many participating States have taken action to address gaps in service provision, through increased funding for gender-based violence services subsequent to imposing emergency measures. Canada is an exception, in that funding and policy commitments for social services on gender-based violence were included in the national emergency response.208 CSOs that address issues of concern to women are the primary providers of services for survivors of domestic violence and, although they have received varied support from national and local budgets, they have also been put under tremendous strain, not only to respond to the increased demand for their services, but also to reorganize their work to comply with social distancing rules. The following are the primary gaps that have been identified in support services in the OSCE region: Lockdown measures and reduction in mobility have made many temporary shelters inaccessible to women; CSOs have lacked protocols for how to admit women to centres while complying with isolation and quarantine standards; women’s organizations have few permanent staff, and organizations have been challenged to retrain and redeploy volunteers to remote work; women’s helplines have limited resources to provide the complex assistance that survivors require; new models of service delivery, especially concerning psychosocial and legal counselling, have had to be developed via online or telephone communication; many organizations lack reserve funds (and unrestricted funds) that are needed to adjust to crisis situations. All of these issues call into question the sustainability of CSOs in the context of high demands for their services.209 When service-provision gaps are not met, women survivors of violence are unable to fully exercise their right to social welfare. • People who are experiencing homelessness are an especially vulnerable group during crises such as pandemics, as their ability to comply with emergency measures that require self-isolation, social distancing and increased hygiene is “not a realistic prospect” unless they have access to a system of social care.210 Thus, there is a heightened need during emergencies to ensure that the basic rights of people experiencing homelessness, including their rights to social protection, food, clothing and housing, are not overlooked when services are reduced. Outside of crisis situations, women are largely invisible among the homeless, although they represent around a quarter of people experiencing homelessness (based on estimates from European countries for which data is available211). This situation, 208 CARE International, “The Absence of Women in COVID-19 Response”, op. cit., note 72, p. 15. See also: Government of Canada, Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan”, <https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html>. 209 UN Women, “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Specialist Services for Victims and Survivors of Violence in the Western Balkans and Turkey”, 2020, <https://www2.unwomen.org/-/media/field%20office%20eca/attachments/publications/2020/05/unw_covid-vaw_report_final.pdf?la=en&vs=5317>; Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE), “Policy Statement on COVID-19 and Violence against Women and Girls”, 2020, <http://wave-network.org/wp-content/uploads/WAVE_Covid19statement.pdf>; Women’s Resource Centre, “The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on the UK’s Women’s Sector, Survey Responses and Findings”, op. cit., note 120. 210 European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA), COVID-19: “’Staying Home’ Not an Option for People Experiencing Homelessness”, 18 March 2020, <https://www.feantsa.org/en/feantsa-position/2020/03/18/ covid19-staying-home-not-an-option-for-people-experiencing-homelessness?bcParent=27>. 211 See Women’s Homelessness in Europe Network, “Statistics”, <http://womenshomelessness.org/resources/statistics/>; and Jako doma, “Back from the Bottom: Focused on Women”, 2013, <http://jakodoma.org/wp-content/ uploads/2012/11/Back-from-the-Bottom_fin.pdf>. Data from the United States indicate that women represent 39 per cent of people experiencing homelessness. See: Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, “At 61