A growing call to classify gender-based violence services and child protection services as essential services and to invest in them: Child Protection in the age of COVID-19

Given the mounting evidence that COVID-19 is leading to increased violence against women and children it is well past time for the big international aid agencies to immediately classify gender-based violence (GBV) services and child protection services as essential services. While this classification from non-essential to essential would not be a full fix to a historical problem based on structural inequalities between women and men and adults and children, it would usher in a number of dynamic changes: Funding, scale and quality would be achieved which in turn would lead to a reduction in violence, which after all is central to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, 2030.