing a variety of measures to dull the blow of mass income loss and unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Cash transfers, whether targeted or universal, have been one of the most popular remedies used to date. While the design of individual cash transfer programs varies greatly by country and by context, all are an attempt to mitigate the economic shock caused by the ongoing pandemic. The design…

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Gender & the COVID-19 Crisis in Conflict-Affected Contexts

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Search for Common Ground (Search) recently consulted over 30 teams around the world to understand their perspectives on needs and opportunities around the COVID-19 crisis, drawing from their experiences working in fragile contexts, with women and girls, and on other health crises such as the Ebola epidemics in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Based on these local insights and analysis, this discussion paper provides a snapshot of the gendered impact…

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Domestic violence during COVID-19: are we asking the right questions?

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The number of domestic violence cases reported to the South African police between March and April dropped by 69.4%. This figure makes it tempting to believe that in South Africa, unlike many other countries, lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic reduced family and domestic violence. However police statistics, call numbers to hotlines and counts of women accessing services during lockdown tell us little about the number of women and families actually experiencing violence at…

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Care in the Time of Coronavirus: Why care work needs to be at the centre of a post-COVID-19 feminist future

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New research by Oxfam and partners reveals that while COVID-19 and the related containment efforts have caused increases in women’s – and men’s – unpaid care workloads, women are still doing the bulk of this work. Women living in poverty, single mothers and essential workers as well as those belonging to minority racial and ethnic groups are being pushed furthest to the margins. It shows the real consequences this has for the health, economic security…

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COVID-19: One more setback for refugees in MENA – especially women and girls

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Refugees and the displaced, the majority of them located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, are now faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and economically damaging efforts at its mitigation. Fragile gains in women’s workforce participation are at risk, gender-based violence is on the rise, and women’s voices are going unheeded. CARE’s soon-to-be-released Rapid Gender Analysis gathers together data from its country offices in MENA and beyond to provide a sobering picture of…

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