The social and economic consequences of the pandemic threaten to slow down decades of progress towards gender equality, as the COVID-19 caused major disturbances in the whole range of daily life and women were called upon to lift more weight than men, according to a new international scientific study, the first to make this finding.
The researchers, led by Emmanuela Gakidou, a Greek-born professor at the School of Medicine and the Institute for Health Measurement and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle, published their findings in The Lancet medical journal. between the two sexes, which were caused by the indirect effects of the pandemic, taking into account differences between men and women in the rates of coronavirus vaccination, in the provision of health services, at work, in education, at home, in the community, etc.
The largest and most persistent gap was found in employment and paid work, with 26% of women (one in four) reporting losing their jobs due to the pandemic, compared to 20% of men (one in five) worldwide. Also, women and girls around the world were 1,21 times more likely to drop out of school and 1,23 times more likely to be sexually abused than men and boys.
"Our study shows that Covid-19 "It tends to exacerbate pre-existing social and economic inequalities rather than create new inequalities," said Dr. Gakidou, who holds a PhD from Harvard University. "We can not let the social and economic effects of the pandemic continue in the post-COVID era. "Action needs to be taken now to not only reverse the existing inequalities, but to further close the gaps that already existed before the pandemic began."
The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, analyzed data from 193 countries for the March 2020-September 2021 period. , although this trend tends to decrease over time. On the other hand, in terms of income loss (reported by 58% of people worldwide) due to the pandemic, the rates were similar in both sexes.
Women were more likely to be unemployed because they were employed in a larger proportion of sectors of the economy that were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, such as the hotel sector and domestic helpers, which is especially true for immigrant and minority women.
Women also took on more household responsibilities than men and raised children and the elderly in the midst of a pandemic, resulting in less time available for paid work. 54% of women worldwide - compared to 44% of men - reported that gender-based violence increased in their community during the pandemic. On the other hand, women and men reported a similar percentage (34%) that they feel insecure in their own home.
RES-EAP