Citation

Lancet T. Lancet 2021; 398(10317): e2125.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02781-1

PMID

34895519

Abstract

16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual, global civil society campaign calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, ended on Dec 10. This year, the 30th anniversary of the event, carries particular poignancy. Violence against women and girls, already at high levels before COVID-19, has risen markedly during the pandemic and increased in severity, according to Oxfam. Government responses to the pandemic included lockdowns, suspension of social services, and economic hardship, many of which had the consequences of placing women at increased risk of violence, while in many countries, financial and logistical support for violence response services was withdrawn. Violence against women has received a tiny fraction of the attention and funding of the COVID-19 pandemic response, despite the efforts of campaigners.

Encompassing physical assault, harassment, cyberviolence, rape, and sexual violence, gender-based violence toward women is underpinned by gender inequality, codified in sociocultural norms, and entrenched through laws and policies that accord increased status and power to men relative to women. Gender-based violence is so common as to be pervasive in women's lives. Globally, one in three women experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetimes, usually by an intimate partner. One in ten women have experienced cyberviolence, threatening women's safe access to online spaces that are increasingly crucial for full participation in society. Poorly defined and legislated against, cyberviolence is not separate from physical violence, but often interwoven with it. Although violence affects all women, the burden falls particularly on the intersection of disadvantage created by age, race, class, and gender and sexual identity. The physical, mental, social, and economic consequences of this violence are devastating and lifelong for women, their children, their families, and whole communities...

Language: en