Gender-based violence amid the COVID-19 pandemic : a critical reflection on the global response

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic escalated globally, levels of gender-based violence increased. Violence against women is closely interweaved with crisis situations. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Pandemics are usually gendered creating an additional environment for gender-based violence to foster. Loss of employment due to closure of several businesses, especially for those working in the informal sector, affects livelihoods and heighten levels of stress, fear and anxiety. The fear of death, restriction of movement and lack of access to daily activities during lockdowns imposed by governments added to frustrations and aggression. For most, home is a place of safety, but for those who are being abused they cannot run away from their abusers. Lockdown regulations, as a motivation to curb COVID-19, are necessary but have potentially ignored the intimate crime of gender-based violence. Using the Frustration Aggression Theory, this article discusses factors that drive cases of gender-based violence during lockdowns globally, but in particular in South Africa. Crime statistics, media reports, and government documents were used to answer the question: What are the government’s efforts during ‘lockdown’ to fight gender-based violence. The article further reflects on what is needed to address gender-based violence currently, with recommendations made for future pandemics.