The coronavirus pandemic has made women feel more vulnerable to abuse, sexual harassment and violence, which is in turn harming their mental health and emotional well-being, according to a report by U.N. Women, a United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality. Forty-five percent of women surveyed in 13 countries reported that they or a woman they knew had experienced a form of violence since the start of the pandemic, and the women who said this were 1.3 times more likely than the others surveyed to report greater mental and emotional stress. The surveys defined violence against women to include physical abuse; verbal abuse; the denial of basic needs like health care, food and shelter; the denial of communication with other people, including being forced to stay alone for long periods of time; and sexual harassment. The countries surveyed were Albania, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Paraguay, Thailand and Ukraine. U.N. Women said that the countries had been selected based on regional diversity, with priority given to low- and middle-income nations that were implementing the organization’s programs.

Source: New York Times November 25, 2021 04:51 UTC