**7. Women's experiences of sexual abuse during the COVID-19 lockdown**

Another devastating GBV experience that nearly all the reviewed articles reported were cases of sexual abuse during the COVID-19 lockdown. In most cases, the articles emphasized that incidences of sexual abuse arose as women encountered excessive sex demands from their partners based on the fact that they were confined to stay at home for long period of time. In regard, a sensational case report was made of a woman, who was sighted running away from her house onto the street nearly naked in the bid to escape from her husband, who according to her has had sex all night yet wanted some more [12]. The woman in her own views expressed that she has to run onto the empty street despite the lockdown restrictions because she did not want her husband to snuff out all the life in her. Furthermore, the same research reported that some women who resisted their husband's excessive sex demands often times encounter physical beating [12]. Similar cases of sexual abuses were reflected in a mini-research review focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health during COVID-19 pandemic [29]. Hence, there is strong affirmation that sexual violence was on the increase across African nations during the lockdown restrictions and not only for women but also for girls and children [30]. In this regard, they reported that in Uganda, sexual violence was the "third most reported form of abuse contributing 20.1% of all the cases" [31]. Equally, their report indicated that Kenya had witnessed a significant increase of more than 80% in teenage pregnancies in 2020 compared to 2019 (Kenya Situation Report. Nairobi: UNOCHA Kenya, 2020 cited in [31]). Similarly, in Malawi, in 2020, an approximately 35% rise was noted in the number of teenage pregnancies among adolescent girls (Davies, 2020 cited in [31]).

In addition, they stated that sexual violence against girls had been reported across West of Africa including Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Sierra Leone (Commonwealth Foundation [31]. In general, the dominant argument is that prevalence of sexual violence is associated with unwanted pregnancies

*Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic on Women's Mental Health: A Critical Review of Literature DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109109*

including ever raising demand for abortion, and all of these impact on mental health and wellness of life [30]. Another study reported 22% prevalence of intimate partner sexual violence among Ethiopian women during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown [30]. Therefore, there is evidence-based speculation regarding the risk factors associated with COVID-19 pandemic and increased incidences of GBV, and what is more worrisome is the type of impact such experiences make on women's mental health.

### **8. Women's economic abuse during the COVID-19 lockdown**

Women economic abuse has been concurrently alleged to by all the reviewed articles, pointing to the fact that COVID-19 pandemic demean women's economic power further than it used to be. In this context, a good number of the articles argued that women who used to struggle to run small entrepreneur business scales such as selling bean cakes and water among many others, suddenly discovered that the lockdown protocol prevented them from doing so [12, 29], which for some women has led to excessive financial dependence on their partners [28]. The resultant effect is that women were emotional and physically abused when they ask for resources that they partners could not afford to supply [12, 29].

One of the research projects reviewed narrated how the "stay at home" restriction order had forced a woman to remain in her boyfriend's house for a long period of time and eventually there was shortage of food and the boyfriend locked up the woman in the house [12]. The boyfriend went out for hours, only to return in the evening drunk and physically attacked her. She sustained injury from the violence. Similar cases were reported by [12, 14] claiming that financial stress is one of the facilitating factors for increased GBV experiences for women. Other scholars argued that informal traders who depend on their partners for financial support have no alternative than to remain in abusive relationship in order to secure their daily bread [6, 27]. Hence, financial stress is represented through reduced income and bleak future because of restricted movement and retrenchment are potential catalyst flaming violence against women.

In the same vein, a case study report of a woman who during the pandemic lockdown asked the husband to collect N30,000 that a friend had sent to her from abroad but her husband after collecting the money, refused to relinquish the money to her [12]. Although the woman insisted amidst verbal insults from her husband to retrieve the money from him, that led to her leaving the house with her children in seek of safety in a relative's house. Thus, she and her children became internally displaced for a time being and such is another form of emotional torture, directly or indirectly impacting on mental health. Consequently, it can be argued that economic stress forms part of the reason for further GBV experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in most cases, women/girls are always at the receiving end of being victims.

### **9. Recommendations**

This chapter makes only two recommendations based on the vital issues raised within the reviewed articles: one for women to improve their level of proactiveness in the face of any adversity, particularly in sustaining a viable economic strength. The act of achieving proactiveness should be done through advocacy, which ought to promote self-efficacy and assertiveness. In addition, some form of psycho-education ought to be conducted while carrying out the advocacy programs. In order to achieve a viable level of proactiveness, women in particular need to be involved in conducting the advocacy process, wherein they (women) ought to create the awareness for and with themselves. Such advocacy can be championed by Ministry of Women Affairs (including women's organizations) through media and faith-based channels.

The key aim of the awareness creation will be focusing on facilitating women's ability to treasure the need to be resilient, which will include the act of self-efficacy, assertiveness, and independent, which can be achieved through psycho-education. This is based on the notion that depending on their partners for sustenance has resulted in varying abuses: be it emotional, physical, and/or sexual. It does not mean that women could end GBV by just being economic independence but rather such a stance will minimize the GBV abuses. In all, women may not be able to achieve much on their own without the help of men; therefore, the awareness creation ought to include soliciting the cooperation of men. Thus, the advocacy process has to factor in men as active participants (reflecting the act of communal (collective) involvement, which is usually Africa's strategic step reflecting interdependence). The involvement of men could be achieved through media/faith-based channels, wherein men should be encouraged to appreciate women and perceive them as valued.

The second recommendation relates to policy makers, which strongly laid emphasis on the fact that women should be more agentic in protecting themselves from abuse by voicing out the experiences. In this stance, existing policies ought to be reviewed to include clauses that advocate for women's proactiveness toward self-protection and economic independence. To achieve this stance, women in carrying out the advocacy process ought to continue to include aspects of creating the awareness that speaking out matters. In addition, policy makers should device means to ensure that the perpetrators of GBV are re-oriented toward self-transformation to promote a safer environment for all. Below is a diagram indicating the channel through which the intervention process could be achieved.
