Title	Gender-based violence prevention, risk mitigation and response during COVID-19
Publisher	UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Publication Date	26 March 2020
Topics	COVID-19 | Children-at-risk | Mental health | Public health | Right to health | Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) | Women-at-risk
Cite as	UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Gender-based violence prevention, risk mitigation and response during COVID-19, 26 March 2020, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e84bb2b4.html [accessed 10 October 2022]
Comments	This briefing note aims at giving an overview of risks of gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes recommendations to mitigate risks and ensure access to lifesaving GBV services. The last section contains a list of useful resources. Women and girls of concern to UNHCR are likely to experience distinct challenges and risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and as such the outbreak might exacerbate already existing risks of GBV. Confinement is expected to increase risks of intimate partner violence for displaced women and girls, while worsened socio-economic situation will expose refugee women and girls in particular to increased risks of sexual exploitation by community members as well as humanitarian workers. In parallel, access to regular GBV services is likely to become challenging for survivors.