Responding to gender-based violence during the pandemic

Our grantee partners the Musasa Project, Atina, Urgent Action Fund Latin America and Fe-Male, among others, are sounding the alarm about the rapid and widespread increase in gender-based violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an article in Alliance magazine, Trust programme officers Bethan Canfield and Chiara De Luca write that the current data show that nearly every region of the world has been affected by this shadow pandemic. It has reached such startling levels that the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a ‘ceasefire’ in homes. To address these challenges, women’s rights organisations across the globe have quickly mobilised to expand and adapt their survivor-centred protection and psychosocial services often on shoe-string budgets.

The scale and impact of violence against women and girls is well-documented. Despite this recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures showed that only one per cent of all gender-focused aid went to women’s organisations. In response to urgent needs caused by the pandemic, including the escalation of abuse, the Sigrid Rausing Trust has launched a multi-million pound emergency fund for existing grantees and re-committed ourselves to listening and learning from organisations and movements.

This article shares some of our learnings in administering the emergency fund.

The full article as it originally appeared on 3 January 2021 can be found on the Alliance website.