Peer-reviewed article
Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Adolescent Girls and Young Women: A Narrative Review
Naina Kumar, Amit Kant Singh ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This narrative review examines how COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns negatively affected adolescent girls and young women in India, particularly through increased exposure to violence, sexual exploitation, and loss of access to health and educational services. The review documents a rise in child marriages, female genital mutilation, school drop-outs, teenage pregnancies, and gender-based violence during the pandemic period. The authors describe these compounded harms as a 'second pandemic' driven by existing gender inequalities and societal norms that made this population especially vulnerable during lockdowns.
Key points
- Lockdowns resulted in closure of educational institutions, workplaces, and health services, increasing girls' vulnerability to sexual and physical exploitation
- The review identified a skyrocketing rise in violence against girls and women, teenage pregnancies, school drop-outs, child marriages, abuse, and female genital mutilation
- Adolescent girls and young women faced unmet needs for contraception and reproductive health services, leading to unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions
- The pandemic created a 'hidden pandemic' of secondary impacts driven by pre-existing age and gender-based inequalities
- Long-term consequences could be prevented through timely protective interventions for this vulnerable population
Limitations
This is a narrative review that synthesizes existing literature rather than primary research, so it cannot quantify the actual scale of impacts or establish causal relationships with certainty. The review does not present original data collection or analysis specific to India, limiting ability to assess country-specific prevalence or outcomes.
Abstract
: Adolescent girls and young women constitute a vulnerable population worldwide and an easy target to secondary impacts of a pandemic due to societal norms, existing age, gender-based inequalities, leading to a condition known as “second pandemic”. Due to local and national lockdowns to prevent coronavirus spread, educational institutions, workplaces, and health services have been shut down, making adolescent girls and women prone to sexual, physical exploitation, gender-based violence, educational, financial loss, lack of sexual and reproductive services. The present review briefs some of these secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent girls and women, which, if taken care of, can prevent many long-term consequences. Methodology: The literature was searched from governmental, non-governmental sites and agencies like WHO, UN, UNICEF, Guttmacher Institute, International Labor Organization, and English peer-reviewed journals, using the USA National Library of Medicine (Pubmed) database, the regional portal of Virtual Health Library, and Scientific Electronic Library Online. The data from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic till March 2021 about the impact of COVID-19 on women and children were searched and studied. The descriptors used were school drop-out children, adolescent girls, women suffering at home/work, unmet need for contraception, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortion, child marriages, and female genital mutilation. Results and Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a “hidden pandemic” against women and children. There is a skyrocketing rise in violence against women/girls, teenage pregnancies, school drop-outs, child marriages, abuse, and female genital mutilation. Hence, women and adolescent girls should be protected from the shadowing effects of the pandemic.