Factors shaping responsiveness towards sexual gender-based violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: A systematic review

Figures & data

Figure 1. PRISMA Flow Diagram.

Table 1. Study characteristics

No	1^st Author/ year/ country [citation]	Study type/design	Study aim	Study participants	Key issues/findings
1	Elliot Mbunge, (2020) South Africa	Qualitative study (explanatory study)	The aim of this study was to review the effects of COVID-19 in the South African health system and society.	Reports, policies and guidelines from WHO, National Institute, South African Department of Health.	Slow progress in restructuring the healthcare system. Poor leadership and management to deal with the problem affecting service delivery.
2	Fawole et al., (2020) Nigeria	Case report	To describes specific scenarios of IPV reported by women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria to provide insight for policy and programmatic efforts.	case reports from organisations serving women experiencing IPV as well as media coverage of IPV	Adequate emotional and stress management programmes were introduced to help the community deal with economic stress which was associated with increased sexual gender based violence.
3	Rockowitz et al., (2020) kenya	Quatitive study (prospective cross sectional study)	This study examined patterns of sexual violence against adults and children in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform sexual violence prevention and protection efforts.	Residents of kenya	Collaborators create safe spaces for survivors to freely complain about their violation of human rights. Very few people or community know of the existence of shelters and those who could not access them because fear contracting COVID19. Safety and protection was questionable during the pandemic. Construction shelters not prioritized and staff operating them were not considered essential workers. Shelters that do exist are also reportedly understaffed, under-resourced, and barely functioning.
4	Magdy et al., (2021) Egypt	Qualitative study	This study aimed at emergency services during COVID-19 through a dose up analysis of the efficacy of state on shelter for survivors of domestic violence.	Documents	Few African countries also introduced gender responsive interventions and policies to address the broader ramifications of COVID-19. many countries did not introduce COVID-19 related policies that addressed sexual gender violence. At the same time selected Islamic settings (Egypt) policies permit minimum force and punishment of women and children for justifiable reason. Gaps in policies and programs on to deal socio-cultural barriers to reporting domestic violence and seeking help. Evidence shows that in many countries have not enhanced legal framework that deal with crimes of SGBV. Barriers to legal enforcement was compounded with shortages of human resources and lack of capacity among law enforcers fully investigated dimensions a SGBV cases A few studies reported an Increase to Justices system responsiveness in some countries, for example normal court matters were suspended to deal with SGBV cases in Egypt. Some studies documented the lack of political will and policy tools to tackle domestic violence. Studies also indicated the lack of rapid responses and interventions that are survivor-centered, and the limited number of shelters and safety
5	Chipare (2020) Namibia	Qualitative study	Aims at discussing violence in the context of COVID-19 and proffer recommendation on how to address this growing burden.	Literature reviews	Policies and programmes were introduced in many African countries to fight against COCID 19.
6	Stark et al., (2020) Republic of Congo	Qualitative study	Exploring the sydemic of COVID-19 and gender based sexual violence in humanitarian setting making use of the leveraging lessons from Ebola	Literature reviews	Policies and programmes were introduced in order to fight COVID 19 Multilateral and localized policies and programming were considered which were essential to address the ever-expanding needs of the communities impacted by the syndemic.
7	Parry et al., (2020) South Africa	Qualitative study	Aimed on the early effects of the COVID‐19 crisis on women, specifically within the South African context.	Literature review	Evidence shows that few countries created and enhanced mechanisms to enable survivors and victims to get support via social support (friends, neighbors or the community) during the pandemic. Deliberate programmes that increase access to social network and sources of social and health support were promoted during COVID-19 lockdowns.
8	Magezi et al., (2020) Zimbabwe	Qualitative study	Exploring the role of the church in a situation of gender based violence from a pastoral care perspective during COVID-19	Literature review	Lack of alternative means of economic support and livelihood for women and girls. Religious and traditional leaders and chiefs received SGBV cases from social networks communities and offer the necessary psycho-social support to victims. Opportunities for churches to engage their congregational members towards changing their practices perpetuating SGBV were missed. Religious and traditional leaders and chiefs hardly involved in identification SGBV cases in their communities and offer help and link survivors to necessary service providers psycho-social support to victims.
9	Katana et al., (2021) Uganda	Mixed method (Cross sectional study|)	To assess adherence to public health measures and their impacts on COVID-19 outbreak in Uganda.	Ugandan residents	Inability to access social or essential health services during the pandemic.
10	Gebremesk et al (2020) Aksum town, northern Ethiopia	Quantitative study	Determining the prevalence of intimate partner violence against reproductive aged women in northern Ethiopia during COVID-19 pandemic.	All reproductive aged women	Awareness of police and judiciary about the increase of violence against women and girls during COVID-19 and provide training on how to respond, protect and refer victims and survivors to appropriate services was promoted. Promotion on training first responders on psychosocial support, including health workers, law enforcement and court officials and emergency shelter and counselling staff still operating during the crisis.
11	Nduna et al., (2020) South Africa	Qualitative study (desktop study)	This study aimed at domestic violence incidence during the COVID-19 lockdowns.	South African women (blacks)	In terms of helping services, community-based domestic violence service were limited as some shifted their services online and over the phone interventions. Persons at risk of violence struggled with public transportation to visit the police, social workers, and local NGOs. Informal sources to help were limited due to the lockdown regulations and social disconnection for people with limited data and airtime to connect with friends and families.
12	Mdluli et al., (2020) South Africa	Qualitative study	Aimed at exploring what positive changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought for working women.	Secondary data collected.	The findings reveal that technological advancements enable women to work remotely and be present at home consistently. As a result, women spend much time with their aggressive partners at home. Job loss for women poses an economical threat for their families
13	John N et al., (2021) Kenya	Qualitative study	aimed at finding out the impact of the lock down on hard-to-reach women and girls	Women and adolescent girls	Participates felt that the government restrictive policies led to increased exposure of women and girls to different forms of GBV. Lockdown led to increased transactional sex, pregnancies, harmful practices such as drug abuse.

Fawole, O. I., Okedare, O. O., & Reed, E. (2021a). Home was not a safe haven: Women’s experiences of intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. BMC Women’s Health, 21(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01177-9

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Katana, E., Amodan, B. O., Bulage, L., Ario, A. R., Fodjo, J. N. S., Colebunders, R., & Wanyenze, R. (2021). Violence and discrimination among Ugandan residents during the COVID-19 lockdown. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 467. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10532-2

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar