Refugee Children, LGBTI Youth and Covid19

Diseases outbreak affects girls and boys, women and men differently. However, children face the most risk to the pandemic and its effects. According to the Aftershocks[i] Report by World Vision Five million could suffer from malnutrition which is about a 40% increase from the current data, and malaria deaths could also increase by 50% among children. More so adolescent children`s education was interrupted, including young people who face emotional distress and troubling feelings, including anxiety, anger, and worry due to the uncertainty of how long this crisis will last and dealing with isolation. A big number of these children are disadvantaged, cannot access technology and the internet[ii].Adolescent children have been affected by sexual gender based violence, child marriage, abuse exploitation and neglect

COVID-19 poses a severe threat to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Intersex and Trans youth(LGBTI) refugee adolescent youth and children living in crowded camps or conflict zones lacking proper sanitation or medical care. People in refugee camps are often fleeing violence due to their ethnic, gender or sexual orientation and are effectively pushed to the periphery of society.

During the three months of lock down in Uganda, there have been several reports on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) among young adolescents in Uganda for example, 15year old young woman was reported on a local television being sold by her own mother to different men in return for cash which ended her being pregnant and infected with HIV. Numerous factors place refugee children and youth at high risk for acquiring or transmitting COVID19; risk factors include high HIV prevalence, which is exacerbated by unprotected sex, defilement, lack of knowledge of COVID19 status, Low perception of risk for COVID19, Stigma and discrimination due to being minorities, High STD rates; and a lack of youth appropriate COVID19 education and prevention activities.

COVID19 threatens to subdue the progress we have made in gender equality, due to an increase in domestic violence and increased difficulties in accessing justice through legal systems.This is in addition to 283 cases of Violence Against Children which were reported

Through the National Child Helpline -Sauti 116, in Kampala. More so, on 29 March 2020, police stormed the Children of the Sun Shelter (COSF) in Kyengera which was accommodating about 22 LGBTI persons. 19 LGBT persons were rounded up by the police and village leadership and taken to police[iii].

As an organization we have received reports of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV)from our members especially children and adolescent girls and boys living in Refugee host communities.After being sexually violated and abused they do not report to the law enforcers anymore due to fear of secondary victimization, which has increased the demand for us as a Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to intervene.

[i]https://www.wvi.org/publications/covid-19-aftershocks-secondary-impacts-threaten-more-childrens-lives-disease-itself

[ii]https://www.wvi.org/publications/report/child-participation/childrens-voices-times-covid-19-continued-child-activism

[iii]https://www.hrapf.org/index.php/10-hrapf-news/97-case-of-19-lgbt-youth-arrested-and-detained-on-covid-19-related-charges-taken-to-the-un