The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing and exacerbating gender inequalities around the world. Each week, we are sharing insights from experts about how women’s and girls’ lives are being affected by the pandemic and what can be done to address the challenges. 

This week, we talk to our partner Caleb C. Ng’ombo, the Executive Director of People Serving Girls at Risk (PSGR), about how COVID-19 is putting women and girls in Malawi at greater risk of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.

There are now over 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Malawi and numbers are rising. What are some of the ways that local women and girls are being impacted?

A scarcity of medical, protective and testing equipment, alongside a lack of adequate health care facilities is fuelling the coronavirus crisis in Malawi and it is evidently clear from PSGR’s frontline work that women and girls are facing profound stress and panic.

Even in well-resourced nations, COVID-19 has strained or overwhelmed healthcare systems and in a low-income country like Malawi the virus has the potential to be devastating. A lot of the women and girls we work with are on the frontline of providing care to family members and those who are sick. This is mostly being done without Personal Protective Equipment. A further worry is that people do not have accurate information on how to safely handle those who are infected and there are a lot of myths and lies circulating about coronavirus.

How is the economic impact of COVID-19 putting women and girls at greater risk of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking?

Households are being pushed into financial crisis from loss of income due to travel restrictions and social distancing measures. Public transport costs have doubled and this has driven up the price of goods and services. This has dealt a huge blow to small scale business women who survive on daily wages. Many have told us their businesses have collapsed and this loss of income has left them in urgent need of financial assistance to support them and their families.

Hunger and acute malnutrition is increasing. Many face being evicted from their home as they cannot afford to pay rent, water and electricity bills. All this is putting vulnerable women and girls at greater risk of coercion, commercial sexual exploitation, and pregnancy from transactional sex in exchange for survival basics like food, clean water, and sanitary products.

Schools have been closed to limit the spread of the virus. This means that children are spending more time online with limited supervision from parents and guardians and we are concerned about young people being targeted by sexual predators. We have also experienced a surge in the numbers of children attempting to earn money by selling water, sweets and other items on the streets and at transport hubs, where they are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.

COVID-19 is an unfolding crisis that is harming women and girls in various ways. Here are some issues we are following:

Chores and childcare: who bears the brunt in lockdown? Women – Thomson Reuters Foundation

New research finds that working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by COVID-19 lockdown - and many are struggling to cope. Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores - nearly a third more than fathers.

Fate of rescued girls unclear as government directive on closure of children centres implemented - Standard

Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection has issued a circular to directors of children’s departments across the country asking them to close children’s shelters during the coronavirus pandemic. This is leaving vulnerable girls with the terrible option of being left homeless or returning to abusive families.

To stay up to date on the gendered impacts of the Coronavirus, follow us  on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

In Solidarity,

Tara Carey
Senior Media & Content Manager