The Covid-19 pandemic is heightening the dangers of gender-based violence and human trafficking for women and girls, UN officials have said.
The United Nations officials have said that coronavirus pandemic has intensified the risks of gender-based violence and human trafficking for women and girls.
"In every part of the world, we are seeing that Covid has worsened the plight of at-risk women and girls, while also hindering criminal justice responses and reducing support to victims," Ghada Waly, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said on Monday during a virtual event on global commitment for women and girls amid the pandemic.
Xinhua news agency reported that as per the UNODC, women and young girls have already been subjected to different forms of violence even before the pandemic, making it up more than 60 per cent of all victims of human trafficking.
However, lockdowns and other measures implemented in the wake of the global health crisis to curb the spread of Covid-19 have led to a "shadow pandemic" of rising gender-based violence, it added.
The UN Women states that Women's economic inequality is another factor that increases their vulnerability to trafficking and sexual violence. UN Women is a platform which promotes gender equality.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that most female survivors, or nearly 80 per cent, are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
"There are socioeconomic consequences when these crimes happen, but in times of pandemic, the socioeconomic impact is even deeper," she said.
She further added, "Forty-seven million more women and girls will be pushed to extreme poverty because of Covid-19, but business is booming for traffickers.”
In April, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had appealed for a worldwide domestic violence "ceasefire". He has urged the governments across the world to put women's safety first as they respond to this huge health crisis.
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150 countries have responded to the secretary-general's call so far, pledging to make prevention and bringing a change in gender-based violence. The authorities are taking violence against women as a key part of their pandemic response.
UNODC, UN Women and other partners are also backing the appeal.
Source: IANS