Women, girls, trans and non-binary people have always faced the horrific and sometimes lethal consequences of gender-based violence in our societies, throughout history, in all countries, and in all walks of life. Even before the pandemic, in 2018 alone, 245 million women and girls were subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner. That is more than all the people who contracted Covid-19 (confirmed cases) in the last 12 months.

But lockdowns have made gender-based violence spiral. Millions of people became trapped at home with their abusers, in situations of heightened economic and emotional tension. Even when more people moved into online spaces, the increased violence, bullying and harassment followed them there.

At the onset of the pandemic, activists and frontline workers sounded the alarm about the scale of the issue. Domestic and gender-based violence helplines recorded an increase in the number of calls from survivors seeking help. In ten countries including Argentina, Colombia, Tunisia, China, Somalia, South Africa, UK, Cyprus, Italy, and Malaysia the surge in the number of calls to GBV/domestic violence helplines showed an increase of 25% -111%.

However, governments have not done enough to tackle GBV. Women's rights organisations have had their budgets cut. The collection of GBV data – vital information upon which to build proper and adequately funded global responses – remains woefully inadequate. .

This year marks the 30-year anniversary of “16 Days of Activism” against GBV since activists started it at the inaugural Centre for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. This annual commemoration kicks off every November 25th to December 10th to create awareness about GBV worldwide. This year donors, governments, and individuals must reflect on the impact that the pandemic has had on GBV and commit to real actions to end GBV.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that governments can take extraordinary measures to protect their citizens and respond to deadly crises when spurred to action. We need to see more of this kind of effort to address GBV in their Covid-19 response and recovery plans. We need to be deliberate about making the world safer for women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people. Let’s act now!

Here are five brilliant questions you asked about our recent report and our work on gender rights and justice.

No. We’re saying that as the world works toward a Covid-19 response and recovery, we must also make that a safer post-Covid recovery – and that means using this opportunity to prioritise gender-based safety and security.

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on all our lives. This global health emergency needs decisive action and investments. Everybody regardless of where they are in the world need to have access to safe and effective vaccines. There is no question that the world needs to act now to stop the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, as our report shows, gender-based violence is affecting hundreds of millions of people with devastating impacts on the health and wellbeing of the survivors, with grave consequences that often lead to death. This is a severe pandemic in numbers and impact that needs to be tackled with urgency. We don't have another 30 years to wait until everyone can live safe and free of violence. This is urgent too!

Gender-based violence is not a natural occurrence. As it is made, so it can be unmade. It is the result of patriarchal structures and unequal power distribution. In the 30 years since the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence started we have done much to highlight the problem, and provide solidarity with survivors and more understanding of the issue. But we are still not close to eliminating the violence itself. Instead, there has been a surge of violence during the pandemic which shows it is a deeply rooted problem within patriarchal structures and power imbalances that target women and LGBTQI people in excluding them from decision making.

If we are serious about ending gender-based violence, we need to change harmful social norms – that means everyone must get involved. It means that governments must invest in the prevention and response to GBV. It also means that governments must collect quality and better gender-disaggregated data to respond to the GBV pandemic adequately. Every response to the Covid-19 pandemic needs to include efforts to achieve gender justice. A recovery from Covid-19 is possible if the governments implemented gender-just policies and measures.

Oxfam has prioritised to fight for gender justice and against any form of violence toward women, and girls and LGBTQIA+ people. We believe we cannot have a just society unless women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ people, have full agency over their lives. We work to challenge harmful social norms and belief systems, including gender-transformative education. Oxfam advocates for policies and practices that protect the equal rights of women, girls, and those who suffer discrimination based on gender or sex. We equally value and recognise women’s leadership in different spheres of life. We work with over 750 women’s groups and partners in 40 countries to expose and change the patriarchal practices that prevent women from realising their rights.

We fully acknowledge our own history in failing to support and protect survivors of GBV and not holding ourselves accountable for violence against women perpetrated by former staff. We committed to fix these failings and we invited external scrutiny of our new and improved policies and procedures. We have increased staff and funding for safeguarding, set up a global database for references to make it harder for wrongdoers to move across the sector, and appointed an independent commission to review our culture and practices to make further improvements. Through our campaigns, programming, and research we work in solidarity with survivors and address the harms we have caused. We are on a journey and still always have more to do in changing our culture and improving our systems – but we are committed to do so.

Our actions must align with the fact that every person is valuable – accepting this fact is critical for each of us to live together in an increasingly interdependent world. The measures that governments take today will shape our future in the medium and long term. Anyone who sees existing inequalities and discrimination – whether based on gender, ethnic origin, age or state of health – as marginal issues that are not pressing in times of crisis, is missing the point.

We are all worried about our loved ones and ourselves right now. We all feel uneasy and sometimes even afraid. After all, the pandemic has reached every corner of our world. However, it is also true that this crisis hits each of us differently. People who do not have a (safe) home, who live in poverty or have exploitative working conditions, as well as those who are chronically ill are worse impacted. Above all, older women and single mothers, who according to the United Nations are over represented among the poor and those at risk of poverty, are most severely affected by the current state of emergency.

A look at previous pandemics gives us an idea of what long-term the consequences of the crisis could mean for women in particular. Although all income fell as a result of Ebola in West Africa, “men’s incomes have returned to pre-epidemic levels more quickly than women’s,” health researcher Julia Smith told the New York Times. And even under normal circumstances women worldwide earn 23 per cent less than men, who in turn have 50 per cent more assets. This inequality is being exacerbated by the crisis.

Meanwhile more than 70 per cent of healthcare workers worldwide are women. Women also carry out more than 70 per cent of unpaid work worldwide, performing three times as much unpaid work as men. This responsibility is intensified by school closures and increased illness, which leads to a growing burden for carers - a burden for which political answers are often lacking.

This must change now. Unpaid, as well as underpaid, care and nursing work must be spread over different (and more male) shoulders. Instead of continuing to systematically devalue this work, it must be given the status it deserves and recognised globally for its role in social cohesion and propping up economies. If the answers are really to meet the challenges, women and local women’s rights organisations should not only sit at the table when decisions are made, but should also actively participate in building this table.

Working from home, stocking up on supplies or washing your hands regularly? This is simply not possible for women farm workers, who are already paid less than men for the same work, often earn too little, live from hand to mouth and often have no access to (clean) water.

Dismissals and reduced working hours have become a particular threat to existence during the pandemic. The textile industry in Bangladesh, for example, shows that women in particular face an existential threat. The cancellation of orders by textile companies puts jobs and thus the livelihoods of garment workers, and women in particular, at risk.

Recognition and appreciation for essential professions and carers is important - but what is needed is adequate pay and safe working conditions for all workers – many of whom are now holding up our world – during the crisis, but above all in the long term.

Especially for people who live in fragile states or in confined spaces, the risk of infection and serious or fatal illness is particularly high due to inadequate medical care. This is particularly evident in the Moria refugee camp, where a single toilet is sometimes used by over 150 people and where there is often no soap or the water supply is interrupted. The lack of (clean) water is also a bitter reality in other parts of the world. The equation is as simple as it is cruel: no clean water, no health.

Equal access to medicines, preventive protective measures or medical treatment must be ensured for all, and not only a select circle of wealthy people.

Even in times of COVID-19, politicians must not lose sight of their other responsibilities on human rights and environmental protection.

The answers to COVID-19 must not lose track of the Sustainable Development Goals. During the pandemic, the climate crisis has taken the back seat. Individual voices in politics and industry are already calling for existing environmental protection measures to be reversed for their own benefit. That would be a step in the wrong direction. The crisis requires sustainable answers. These also include strengthening global social and healthcare systems and gender-equitable social security systems that address specific risks for women.

Social and gender inequality is a core issue and has to be tackled now. Governments must not forget this in their political decisions to contain the virus. And if they do, we must stand together and remind them, wherever and whenever necessary.

This post is an translated and adapted version of the original, published on the Oxfam Germany website.