Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Marriage, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Domestic Violence in India and Zambia
Empirical Social Research
Final Report Abstract
With the devastating socioeconomic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the progress towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda has been considerably slowed down. The SDG5 for "Gender Equality" is no exception. This research project aimed at assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aspects of gender inequality among adolescent girls in India and Zambia. We thereby put specific focus on three central indicators of gender inequality, namely (1) gender-based violence, (2) child and forced marriage, and (3) sexual and reproductive health. To this end, we conducted 3049 quantitative interviews, eight focus group discussions, and nine in-depth interviews with adolescent girls in India. In addition, we collected 1.615 quantitative interviews and three focus group discussions with adolescent girls in Zambia and gathered administrative records on girls’ school attendance from 98 schools. In both countries, the economic impacts of the pandemic were more substantial than the health impacts. In India, only 1% of sampled households had a family member who passed away due to SARS-CoV-2, the rate was even lower in Zambia. However, 85% of households in India and Zambia experienced financial shortages because of the pandemic. Further, 36% of households in India struggled to provide enough food to eat for everyone in the family during the pandemic and 19% of respondents in Zambia reported that they or someone in their family had to go without eating for a whole day because of lack of money or resources during the pandemic. The prevalence of family and intimate partner violence against adolescent girls was high in both countries. In India, half of the interviewed adolescent girls reported incidents of physical violence perpetrated by a parent or other adult household member. One third of adolescent girls experienced sexual violence perpetrated by a husband or boyfriend, including unwanted touching, attempted and realized rape. In Zambia, 1 in 3 girls reported incidents of parental physical or emotional violence perpetrated at home. Among partnered girls, 10% experienced physical abuse through a partner and 19% experienced sexual violence. In both countries, the risk of violence was significantly higher in households who suffered more substantial negative consequences due to the pandemic. The rate of child marriages was at 9% in India (with the youngest girl married at age 9) and at 7% in Zambia. In India, the likelihood of being married increased significantly with the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. In focus group discussions, participants highlighted that costs for wedding celebrations during COVID-19 were lower due to restrictions on the number of guests and that some families of grooms were willing to agree on no or low dowry payments, which opened an economically attractive window of opportunity for parents to marry off their daughters. In Zambia, the risk of child marriage did not increase with pandemic pressures. Girls in both countries reported poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes. In India, almost 40% of girls in partnerships reported that they did not use a condom during past sex and 20% of all partnered fell pregnant or had given birth during the pandemic. Analyses revealed that the risk of teenage pregnancy increased significantly with higher economic and health pressures induced by the pandemic. In Zambia, 64% of partnered reported that they have had sex in exchange for gifts, food, transport or housing, 41% had unprotected sex, and 47% of all partnered girls were pregnant or had already given birth. However, we could not confirm that these risks increased significantly for girls in households with worse COVID-19-related experiences.
Publications
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Association between public health emergencies and sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and early marriage among adolescent girls: a rapid review. BMC Public Health, 23(1).
Shukla, Shruti; Ezebuihe, Jessy Amarachi & Steinert, Janina Isabel
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Correlates of Adolescent Pregnancy in The Context Of COVID-19: A Community-Based Study in India. Population Medicine, 5(Supplement).
Shuklam, Shruti; Steinert, Janina & Satish, Rucha
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Violence Against Adolescent Girls During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative Evidence From Rural and Urban Communities in Maharashtra, India. Journal of Adolescent Health, 73(6), 1010-1018.
Steinert, Janina Isabel; Prince, Hannah; Ezebuihe, Jessy & Shukla, Shruti
