April 3, 2020 By: Rebecca Herman, CPM, MPH & Jodi DiProfio, MA Evidence from the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that there will be unequal and disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls. Past disease outbreaks, including the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, demonstrated the myriad ways disease epidemics exacerbate gender inequities and gender-based violence, as well as provide clues on steps that can be taken to mitigate them.