ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting violence world wide – both at the macro level (between nation states, non-state actors and third parties) and at a more micro level (between men and women within a household). At the macro level, there are several forces at play. On one hand, confrontation would expose both states and violent non-state groups to contamination, potentially causing massive loss of human lives. Moreover, attacks aimed at signalling discontent or making bigger demands are unlikely to generate media and diplomatic attention at the level it otherwise would have, sans the pandemic. Hence, there might be a mitigation in the intensity of conflicts. On the other hand, the capacity of the states to retaliate will, to a large extent, be compromised, since huge financial and human resources will have to be dedicated to fighting the widespread health and economic effects of the pandemic. Hence, the belligerent groups may have greater incentive to launch attacks. This chapter attempts to focus on a few of the world conflicts to broadly study these various issues and incentives facing the conflicting parties, under the threat of Covid-19. Specifically, we look at the wars in Yemen, Afghanistan and the Indo-China border to have a better understanding of the forces at play. At the micro level, we focus on trends in gender-based violence, where the pandemic seems to have unambiguously worsened the situation that women are having to endure – an affliction that is commonly referred to as the “shadow pandemic.”
