In its June 2022 decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court abandoned decades of precedent to strike down the constitutional right to abortion. This ruling—and a shift in regulatory power over abortion to individual states—is having a profound impact in American society. Already, a record number of abortion measures are on ballots to protect or abolish abortion rights. In many states, the fight over abortion access continues to take place in courtrooms. Far from settling the matter, the Supreme Court’s ruling showcases the deep divide over abortion in American society.

“The pandemic is just making visible a reality that has been going on for decades,” said Claudia Calvin, Founder of Mujeres Construyendo (Women Building) and a member of Nosotras Tenemos Otros Datos (We Have Other Data). She spoke at a recent Wilson Center event on femicide and the rule of law in Latin America. The panelists discussed the longstanding roots of this issue and new barriers to protecting women and preventing violence during the pandemic in the launch event for a project examining gender-based violence in Latin America, co-hosted by the Brazil Institute, Latin America Program, Mexico Institute, and Maternal Health Initiative. “Violence against women and femicides are not new,” Calvin said. But what is new is the fact that the media and civil society are bringing this topic to our attention, she said.

COVID-19 is having a profound impact on Latin American women. Gender-based violence increased drastically after governments imposed lockdowns, leaving policymakers and law enforcement scrambling to prevent attacks. Latin America was already one of the most dangerous regions for women, with the highest rate of sexual violence and some of the highest femicide numbers in the world. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean registered 3,529 femicides in 2018, or one woman killed every two hours due to her gender. For many women living through the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America, the greater health risk might be staying home.