Financial strain, lockdowns and fear of infection during disease outbreaks magnify violence against women and girls − new research

Disease outbreaks can make women and girls especially vulnerable to violence, but health surveillance systems do a poor job tracking these trends.

By: Lindsay Stark, Washington University in St. Louis and Ilana Seff, Washington University in St. Louis, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: May 5, 2026

Words: 937

Last Updated: 2 months, 3 weeks ago

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By Lindsay Stark, Washington University in St. Louis and Ilana Seff, Washington University in St. Louis

When the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, another crisis quietly grew behind closed doors. Reports from around the globe suggested that violence against women and girls was increasing. Governments, nongovernmental organizations and advocates began referring to the phenomenon as a “shadow pandemic.”

To determine whether these headlines and informal reports reflected …

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