Impact of the covid 19 pandemic on gender equality
A recent UN study reports that there is a strong adverse impact of the pandemic on the livelihoods of women, and it is feared that this disproportionate impact may “further compound pre-existing gender inequalities” in developing countries, like Pakistan, and reverse the progress made thus far.
Job losses around the globe resulting from the pandemic are 1.8 times higher for females than for males.
In Pakistan, 70% of the women work in the informal sector, where job losses due to the pandemic have been the highest.
In Pakistan, over 70% of frontline health workers are women. With a limited supply of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and inadequate health facilities, they are more likely to be infected compared to workers in other segments of society.
The pandemic has significantly increased women’s unpaid domestic and care responsibilities as more family members have begun to stay at home.
According to data from the World Bank, Pakistani women on average spend 10.5 times more time than men on unpaid domestic and care work, such as housework, child rearing, caring for the sick and elderly, etc. Thus, they have less time to spend on paid work, their health, and on enhancing their skills. With the advent of the pandemic and its aftermath, they are likely to become even more time poor.
Violence against women has also increased, both in developed and developing countries, due to the pandemic.
In addition, the pandemic is reinforcing the existing large gender digital divide.
According to the Global Digital Divide Report, 2018, women in Pakistan are 37% less likely to own a mobile phone, and only 12% of women have access to internet services as compared to 21% of men.
Recommendations
A) short-term
- Governments must ensure delivery of proper PPEs to frontline workers
- 2. Design special stimulus packages for vulnerable women
- 3. Strengthen protection services for victims of gender-based violence, and
- 4. Facilitate harassment-free assistance distribution
B) Long-term
- Implementing new social protection programs that are even more targeted towards women
- 2. Improving gender-disaggregated data collection
- 3. Expanding research on economic and social impacts of the pandemic
