As the COVID19 pandemic rages on, gender-based violence continues to spike, aggravated by the closure of and limited access to gender based violence services. Amidst this, women continue to be isolated from their support networks and unable to access essential health and justice services as authorities continue to enforce the stay at home order. At CREAW we continue to devise innovative ways to challenge and shift norms that promote violence against women and girls during the pandemic. Our interventions are centered around GBV prevention, response and accountability for GBV service delivery.

Some of the strategies we are using include:

1. Provision of tele-counselling, psychosocial and legal support to women and girls facing violence during and beyond COVID19.
2. Mass media and digital messaging including bulk SMS to sensitize communities on how they can respond and prevent violence against women and girls.
3. We also working community activists in different parts of the country to refer and document cases of GBV.
4. Partnering with women networks/groups across the counties to support survivors, help tackle the spread of COVID19 and advocate for effective GBV service delivery at the national and county levels.
5. We continue to engage and petition government to integrate GBV responses among the essential services during COVID19, distribute sanitary towels to women and girls, allocate funds for GBV prevention and response, conduct mass sensitization on GBV and COVID19, fully resource the national GBV helpline to provide psychosocial support and refer survivors to appropriate GBV services. For more, read our advisory opinion: https://bit.ly/2KYtImW