- An additional 15 million cases have been foreseen in each quarter of containment, compared to the same period in the previous year. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has published this data and added that the 2020 decade will be a recession for women: They believe that the decline in genital mutilation will slow down and that forced marriages or difficulties in obtaining contraceptives will increase.
The situation is harsh for women. Although physical ill-treatment is the most visual violence, they will suffer other forms of violence in the coming months, according to a report published by the UN agency. Although in the next decade it was expected to reduce female genital mutilation by 5.5 million, this figure will drop by a third, and it is expected that in the next ten years 13 million minors will be forced into marriage.
In the case of pregnancies, an increase is also expected: an estimated 44 million women in 114 countries will not have access to contraceptives. Added to this is the situation that will arise in some countries with the closure of abortion clinics. The International Federation of Planned Parenthood estimates that in total there will be three million unplanned pregnancies, 2.7 million clandestine abortions and 11,000 pregnancy-related deaths.
“Regrettable”
UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem has described this data as "regrettable". He has pointed out that the pandemic has reduced all the efforts that have been made so far and has been concerned about it.
As he explained, these data are starting to appear, as the number of women killed during pregnancy in some countries has already increased considerably, to triple last year’s figure. Not only that: marriages of young women have also increased.