Preventing sexual and other forms of gender-based violence (SGBV) before it happens and meeting the needs of all survivors should always be a priority – but it becomes even more of a compelling priority during pandemics and other emergencies. Such crises might exacerbate already existing risks of SGBV. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has forced upon us a reality check on progress (or lack of it) made on the gendered responses to end SGBV. Confinement is expected to increase risks of intimate partner violence as well as reduce access to regular lifesaving SGBV services, said Dr Chivorn Var, Executive Director of Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC) and Convener of 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR10). In China during the pandemic, the number of domestic violence complaints to the local police station tripled. In India during the lockdown, the number of domestic violence complaints almost doubled. “The Pacific island countries have some of the highest recorded rates of SGBV with nearly 2 out of 3 (67%) women experiencing sexual or physical violence by a partner. The violence is recurrent and severe and impacts women, girls, children, families, and communities at large. While there are few very good crisis support services for survivors of SGBV, they are generally confined to the capital cities and are not always available in rural and remote areas” said Abigail Erikson, Ending Violence Against Women Programme Specialist, UN Women, Fiji Multi-Country Office. “The public health measures taken to tackle COVID-19 such as, physical distancing and lockdown to confine people within homes – have added fuel to fire. There has been an increase in the calls to the national helpline numbers with 50% of the women reporting a correlation between violence and some of the COVID-19 containment measures. Service providers have reported that SGBV survivors who are already receiving support services are experiencing escalating violence that is more severe and more frequent” added Erikson. Intimate partner violence in Cambodia Dr Chivorn Var shared that “intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence faced by Cambodian women. 20% of Cambodian…