Pandemic & Violence Against Women

Pandemic & Violence Against Women

Although the pandemic has affected many lives, it has taken the greatest toll on women and girls. Here are just some of the devastating statistics:

• More women lost their jobs than men. Many women have not returned to work.
• UNESCO estimates that 11 million girls may not return to school.
• Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, 1 in 3 women experienced physical or sexual violence mostly by an intimate partner.
• Globally, over 240 million women and girls, aged 15 to 49, have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence in the last year.
• The pandemic intensified violence against women and girls and deep structural inequalities, reversing decades of progress, and raised the number of women living in extreme poverty, exacerbating the risk factors of violence against women.
• Less than 40% of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. Those who seek help contact friends or family. Fewer than 10% of those seeking help reported to the police.
• This means the number of women victimized by violence is actually much higher.

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness..."

- Eleanor Roosevelt