Fighting the shadow pandemic of violence against women and children during COVID19

Anna Mutavati, Maniza Zaman, Demola Olajide - UN Sustainable Development Group

This blog post from the UN Sustainable Development Group notes the rise in cases of gender-based violence (GBV) and violence against children (VAC) in Kenya, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and calls for immediate action to address this "shadow pandemic." The United Nations (UN) and the Government of Kenya have launched an appeal "seeking $267 million to respond to the most immediate needs of over 10 million people during the pandemic. Of this, $4.2m is needed to provide lifesaving medical treatment, psycho-social support and legal representation in relation to violence against children and GBV." The blog also describes the response of the United Nations in Kenya to this crisis.