Freedom of movement includes the right to move freely within one’s country and the right to leave any country. No one shall be arbitrarily denied the right to enter their own country. This right shall not be restricted with exceptions for specific circumstances that include, but are not limited to, the protection of national security and public health.109 The right to freedom of movement is central to the realization of other human rights, such as the right to work and the right to education. Freedom of movement Examples of impacts on women: • Orders to isolate, combined with the closure or reduction of public transport, create specific and additional burdens on women when their movement is limited. Outside of emergency situations, women may have complex care obligations, encompassing child care, care for elderly relatives and care for family members who are ill or who have disabilities, as well as domestic responsibilities that require movement outside the home (shopping, trips to pharmacies, visits to clinics and schools, etc.). In Europe, working women are 50 per cent more likely than working men to also be regularly caring for ill, disabled or elderly adult relatives.110 Some women who live in areas with strict lockdown measures, are reportedly limiting their permitted time outside of the home in order to “save” it in case it is needed for a family emergency (such as visiting an elderly relative).111 Preliminary research has suggested that women have continued to devote more time than men to care-giving activities during lockdown, a situation that has contributed to women experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety.112 • Restrictions on movement, in the form of orders to isolate inside the home, present immediate dangers to women who are living in situations of violence perpetrated by partners or other family members. Across the OSCE region, two phenomena were observed after the imposition of lockdown. In some states, stay-at-home orders were accompanied by a sharp increase in survivors reporting domestic violence, as measured by calls to helplines and a rise in demand for emergency shelter.113 In contrast, CSOs in several countries114 reported an initial decrease in direct contacts from survivors of domestic violence, followed by an increase in contacts from their family members or from perpetrators of violence. In Greece, for example, calls to the General Secretariat for Family Policy and Gender Equality 109 The right to freedom of movement can be restricted only when provided by law and “when necessary to protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others.” ICCPR, op. cit., note 70, Art. 12(3). 110 OECD, “Women at the Core of the Fight against COVID-19 Crisis, Version 1st”, op. cit., note 53, pp. 4-5. 111 Interview with expert in the Russian Federation, conducted 23 May 2020. 112 Fawcett Society, “Women Are Bearing the Emotional Brunt of the Coronavirus Crisis”, 20 May 2020, <https://www. fawcettsociety.org.uk/news/women-are-bearing-the-emotional-brunt-of-the-coronavirus-crisis>; and UN Women, “The Impact of Covid-19 on Women’s and Men’s Lives and Livelihoods in Europe and Central Asia: Preliminary Results from a Rapid Gender Assessment”, op. cit., note 97, p. 37. 113 UN Women, “COVID-19 and Ending Violence Against Women and Girls”, 2020, <https://www.unwomen.org/en/ digital-library/publications/2020/04/issue-brief-covid-19-and-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls>. 114 This trend has been observed in Italy, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, for example. See: OSCE, “Domestic Violence and the COVID-19 Crisis, Trends, Measures Taken, Recommendations and Potential Areas of Assistance”, 22 May 2020, <https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/b/c/457018.pdf>. 35