Giving Compass' Take:

• Leah Rodriguez reports on the influx of lockdown-induced violence against women and girls in Latin America during COVID-19.

• Why do women and girls often suffer from more adverse effects during crisis than men? How can we help victims of abuse in Latin America and the rest of the world receive the support they need during coronavirus?

• Learn more about how you can help women and girls affected by lockdown-induced violence.

Lockdowns around the world are helping to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, but women and girls are paying the consequences.

Girls and women forced to stay home in Latin America and the Caribbean are at a heightened risk of gender-based violence, the organization Plan International USA warned.

The organization released the report “Surge in violence against girls and women in Latin America and the Caribbean” in May, and issued a press release with an update Monday.

“A lot of the issues that COVID-19 brings out are the same everywhere, but for some countries there are added challenges. Each country is different, but the economic volatility and heavy hit from climate change induced strains more often fall hardest on girls and women,” Fitzgerald said.

Imbalanced household burdens, machismo culture, and the prevalence of victim-blaming survivors all contribute to high domestic violence rates in Colombia, according to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Domestic violence reports during stay-at-home orders skyrocketed by 175% compared to the same time last year in the country, according to government data.

As resources are diverted to treat and prevent COVID-19, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health care puts girls in even more danger, according to the report. Survivors of abuse are more likely to experience forced early pregnancy and child marriage.

Lockdowns are putting girls’ education in jeopardy, too, the report said. School closures are forcing girls to learn at home with their abusers and survivors who stop their education as a result of gender-based violence usually do not continue, making it difficult to escape poverty.

Read the full article about lockdown-induced violence against women and girls by Leah Rodriguez at Global Citizen.