1. INTRODUCTION
Public emergencies, whether environmental or caused by humans, take varied forms, including pandemics, natural disasters, armed conflicts, civil unrest, terrorist attacks, bio-security
risks, financial crises and industrial accidents, and pose serious threats to large numbers of
people. What crisis situations have in common is the need for a swift response from states to
ensure maximum human security and safety. Government responses to emergencies often
involve direct restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms. For instance, people
may be compelled to leave their residences during evacuations or, conversely, curfews may
be enacted forbidding movement outside the home. Experience of previous emergencies has
shown that there is a risk of human rights protection lapsing or being overlooked during crises.
In crisis situations, pre-existing patterns of discrimination, marginalization and vulnerability are
exacerbated. Women and men, girls and boys experience the effects of the crisis itself, and
of the extraordinary measures taken to counter it, in very different ways. For instance, the
Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa from 2013 to 2015, and the quarantine and suspension of
public services that were used to contain it, provided important lessons about the disparate
impact on women and girls, especially their increased risk for gender-based violence.1 Natural
disasters, such as the devastating tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes of the past decade,
have shown that women are at much higher risk of death from the immediate event, and also
that their economic vulnerability increases in the aftermath.2 Distribution of relief aid often fails
to consider gender differences, denying women access to key resources. The impacts of
armed conflict on women are complex. Conflict increases insecurity and, thus, women and
children represent the majority of displaced and refugee populations fleeing conflict zones.
Armed conflict ruptures family and community ties and creates large numbers of households
headed by females, who must then cope with additional responsibilities under difficult and
dangerous circumstances.3
A global health crisis emerged in late 2019, when the first case of a novel coronavirus disease
(generally known as COVID-19) was detected in China. The impact of the virus has been devastating.4 The spread of the virus was such that within days of the World Health Organization
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See, e.g.: Onyango, M. and Regan, A., “Sexual and Gender-Based Violence During COVID-19:
Lessons from Ebola”, 11 May 2020, <https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/africa/
sexual-and-gender-based-violence-during-covid-19-lessons-from-ebola-71038>.
See, e.g.: Chew, L and Ramdas, K, Caught in the Storm: The Impact of Natural Disasters on Women, The Global Fund
for Women, December 2005, <https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/impact-natural-disasters/>.
Lindsey, C., Women Facing War: ICRC Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women, (Geneva: International
Committee of the Red Cross, 2001), <https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/icrc_002_0798_women_facing_war.pdf>.
At the time of writing, 900, 000 people had died, and the number of confirmed cases has reached almost 27 million
worldwide. WHO, “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Update”, 7 September 2020, <https://
www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports>.
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