​ HOW ARE GIRLS AND WOMEN AFFECTED BY CORONAVIRUS?

Disease outbreaks increase girls’ and young women’s duties caring for elderly and ill family members, as well as for siblings who are out of school.  
 
Girls, especially those from marginalised communities and with disabilities, may be particularly affected by the secondary impacts of the outbreak.  
Gender-based violence and coronavirus  
Economic stress on families due to the outbreak can put children, and in particular girls, at greater risk of exploitation, child labour and gender-based violence. Quarantine measures should be accompanied by support for affected households. 
Governments must include measures to address gender-based violence (GBV) and child protection in COVID-19 response and recovery plans and ensure that plans are gender and age responsive and multi-sectoral. 
Girl- and youth-led groups should be safely and meaningfully involved in the development of plans, and plans should assess and monitor the risk and prevalence of violence.
Health services  Evidence from past epidemics indicates resources are often diverted from routine health services. This further reduces the already limited access of many girls and young women to sexual and reproductive health services, as well as maternal, new-born and child health services.  
 
The COVID-19 pandemic must not be used as an excuse to restrict or rollback girls and women’s access to essential sexual and reproductive health rights, which must continue to be prioritised, funded and recognised as lifesaving.
Economic well-being 
Economic challenges during the outbreak pose a serious threat to young women’s work and business activity and expose them to increased risk of exploitation and abuse. Girls and young women facing severe economic shocks are more likely to take on high-risk work for their economic survival. 
Responses to the outbreak must protect and support young women’s economic empowerment and recognise the additional burden of unpaid and domestic work on women and girls. 
The health and wellbeing of care workers, the majority of them women, must be a core part of the response to the outbreak.       Find out more via the World Health Organization.