Spiralling living costs are endangering sex workers’ safety by forcing them to accept potentially dangerous male clients whose inquiries they would have previously rejected, campaigners have warned.

Extreme hunger and a scarcity of water are impacting 14 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia - with women routinely bearing the burden of having to hunt down food and water during droughts. ActionAid, a leading NGO, warned this can result in women making lengthy trips through war-ravaged regions where they are more likely to be subjected to violence.

‘We have a great concern for the safety of women journalists; not only for their well-being but also for their freedom of expression,’ say campaigners.

Femicides, defined as the gender-motivated killing of women, are prevalent in Mexico and the femicide rate has more than doubled in the past five years. Campaigners are fearful that troubling rates of violence could increase during the coronavirus lockdown, which has seen measures extended until at least the end of May.

‘They tend to be designed to the size and shape of male bodies. This is in spite of the fact that 75 per cent of NHS workers are women,’ says British Medical Association spokesperson.

"A law which would allow men accused of having sex with girls who are under 18 to avoid punishment if they marry their victims is set to be introduced to parliament in Turkey."

Refuge, which is the UK’s largest provider of shelters for domestic abuse victims, found 1,780 women seeking help – more than a third of the total – had faced economic abuse from their partner, including being denied access to money or a bank account, as well as having debt placed in their name. On average, the mistreatment lasted more than six years.

Women are being subjected to coercive control, and physical and even sexual assault from their ex-partners when children are being picked up or dropped off.