Rise in gender-based violence amid lockdowns

By: Nicci Attfield

尼克·阿特菲尔德（Nicci Attfield）写道，在共同妇女面对非洲妇女面临的基于性别的暴力方面至关重要。

[Capetown]安吉拉·昆图（Angela Kuntu）是一名移民家庭劳工和住在南非的保姆，一晚上下班乘出租车回家。

根据昆图（不是她的真名），她在出租车时被强奸，但没有人告诉任何人。后来她流产。她认为失去的孩子是丈夫的孩子，由于强奸而失去了孩子。

“我不希望我的丈夫了解强奸和婴儿。我告诉我的雇主我正在流血，我被强奸了。”她告诉scidev.net。“辅导员为我安排了医院约会，但我不想使用[公共]transportbecause it reminds me of the rape.”

“受害者被问到他们做了什么来激发它……。性因素引入道德和判断。”

Emma Arogundade, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust

性别妇女可获得的基于基于妇女的暴力和医疗保健资源在撒哈拉以南非洲以199引起的压力，失业和心理健康问题而受到关注。

南非强奸危机开普敦信托基金会的咨询协调员Shiralee MacDonald解释说，在大流行期间，由于锁定限制和失业，许多妇女与虐待者被困在同一房屋中。

麦克唐纳说，研究表明，由于羞耻和自我批评的感觉，遭受基于性别的暴力的妇女需要量身定制的干预措施。

伊丽莎白·卡塔纳（Elizabeth Katana），作者学习on violence in Uganda during theCOVID-19lockdown, explains that gender-based violence is often “shadowed”, and survivors are often unwilling to share their experiences with others. As a result, many cases go unreported or unidentified, she tellsscidev.net。

与强奸危机信任一起工作的学者艾玛·阿罗贡达德（Emma Arogundade）补充说，由于围绕强奸或基于性别的暴力造成污名，这些感觉存在。

“受害者被问到他们做了什么来激发它。性因素引入了道德和判断。”她解释说。

由于判断和羞耻，许多妇女害怕让自己的伴侣或社区知道自己的创伤经历。可访问的精神卫生保健is therefore crucial.

But Masana Ndinga-Kanga, the Crisis Response Fund Lead at South Africa-based CIVICUS, a global non-profit organisation which aims to strengthen citizen action and civil society, says that the COVID-19 pandemic has cut off much of the community-based care for women in Sub-Saharan Africa.

她说，现有资源通常用于治疗Covid-19，而不是伴随它的基于性别的挑战，并补充说，在撒哈拉以南非洲，只有南非才分配了预算来解决该性别方面disease。

Resources for survivors are limited in countries such as Uganda, explains Katana, with most survivors seeking support from trusted community members and family.

她补充说，民间社会组织和乌干达警察在那里为基于性别的暴力的幸存者提供协助，而非营利组织的手部则拥有电视节目和移动应用程序，以帮助妇女解决虐待。乌干达妇女律师协会还为法律援助提供了法律援助。

需要改善的社会结构

DGMT拥抱的研究人员RumbiGoredemaGörgens即使在南非，许多妇女都在挣扎并面临极大的困难。她认为，共同199的大流行使本来已经很糟糕的情况变得更糟。在南非的共同锁定期间，许多妇女面临裁员或失业。寻找新工作变得越来越困难。

Görgens draws on studies which show that while mothers within communities are helping each other to care for孩子们, many are going without food to meet their children’s nutritional needs.

“数据表明，现有的饥饿使人变得更糟。”戈尔根斯说。“我们正在听到有关正在吃草和喂养孩子草的人只是为了填补他们的肚子的故事……所以，我认为大流行只是我们已经遇到的加速问题。”

Ndinga-Kanga解释说，整个撒哈拉以南非洲地区的妇女没有通过大流行而需要支持她们的资源。这包括获得公共服务，儿童资源，医疗保健和精神保健的访问权限，这些医疗保健和心理保健都有资源不足。

Dealing with trauma during COVID-19

与基于性别的暴力有关的创伤也困扰着许多孕妇。

Julia Borbor (not her real name) has a history of sexual assault. COVID-19 presented a double fear for her. Pregnant before the pandemic, she was worried that a COVID-19 infection would put her at risk because of her high blood pressure, and was therefore reluctant to seek care from her local clinic. She was also scared of attending doctors’ appointments as well as giving birth alone because of a past history of sexual assault and a fear of experiencing trauma again.

“我最大的恐惧之一实际上是（公立医院）的医生，”博尔伯说。“在一家私立医院，您有自己的妇科医生，您可以解释自己的感受，医生将理解。当您去南非的一家公立医院时，不是那样的。有很多医生，您不知道谁会看到您或原因。”

Lack of a single gynaecologist means telling and re-telling a trauma story, something which can be difficult for survivors of violence or rape. Julia explains that she was treated with sensitivity and “given the option to have an elective Caesarean surgery”.

“仍然有些时候让我感到不舒服，但是因为我有咨询，所以我能够放松，我了解了恐惧的意义。我可以告诉自己我很安全，”她补充说。

麦克唐纳（MacDonald）解释说，未经治疗的性创伤风险重新创造，倒叙和侵入性记忆的妇女。

Obstetric violence during the pandemic

Sometimes women who have not experienced sexual trauma can face obstetric violence during childbirth – abuse by medical staff. Gorgens explains that while there are no studies to reveal the extent of this violence, there is a risk that the pandemic could make it worse.

Gorgens解释说，伴侣在医院和她们一起在医院时分娩的妇女有人愿意证人并倡导她们。没有人代表他们见证或讲话，妇女更容易受到伤害。

“As a result of the pandemic you couldn’t have anyone with you. So, the assumption can be that perhaps obstetric violence cases rose, but we don’t know. We only study maternal deaths,” Gorgens tellsscidev.net

Cheryl Suduka (not her real name) says that she had a terrible experience while giving birth in a public hospital in South Africa.

She explains, “They wouldn’t let me speak to my partner. I could go out and meet him at the gate but he couldn’t be present for the birth. During the process of delivery, I wasn’t in control. They believe they know what is best for you. Even with painkillers, they don’t ask you. They just say ‘you must cooperate with us.

“甚至当你试图做他们说他们只是年代ay ‘you are not cooperating.’ I ended up having an operation.

“医生刚进来说我需要一个。我别无选择。我不得不签署一种表格，说他们可以在紧急情况下拿出我的子宫。您没有时间处理她们对您的评价，有些女性几乎无法理解英语。他们如何给予知情同意？”

最终，大流行使妇女每天的斗争扩大了。

According to Ndinga-Kanga, there is a need to address the gender dimensions of COVID-19 particularly among women who have lived through gender-based violence.

妇女的心理健康资源

The Thuthuzela Care Centres in South Africa offer medical care, counselling, assistance with filing a police report and court preparation. Survivors are able to receive continuing counselling, and also be transported to a place of safety, on request.

“A lot of our clients are very poor and can’t go for a walk because it would mean risking further violence.”

Shiralee MacDonald，强奸危机开普敦信托

MacDonald explains that women can go to their local police station or clinic for support. While some community clinics are working hard to reduce the secondary traumas women experience during forensic examination, other women do face stressful experiences.

She says: “The medical exam is definitely traumatising. Services such as those at the Thuthuzela Care Centres which were set up by the South African government to offer assistance to rape survivors are set up to help reduce secondary trauma but they can’t take it away altogether because sadly, the doctor is touching the survivor in the same places the perpetrator did.”

麦克唐纳（MacDonald）解释说，许多强奸幸存者更喜欢保持匿名。强奸危机开普敦信托基金会提供WhatsAppcounselling to rape survivors and the service is free to survivors from all areas who need assistance. Some women use their local clinics to access data for this service.

But Ndinga-Kanga adds that lay counsellors in community-based organisations face challenges while counselling trauma survivors. Bearing witness to the pain of others can be harrowing for lay counsellors who are at risk of secondary trauma. Trauma counsellors can also feel helpless and unable to offer standard coping methods to their clients.

Jenny Potus (not her real name), a lay counsellor, recounts the challenges of assisting victims in Africa.

“国际作家建议散步或洗澡，以帮助创伤受害者。她说：“我们的许多客户非常贫穷，不能散步，因为这意味着冒着进一步的暴力冒险。”

“他们不能洗澡，因为他们无法获得自来水。他们甚至无法离开虐待他们的人，因为他们没有工作或获得资源。您会做任何事情来防止人们感觉自己的方式，但是您真的无能为力。”

Many women who have been exposed to gender-based violence do not only need access to counselling, but also to adequate healthcare, MacDonald tellsscidev.net。

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.