This report highlights the importance of states complying with their obligations under international human rights law in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, in particular those with respect to the rights of women and girls as set out in the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Failure to undertake a gender analysis in policy and decision-making with respect to temporary emergency measures to contain the spread of the virus has resulted in variable impacts across different communities and on women within those communities who have experienced disproportionate disadvantage and harm. A gender analysis, therefore, must be carried out, taking into account other intersecting factors that impact women’s lives such as their race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and able-bodiedness. As the only specific category of women explicitly protected by a separate provision in CEDAW, the situation of rural women provides a useful illustrative case study to show how rurality can operate to create additional disadvantage and contribute to intersectional discrimination. The report examines the position of women in rural areas and the impact of pandemic-related policy responses on their (1) right to adequate living conditions and related right to livelihood; (2) right to security of person; (3) right to healthcare, including reproductive health services; and (4) right to participation in political and public life. Ultimately, the report shows how state failure to comply with the CEDAW obligations has resulted in foreseeable and preventable violations of women’s rights and draws recommendations from the lessons learned.