According to Aditi, "Disasters exacerbate pre-existing gender-based discrimination and inequalities and block access for women and girls to basic services and rights, livelihood, and decision making in cases of gender based violence. COVID-19 has escalated these existing inequalities for women and girls living in disaster settings, along with discrimination of the already marginalized populations, displaced persons, refugees and migrants. With a near closure of informal workplaces, families are resorting to negative coping strategies to bring in money. This can (and has) lead to sexual exploitation of women who are forced into sex work in order to provide for the families. This is particularly prevalent in refugee settings where there is little opportunity to find paid work. Moreover, women and girls in abusive relationships are now confined in their homes with their abusers and more exposed to gender-based violence, with little or no recourse to seek support."
Zahra Fathi, Executive Director of Family Health Association Iran said that "unfortunately, the wide outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran has affected our performance. All the educational and training workshop, as well as seminars have been cancelled and the number of people who want to seek sexual and reproductive health services from our centres has sharply decreased. Two of our centres are closed and four of them are providing services to the people through the outreach team. Currently, we mostly provide services which are related to prevention of coronavirus. One of our centres, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, provides online screening of COVID-19 through hotlines and a website."
The additional complexities arising out of any new disaster in the current times is like adding the proverbial last straw. The recent category-5 cyclone Harold that hit the Pacific islands of Vanuatu and Tonga in early April 2020 during the lockdown period, brought in a spate of newer problems. It damaged houses and buildings and destroyed crops, impacting the shelter, food security, nutrition, and health of the people. In such cases, disaster response mechanisms have to be refocused to respond quickly.
Aditi makes a case for the IPPF humanitarian model, that works in coordination and partnership with several humanitarian agencies, across the entire disaster management cycle - from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery. It connects humanitarian action with long term equitable, sustainable development goals, aiming to bridge the divide between humanitarian response and development. Its 'Minimum Initial Service Package for reproductive health' is a set of life-saving activities to be implemented at the onset of every humanitarian crisis and can mean the difference between life and death for people affected by disasters.
Governments will have to ensure that lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services are an integral part of national and provincial disaster management plans and that women, girls, young people and other vulnerable people have access to them in humanitarian crises or public health emergency situations. Aditi hopes that this pandemic will prompt governments to increase investments in healthcare and make it inclusive and accessible for all through innovative approaches, included digital health, self-care and community based services.
Anisur Rahman Khan, a returnee Bangladeshi migrant, and Director (Migration), Awaj Foundation, shared that the government in Bangladesh has allocated incentives for different sectors due to the impact of COVID-19 but not for migrants. Despite migrants and foreign remittances contribute significantly to the economy, people are being left out during this crisis.
Shadow pandemic of domestic violence during COVID-19
Sanna Johnson, Regional Vice President for Asia at International Rescue Committee (IRC), said the Asia Pacific region is struck by conflicts and emergencies constantly. IRC initiated since mid-January 2020 efforts to ensure all its staff of over 6000 in Asia and the Pacific is acutely aware of and practising all evidence-based COVID-19 prevention standards, including personal protective equipments for those who need it. Then we had to adjust IRC health programmes spanning from those which are providing safe abortion to other sexual and reproductive health services, or those doing outreach or helping with referral collaboration with partners, so that not only the staff but all those who are seeking care from these centres are protected from COVID-19. "We have a shadow pandemic as we see acutely increased numbers of domestic violence" said Sanna Johnson, highlighting women and girls are more at risk of sexual and gender based violence during humanitarian crises.
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