A new IRC report brings forward the voices of 852 refugee and displaced women living in some of the most underfunded and forgotten humanitarian crises in 15 African countries to learn how the pandemic and the humanitarian response to it has affected their safety.

Women and girls make up half of all refugees and people displaced by crisis worldwide, and an estimated 225 million women living in developing countries are in need of contraception.

Over the last four years, the Trump administration’s increasingly restrictive immigration policies have drastically limited access to U.S. humanitarian protection pathways, blocked access to territory for asylum seekers, and deployed inhumane treatment as a mode of deterrence. Combined with the marked increase in forced displacement in Mexico and Central America and a reduction of U.S. aid to the region, these policies have severely exacerbated the preexisting humanitarian crisis.

In addition to the praise it has received for its representation of Colombia and Latinx cultures, Encanto has also sparked positive conversations about refugees and other displaced people.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is publishing this report to do more than bear witness to the suffering of Syrian women and girls caught in a protracted regional conflict.