The UNITY Platform, a network of 34 organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, has just published its 2020 annual report on violence against sexual and gender minorities in Cameroon. The report, produced annually by all the associations that the platform covers, shows more than 2000 cases of violence and violations of the rights of sexual and gender minorities affecting 930 people in 2020, compared to just less than 1400 in 2019. More than half of the reported cases involved psychological violence, with the rest consisting of cases of physical, sexual, economic or legal violence and hate speech. Gay men were the most affected victims of violence (552), followed by lesbians (214) and transgender people (64).

The report, Transphobie: le visage d’une nouvelle crise, places particular emphasis on violence against transgender people, which is being increasingly documented. According to a survey conducted by Réseau Indépendant des Trans d’Afrique, the results of which are published in the report, 53% of transgender people surveyed had experienced gender-based violence in health facilities. The perpetrators of violence could be strangers on the street (45%), family (41%), close or distant relatives (33%), intimate partners (26%) or ex-partners (10%).

The response to the violence by the UNITY Platform, which is hosted by the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (Camfaids), is presented in the annual report and includes services available within member organizations and external services offered in partnership with other organizations as needed.

The response mechanism starts with documentation and investigation and continues through medical care (consultations, examinations, care, treatment, provision of medication), psychological care (counselling, assessment of mental state, psychological consultations and follow-ups), social care (provision of means of subsistence, support in finding employment, admission to temporary housing as appropriate) and legal care (legal advice, assistance in drafting and filing a complaint) provided by one or more of the platform’s organizations.

“We have a system of focal points on gender-based violence issues within each UNITY member organization who are the first point of contact for victims. This is reassuring for the victims, who feel safe and understood simply because they are in a space that is well known to them,” said Nickel Liwandi, the Executive Director of Camfaids.

External mechanisms can include legal assistance through the intervention of a lawyer or police officer, medical assistance through specialized medical consultations, examinations, minor or major surgery and forensic certification or social assistance through referral to a partner organization’s shelter.

UNAIDS recently supported the efforts of the UNITY Platform and other civil society organizations in creating a space for exchange between LGBT organizations and other civil society organizations implementing HIV programmes with key populations, such as CAMNAFAW (Cameroon National Association for Family Welfare) and CARE Cameroon, to review the assistance provided to people prosecuted because of their real or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation.

Action continues to be taken to mobilize United Nations agencies and “champions” identified within governments, nongovernmental organizations and partner institutions to support civil society advocacy, as well as to institutionalize a platform for regular coordination and review of progress in implementing Cameroon’s recently adopted Five-Year Plan 2020–2024 to reduce human rights-related barriers to accessing HIV services.

“The mobilization of Cameroonian LGBT organizations within the Unity Platform is valuable because it provides us with the evidence needed for advocacy and action. The Unity Platform’s new report will serve to assess progress in reaching the targets of the Five-Year Plan 2020–2024. UNAIDS is committed to supporting the country’s efforts in line with our vision to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths,” said Steave Nemande, UNAIDS Strategic Intervention Officer for Cameroon.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plagued by political instability since the 1990s and has seen widespread attacks against civilians, violence between ethnic factions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and murder. Sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women is common.

Violence against women and girls continues to be a global pandemic that affects one in three women in their life. Violence against women is a major factor for contracting HIV—in areas with a high HIV burden, such as sub-Saharan Africa, women subjected to intimate partner violence are 50% more likely to be living with HIV. And men who are perpetrators of violence against women tend to be at a higher risk of HIV themselves and to use condoms less frequently, thus increasing the risk of HIV transmission.

According to the latest Demographic and Health Survey of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, HIV prevalence is three times higher among women aged 15–49 years (1.1%) than among men of the same age (0.4%) and twice as high among young women aged 15–24 years (0.46%) than among young men of the same age (0.22%).

RENADEF (Réseau National des ONG pour le Développement de la Femme), a platform of approximately 350 non-state groups working for women, is tackling this issue front and centre. As a subrecipient of a grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, RENADEF is running a project to strengthen awareness around sexual and reproductive health and rights, including HIV, to facilitate access to support services and to encourage behaviour change among adolescent girls and young women in 16 HIV high-burden provincial divisions.

In collaboration with health-care providers, almost 200 peer educators and mentors have been trained on sexual and reproductive health and more than 600 educational talks in different settings, including schools and communities, have been facilitated, reaching more than 6500 people, including 2500 girls.

“I was not informed about sexually transmitted infections and their consequences on my life, but I had the chance to participate in an awareness session organized by the peer educators and mentors in my neighbourhood; at the end of the session, I approached one of the sensitizers to explain my problem to her. She gave me advice and referred me to a health training, where I was taken care of for free and I feel good now,” said Nathalie Nyembwe (not her real name), who attended one of the educational talks.

The project also supports clinics giving psychosocial, legal and judicial support to survivors of sexual violence. Since 2018, clinics have been held that have provided psychological support to almost 5500 people and legal/judicial support to more than 3500 survivors of sexual violence.

The community sensitization, capacity-building of legal clinics and support for survivors of sexual violence have contributed to an increase in the reporting of rape.

“It’s particularly important, particularly as we reflect on our experience with COVID-19, that we acknowledge the important role that women have played to protect others from violence, to ensure continued support to vulnerable families and to ensure access to food and medicine. Women have provided invaluable support to keep people connected to neighbours, services and information, all the while ensuring that homes remain a safe space for children and families to continue to learn and grow socially,” said Susan Kasedde, the UNAIDS Country Director for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As a champion country of the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate all Forms of HIV-Related Discrimination, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a unique opportunity to strengthen its implementation of coordinated, comprehensive and scaled-up action involving a range of stakeholders and to build synergies on action on gender equality across sectors. 

8 March 2021

Winnie Byanyima

Executive Director of UNAIDS
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

Women leaders have provided a guiding light for the world in responding to the COVID-19 crisis, from heads of government to coordinators of grass-roots social movements. They have reminded the world how crucial it is to have critical numbers of women, in all their diversity, in positions of leadership.

But the COVID-19 crisis has seen progress towards equality pushed back. It has widened the gap between women and men in wealth, in income, in access to services, in the burden of unpaid care, in status and in power.

Up to 20 million more secondary school-aged girls could end up out of school following the crisis. Many may never go back to school or have access to skills and economic opportunities, and will be at greater risk of violence, poor health, poverty and more.

Two and a half million more girls are now at risk of child marriage in the next five years. There has been a dramatic increase in violence against women.

Pandemics such as COVID-19 and HIV magnify the fissures in society and exacerbate vulnerabilities. Gender-based and intersecting inequalities and violence hold back the lives of women and girls all over the world.

The pandemic has brought into sharp and painful focus that even before COVID-19 an estimated 34 million girls between the ages of 12 and 14 years were out of school, one in three women globally reported having experienced physical or sexual violence and women the world over worked longer hours for less or no pay.

Women who were already stigmatized are among those who are being hardest hit by the impacts of the pandemic. The sudden loss of the livelihoods of sex workers and their lack of access to health care and social protection have intensified their vulnerabilities, especially for those living with HIV. Many female migrants and precarious workers adversely affected by the pandemic are excluded from government relief and protection programmes, as well as health services. Stigma, discrimination and criminalization put transgender women, and women who use drugs, at heightened risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and hold them back from accessing HIV prevention, treatment and care services.

Recovery strategies cannot be gender-blind or gender-neutral: they must overturn the inequalities that hold women back.

Together, UNAIDS, UN Women, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Population Fund have convened a broad movement, Education Plus, to work with governments to secure the transformative changes that will enable all of Africa’s adolescent girls to be in school, safe and strong. That includes all the girls who have been pushed out of school during the COVID-19 crisis and those who were excluded from school even before the crisis hit.

Overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, and ending new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, both require that we close in on the inequalities that drive vulnerabilities. The new global AIDS strategy 2021–2026 puts the rights and multiple and diverse needs of women and girls across their life cycle at the centre of the response: from preventing vertical transmission to providing access to quality education in safe and supportive environments to ensuring comprehensive sexuality education and holistic sexual and reproductive health services.

Gender inequality is not only wrong. It is dangerous. It weakens us all. A more equal world will be better able to respond to pandemics and other shocks; it will leave us healthier and safer and more prosperous.

Progress on gender equality has never been automatic. It has never been given, it has always been won.

We are inspired by the women’s movements leading the struggle for equality. The United Nations stands alongside you to advance a world where women and girls in all their diversity will thrive and take their rightful places as equals.

This International Women’s Day let’s support and celebrate women taking the lead.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

“It was hard for us before COVID-19, but it has become even harder now,” said Ayu Oktariani, the National Coordinator of the Indonesia Positive Network of Women Living with HIV (IPPI). For more than 10 years, she has been working with women and adolescents living with HIV who have been subjected to domestic violence in Indonesia, providing them with psychosocial support and counselling. Since the first COVID-19 outbreak, she has seen increased requests for help, as violence has escalated alarmingly.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence was already one of the most significant human rights violations, but the pandemic has made a challenging situation even worse. Confinement is increasing the stress caused by security, health and money worries and is increasing the isolation of women with violent partners, separating them from the people and resources that can best help them.

According to a survey conducted by the International Community of Women Living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific (ICWAP) with support from the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific, in June 2020 almost 30% of the respondents experienced some form of gender-based violence, including stigma and discrimination. In addition, more than 80% reported a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception.

In Indonesia, a report released by the National Commission on Violence against Women shows that the number of reported cases of violence against women living with HIV has significantly increased during the pandemic. “A few months ago, I was contacted by a woman living in a rural area, who was forced by her husband to have regular unprotected sex. She was unable to negotiate the use of condoms because of fear of violence,” said Ms Oktariani.

With other organizations in Indonesia, IPPI is developing a referral system that will guide women living with HIV who have been subjected to violence to women-led organization for legal advice and support. IPPI is also part of a national coalition that connects women and girls, including women living with HIV, to emergency services, including the police and justice and social services.

In Nepal, women living with HIV are faced with similar ordeals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sara Thapa Magar, the President of the National Federation of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (NFWLHA), Nepal, reflects on Lily’s (not her real name) story, a woman living with HIV who was beaten by her husband after she went to the local hospital to get refills of her antiretroviral therapy. The current circumstances, including limitations on access to helplines and disrupted public services, have made reporting of abuse and violence even harder.

NFWLHA has played a critical role in addressing these challenges by offering legal support to women like Lily subjected to domestic violence and providing relief packages to women and children living with HIV. “Despite these efforts, we are struggling to cope with the knock-on effects of the pandemic, and one of the main reasons is the lack of funds,” said Ms Magar. “Women-led organizations need to be continuously supported in our frontline role.”

Kousalya Periasamy, the founder of the Positive Women Network (PWN+), explains the multiple impacts of COVID-19 on the life of women living with HIV in India. “Many women and girls were afraid of going to the hospital to get their antiretroviral therapy refill and access general health services out of fear of COVID-19,” said Ms Periasamy. “Women living with HIV who had COVID-19 were not able to provide for and look after children if they had to be admitted into the hospital.” Given the need to communicate with local network partners and members, PWN+ established a WhatsApp group to ensure that women living with HIV had access to reliable information on HIV and COVID-19. PWN+ also mobilized support from different local organizations to donate food and supplies and handed out pamphlets containing HIV and COVID-19 information.

Sarah Feagan, a Board Member of ICWAP, works for a local agency in Australia, Living Positive Victoria (LPV). During the lockdown in Melbourne, “I worked to ensure women living with HIV remained connected and supported during COVID-19. Since I could not meet anyone in person, I kept in touch on the phone, linking them together via online workshops and other women living in similar areas to meet up without breaking the 5 km rule,” she said. She was able to offer financial support, food parcels and legal and emotional support thanks to LPV and other HIV organizations.

“On International Women’s Day, we commend all our sisters across Asia and the Pacific, who, like Ayu, Sara Thapa, Sarah and Kousalya, are establishing supportive mechanisms for women and girls living with HIV, even in the face of adversities,” said Sita Shahi, ICWAP Regional Coordinator.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific has joined hands with ICWAP to raise awareness about the needs and challenges of women living with HIV and to support the implementation of small local relief projects in Nepal, Malaysia and India. “COVID-19 is already testing us in ways most of us have never previously experienced. We must emerge renewed, with women living with HIV as a powerful force at the centre of the recovery,” said Eamonn Murphy, Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific.

The Network of People Living with HIV in Senegal (RNP+) marked Zero Discrimination Day 2021 by hosting a dialogue on the extent and impacts of the stigma and discrimination faced by women and girls living with HIV in Senegal—a country in which the 2017 People Living with HIV Stigma Index showed one in two people living with HIV experienced stigma and/or discrimination from others.

“Discrimination continues to affect women and girls and this is the reason why they are often excluded from the labour market, are isolated in their communities or experience stigma in health centres. Key populations are also historically the target of discrimination in Senegal,” said Soukèye Ndiaye, the President of RNP+.

Various assessments undertaken in the country have revealed that women living with HIV face obstacles in accessing reproductive health services, that sex workers face high levels of stigma in health-care settings and that the economic and social vulnerability of women living with HIV is not sufficiently taken into account in HIV programmes.

This dialogue served as the spearhead for the advocacy strategy that RNP+ will develop this year on human rights and gender issues in order to better respond to the expectations of its members and communities affected by HIV. This strategy will be accompanied by communication tools such as videos in several local languages and dialogue and sensitization sessions with key actors in the regions most affected by HIV.

During the dialogue, the participants were invited to support the RNP+ in this process. In particular, they were asked to become “champions” committed to making a better use of journalists, community radio and social networks to sensitize the general public to the challenges of discrimination.

Abdoulaye Ka, in charge of human rights issues at the National AIDS Control Council (CNLS), recalled the importance of continued collaboration between the state and non-state sectors. “Community organizations and networks have long been essential in the fight against AIDS because of their central role in raising awareness, informing, dispelling myths and misinformation and providing services to marginalized, vulnerable and discriminated against populations.”

The dialogue, which was supported by UNAIDS, brought together about 30 participants, including people living with HIV, representatives of women’s movements and key populations, human rights advocates, policymakers and health service providers in a meeting held both virtually and physically.

“In Senegal, we know that discrimination against people living with HIV is still a major stumbling block in all aspects of the HIV response. The United Nations Joint Team on AIDS has always placed human rights and gender considerations at the centre of its work and support,” said Demba Kone, the UNAIDS Country Director for Senegal.

Violence impacts the lives of women and girls, people living with HIV and key populations in myriad negative ways. National authorities and civil society representatives in dozens of countries reported to UNAIDS in 2019 that various provisions and services were in place to protect the health, safety and security of survivors of domestic and sexual violence. However, the degree to which policies and legislation are implemented and enforced—including their coverage and quality—varies widely.

Prevention efforts are also lagging significantly, as evidenced by the high levels of intimate partner violence reported in surveys conducted around the world. Surveys conducted in 46 countries between 2014 and 2018 show that 19.7% of ever-married or partnered women and adolescent girls (aged 15 to 49 years) experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the past 12 months.

Countries with service delivery points providing appropriate medical and psychological care and support for women and men who have experienced sexual violence, countries with available data, 2019

Countries with provisions related to domestic violence, countries with available data, 2019

When Lineo Tsikoane gave birth to her daughter, she was inspired to intensify her advocacy for gender equality to give Nairasha a better life as a girl growing up in Lesotho.

“I think a big light went off in my head to say, “What if the world that I’m going to leave will not be as pure as I imagine?” I ask myself, “What kind of world do I want to leave my daughter in?”” she says.

As a result, Ms Tsikoane champions for women’s social, economic and legal empowerment at her firm, Nairasha Legal Support. It offers legal support for women in small and medium enterprises and women who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

“Our main focus is gender-based violence, because this happens to be a country that has one of the highest incidences of rape and intimate partner crime in the world,” she says.

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, violence against women and girls had reached epidemic proportions globally.

According to UN Women, 243 million women and girls worldwide were abused by an intimate partner in the past year. In Lesotho, it is one in three women and girls.

Less than 40% of women who experience violence report it or seek help.

As countries implemented lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violence against women, especially domestic violence, intensified—in some countries, calls to helplines increased fivefold.

In others, formal reports of domestic violence have decreased as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels. School closures and economic strains left women and girls poorer, out of school and out of jobs, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, forced marriage and harassment.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works together with UNAIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization on 2gether4SRHR, a joint programme funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, to address HIV and sexual and reproductive health in Lesotho.

During Lesotho’s lockdowns, UNFPA worked with Gender Links, the Lesotho Mobile Police Service and others to support efforts to prevent and respond to incidences of gender-based violence.

“We are ensuring that a helpline, where people experiencing gender-based violence can call, is in place and is working and we are also providing relevant information through various platforms for people to access all the information they need on gender-based violence,” says Manthabeleng Mabetha, the UNFPA Country Director for Lesotho.

Mantau Kolisang, a local policeman from Quthing, Lesotho’s southernmost district, characterized by rolling hills and vast landscapes, says one reason why gender-based violence is prevalent in Lesotho is because the law is not heeded in the rural areas.

“It’s difficult to implement the law since these are remote areas,” he says, adding that while he has made arrests, he has no transport to access far-flung areas in the small mountainous region. 

Lesotho’s law states that a girl can marry at the age of 16 years. However, Mr Kolisang says cultural practices, coupled with contraventions of the law, has made some men believe a 13-year-old girl “can be a wife”, exposing Basotho girls to violence.

“Men don’t regard it as a crime,” he says, adding that girls have been abducted from the mountains for forced marriages.

Between 2013 and 2019, 35% of adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa were married before the age of 18 years. Girls married before 18 years of age are more likely to experience intimate partner violence than those married after the age of 18.

Because of poverty, gender inequality, harmful practices (such as child, early or forced marriage), poor infrastructure and gender-based violence, girls are denied access to education, one of the strongest predictors of good health and well-being in women and their children.

In Lesotho’s legal system, women are regarded as perpetual minors. This categorization infantilizes women, Ms Tsikoane says. A man who abuses a woman can often walk away unscathed from the justice system if he says the woman in question is his “wife”, she adds.

“This makes women vulnerable to commodification because a child can be passed around,” she says.

Ms Tsikoane says there is a direct link between the minority status of women and HIV infection in Lesotho. In 2019, there were 190 000 women 15 years and older living with HIV in Lesotho, compared to 130 000 men. 

Adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 years are particularly vulnerable. They accounted for a quarter of the 11 000 new HIV infections in Lesotho in 2019.

“My hypothesis is women cannot negotiate safe sex,” says Ms Tsikoane.

The dangerous reality that Basotho women live in worries Mr Kolisang. But due to a lack of institutional support and resources, he feels his actions have limited effect.

“I feel for these children. I feel for these women. I do feel for them. I can help, but the problem is how?” he laments.

Ms Tsikoane says she finds “trinkets of opportunities” for her and her colleagues to help their clients and navigate a legal system that is not favourable towards women.

“So, if you are not being well assisted at a police station, if you feel like someone is dragging your case and you are struggling to get an audience, we are there. We will support you and we will fight with you,” she says. 

This story was first published by UN Women

On World AIDS Day, UN Women spoke to survivors and community changemakers in South Africa who as part of UN Women’s HeForShe community-based initiative and a joint UNAIDS programme are engaging men and women to reject violence against women and seek HIV testing and treatment. 

Until two years ago, Karabo Chabalala (28) and Sarah Baloyi (26), young women from Mamelodi — a township northeast of Pretoria in Gauteng, South Africa — were living very different lives.

“I was in a very dark place. I had multiple sexual partners and was part of a lifestyle that was not good or healthy for me,” says Baloyi. Her friend, Chabalala says, “I had many personal problems. I engaged in a transactional relationship with an abusive older man to fund my education and provide for my family.”

Their lives turned around following their involvement in UN Women’s HeforShe community-based initiative that aimed at improving attitudes and behaviours around gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV.

“Karabo introduced me to HeForShe, a community that cares for one another,” says Baloyi. “The dialogues showed me that I am not alone in my mistakes and could change my life. I have been inspired to promote safe and healthy living for young girls and to provide them with the same loving acceptance that was extended to me.”

Chabalala adds, “Many young women don’t open up at home about problems they are facing. These dialogues give us a space to express our thoughts and feelings and to ask any questions that we have about life.”

Led by UN Women’s partner, Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), and funded through the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the HeforShe dialogues have since 2018 engaged 115,000 men and women across seven districts (Mamelodi, Klerksdorp, Bojanela, Sedibeng, city of Johannesburg, Ehlanzeni and CapeTown) in South Africa’s five provinces.

“The dialogues are coordinated by 151 trained women and men ‘changemakers’, including young women like Baloyi and Chabalala, equipped with knowledge on HIV and violence prevention, unequal gender norms, the importance of HIV testing and adhering to treatment, responsible sexual behavior, and how socio-economic factors can drive HIV infections among men and women,” explains UN Women's South Africa Multi-Country Office Representative, Anne Githuku-Shongwe.

“Many women in Mamelodi have been victims of abuse or witnessed femicide in their homes, often at the hands of men who [are alcoholic].” says Baloyi.

“All I feel is anger,” says Chabalala. “These men don’t respect us. Women in our community are being raped and killed. Some men who perpetrate these crimes are out on bail the following day.”

“There has been a rise in GBV since the COVID-19 lockdown,” says Baloyi. “Abusive partners have been stuck at home and they are frustrated. They are no longer able to spend their time working or drinking with friends, and take it out on their partners and children. This is especially the case in informal settlements, where families live in one- or two-room shacks.”

South Africa is home to almost one-fifth of people living with HIV worldwide and has an HIV prevalence rate of 20.4 per cent among adults (15-19 years). In line with trends across Sub-Saharan Africa, in 2019, women accounted for the majority of new infections in the country. Structural gender inequalities, discrimination, violence against women and girls, and unequal gender norms continue to undermine efforts by women and girls to prevent HIV and use HIV/AIDS services.

“The stigma around HIV prevents people from seeking treatment. I have met some older patients who still fear going to the clinics because they feel judged or embarrassed,” says Chabalala.

To increase the uptake of HIV testing, the changemakers partnered with 20 local HIV counselling and testing clinics across participating districts. They also facilitated outreach for HIV testing at community and church events and developed a referral system. In two years, the HeforShe initiatives have resulted in 62 per cent of those engaged testing for HIV, and 36 per cent returning and adhering to their antiretroviral treatment. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people living with HIV and people at higher risk of HIV infection are facing life-threatening disruptions to health services.

Inspired by the positive impact of UN Women initiatives in communities and empowered by the change makers, Mamelodi community members founded the national ‘Young Women for Life Movement (YWfLM)’, which has grown to 2,035 members. With support from the SACBC, the group is currently monitoring the proceeding of 30 cases of sexual and gender-based violence and 17 cases of femicide in the justice system, as well as supporting the families of survivors. They also played a crucial role in organizing food supply drives to the most vulnerable households in their communities during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“I started the Mamelodi chapter of the Young Women for Life Movement,” says Chabalala. “Being part of this community of 200 powerful young women has taught me so many things and helped me grow. It has changed my life”.

“As a YWfLM member, I work with our local clinic and visit people living with HIV in our community to confirm that they are taking their medication and to ask if they need any assistance or additional supplements,” says Baloyi. “We also have an HIV-positive support group that now mainly connects online due to the pandemic.”

Both Baloyi and Chabalala believe that men need to be more involved in initiatives to improve attitudes and behaviours to prevent GBV and HIV. “Young men need to not only be part of this conversation, they must have their own dialogues where they focus on how to change their mindset,” says Chabalala.

Baloyi adds, “Many more men need to join women in our fight. Men must join us in court and in the streets. They must fight with us.”

GENEVA, 25 November 2020—Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UNAIDS is calling for the world to urgently scale up efforts to eliminate the neglected pandemic of violence against women and girls in all their diversity, a widespread human rights violation that affects one in three women at least once in their life.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was estimated that globally 243 million women and girls aged 15–49 years had been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Evidence shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant increases in gender-based violence in nearly all countries.

“The growing evidence confirms that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are not gender-neutral,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director. “The impacts of lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed in many countries to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,  the failure to designate sexual and reproductive health services and services for survivors of violence as essential services, and the undermining of women’s economic security have  compounded the barriers for women and girls experiencing abuse, especially those who are trapped at home with their abusers.”

Adolescent girls and young women are also increasingly being subjected to early marriage and trafficking, missing out on education because of school closures and lacking access to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception and abortion, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is increasing violence against women and amplifying existing gender inequalities, further exacerbating HIV risks and vulnerabilities for women, at the same time that access to gender-based violence services, as well as HIV and other sexual and reproductive health services, are being reduced or are unavailable during the pandemic. Violence against women is a major factor driving risks for HIV—in areas with a high HIV burden, such as sub-Saharan Africa, women subjected to intimate partner violence are 50% more likely to be living with HIV. And men who are perpetrators of violence against women tend to be at higher risk of HIV themselves and to use condoms less frequently, thus increasing the risk of HIV transmission.

Violence, or the potential for it, discourages many women and adolescent girls living with HIV from disclosing their HIV status to their partners, families and health-care providers, making it more difficult for women and girls to stay on HIV treatment.

Gender-based violence restricts women’s and girls’ decision-making and erodes their sexual and reproductive health and rights, including deciding if, how, when and with whom they have sex, their ability to protect their health and their ability to access HIV prevention services and stay on treatment.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reflected once again just how unacceptable it is to continue with half measures and unmet commitments to ending violence against women,” added Ms Byanyima. “If we are serious about achieving gender equality, and ending AIDS, preventing gender-based violence must finally become a global, national and local priority.”

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Like HIV, the COVID-19 pandemic thrives on inequalities and inequities. In addition to its impact on people’s health, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant increases in gender-based violence around the globe, including in the Middle East and North Africa.

Some countries in the region lack essential services for survivors of violence, especially in, for example, rural areas, conflict zones or humanitarian settings. Where services do exist, they do not always reach marginalized women and girls, and in many cases have been reduced or de-prioritized during the pandemic. Gender-based violence in the Middle East and North Africa is also sometimes not prioritized by the police and justice systems and many countries do not criminalize domestic violence, marital rape and other forms of gender-based violence that are particularly relevant in the region, such as female genital mutilation.

The United Nations Issue-Based Coalition on Gender, Justice and Equality is taking a twin-track approach to gender-based violence in the region, combining a programmatic response that prevents gender-based violence and supports survivors with the launch of a region-wide awareness campaign. The campaign uses the regional goodwill ambassadors of the coalition United Nations agencies to shed light on the risks that women and girls face as a result of the health crisis and to raise people’s awareness on how to counter gender-based violence and support survivors.

“Any form of violence against women and girls is a direct violation of human rights. I want to assure every violated woman and girl through this campaign that we are all with you,” said Yousra, UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa.

The joint campaign is an illustration of the strength of collaboration among United Nations agencies and what partnerships can do in building and empowering the global appeals and calls to action of the United Nations Secretary-General and the Spotlight Initiative, a global, partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women. The campaign leverages the ability of regional celebrities to reach local communities to raise awareness on the compounding impact of COVID-19 on gender-based violence and the vulnerabilities of marginalized and vulnerable groups.

“The response to COVID-19 in this region, and globally, has shown us that when we act in solidarity, in true partnerships and with a sense of shared responsibility, we can win against the intertwining health threats of COVID-19, HIV and the shadow pandemic of gender-based violence,” said Rangayian Gurumurthy, Director, a.i., of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for the Middle East and North Africa.

“During COVID-19, most of us are confined in our homes with our partners. This has increased relationship problems, as well as social and economic problems. Many are subjected to violence from our close family or our intimate partner. That is why our nongovernment organization dedicated a hotline for psychological support,” said a woman living with HIV in the Islamic Republic of Iran.