ORGANIZATION
USAID
MOMENTUM
YEAR PUBLISHED
2023
DESCRIPTION
Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world. In India, recent data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 (2019-21) shows a 30% prevalence of GBV at the national level among women aged 18-49 years, indicating that one in three women face violence. 1 World over, COVID19 posed an unprecedented challenge to public health systems and, as per the United Nations, GBV emerged as a shadow pandemic in the crisis. In India too, the incidence of GBV, especially intimate partner violence (IPV), early marriage of girls, unwanted pregnancies, and impaired psychological well-being of people also increased, burdening the health system further. 2 The National Commission for Women (NCW) documented a more than two-fold increase in domestic violence and sexual assaults in the first week after the lockdown.
USAID’s MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics project, implemented by EngenderHealth, received funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to implement activities through a Gender Integrated Response to Emerging COVID 19 Priorities in India. This work addressed the critical need for strengthening gender-based violence (GBV) response and prevention mechanisms at district, community, and facility levels. The activities were implemented in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha accross 25 districts in collaboration with the state National Health Mission (NHM) and Department of Women and Child Development (WCD), along with implementation and technical support from MAMTAHealth Institute for Mother and Child (MAMTA-HIMC) and Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII), from September 2021 to August 2023. The goal of this work was to build resilience and capacity of individuals, communities, and the health system to mitigate COVID-exacerbated GBV.