**3. Method**

This chapter conducted a critical literature review of articles published between 2020 and 2022 aimed at exploring effects of COVID-19 on women's mental health. Consequently, a systematic search was conducted across three databases, namely Google Scholar, Research Gate, and Sage using the search term COVID-19 and/or coronavirus or pandemic, women's mental health, and gender-based violence including Africa. The rationale for focusing on Africa was based on the authors' contextual location using index-term definitions, dwelling on the authors' knowledge of the topic under investigation. The time parameters of the search were January 2020 to August 2022. Research Gate like Google Scholar is an aggregator database, referring to the fact that it includes content from various publishers (referring to different journals and databases). Thus, the rationale to opt for these two databases was based on the fact that they provide access to a large scope of work, which might have been excluded in more focused databases. Sage journals were included as it is a database that covers

**Figure 1.**

*PRISMA flowchart of reviewed articles.*

social and behavioral sciences, including our interest on women's mental health and gender-based violence. We sourced 25 articles from Google Scholar, Research Gate had 13, and Sage had 8 articles. Articles were screened and only articles (and reports/ reviews) that had these keywords in their titles or abstracts were considered in the current chapter. Articles that were duplicated in terms of being published in more than one database were merged. In this context, we opted for one instead of reviewing the two. Articles selected for retrieval were independently assessed by two authors for conceptual rigor. Two reviewers were included to avoid bias. Working together in pairs enable verification and contributed to apt possible level of methodological rigor. Statistically, the review included seven published articles in relation to women's mental health and COVID-19, revealing how COVID-19 has facilitated varying degree of gender-based violence in Africa. The criterion for inclusion or exclusion of reviewed articles was based on content analysis of which article aligns itself with the thematic focus of the chapter. In addition, only articles focused on Africa were included (**Figure 1**).

Based on the thematic analysis, the review is presented in one key theme of COVID-19 movement restriction and its implication for heightened gender-based violence and impact on women's mental health. This one key theme is expressed *via* three sub-themes as follows: Women's emotional and physical abuse, sexual abuse, and economic challenges.
