Attachments
The gender-specific impacts of health crises—especially infectious diseases—and the correlation to an increase of gender-based violence (GBV) are well documented. The "Shadow Pandemic" that resulted from COVID-19 restrictions clearly revealed the links between health emergencies and rising GBV cases, particularly intimate partner violence, attacks on female healthcare workers, forced or early marriages, and sexual exploitation and abuse by service providers.
The proximity of survivors/victims to perpetrators, the worsening socio-economic stress in households, reinforced gender roles within homes, and inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health services all contributed to a surge in GBV cases. This dimension is especially relevant in Sudan, which is grappling with one of the most complex and under-addressed humanitarian crises in the world.