
The Global Impact of COVID-19 on Women and Girls
“Responding to the pandemic is not just about rectifying long-standing inequalities, but also about building a resilient world in the interest of everyone with women at the centre of recovery.”
UN Women recently released a comprehensive policy brief entitled The Impact of COVID-19 on Women. The full report, composed by the UN Secretary-General can be accessed here. The report aims to highlight the disproportionately negative effects that the Coronavirus has had on communities of women and girls globally, with the hope that society will put women and girls at the forefront of healing initiatives post-pandemic. UN Women explains the thesis behind the brief,
“The pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems which are in turn amplifying the impacts of the pandemic. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex.“
Several of the specific gender challenges that women and girls have experienced an increase in across the globe include domestic violence during lockdown, lack of education due to school closures, and a significant rise in unpaid domestic work at home. UN Women created an accessible and in-depth explainer that describes the impact issue by issue. Many problems have been exposed to mainstream society because of the pandemic, and in order to move forward, we must move forward together. It is not enough to go back to “normal,” after the pandemic, as before the pandemic, women were still doing “three times as much unpaid care and domestic work” in the home as men. The “new normal” that is needed is one that empowers, educates, and uplifts all of us.
Tag:coronavirus, COVID-19, empower women, equality, global