As daily lives and communities are upended by COVID-19, concern is mounting that children’s exposure to violence may increase. Children with a history of abuse may find themselves even more vulnerable – both at home and online – and may experience more frequent and severe acts of violence. Others may be victimized for the first time.

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Understanding the current status of violence prevention and response services is therefore essential to assessing risks to children. A new UNICEF publication, Protecting Children from Violence in the Time of COVID-19: Disruptions in prevention and response services, documents what has happened to such services across the world:

• 1.8 billion children live in the 104 countries where violence prevention and response services have been disrupted due to COVID-19
• Case management and home visits for children and women at risk of abuse are among the most commonly disrupted services
• Around two thirds of countries with disruptions reported that at least one type of service had been severely affected; however, 70 per cent of countries reported that mitigation measures had been put into place