Headline Diplomat eJournal – Issue 1, Series 2
The perilous lenses of COVID-19: The sociopolitical impact
Writes Tayo Williams, Content Writer, Headline Diplomat eJournal, LUDCI.eu
Gender inequality is an issue that has been discussed for a while in many circles from informal gatherings to giant formal ones like the World Economic Forum. Even with all the work and successes achieved towards gender equality, the World Economic Forum predicted that economic equality between men and women would take 257 years.
COVID-19 has come to completely upset this prediction and potentially set it further away into some insanely distant future. The pandemic has made bare the fault lines already existent between women and men. While the virus affects all sectors of the world economy, it does so unequally. Women will suffer more in every regard from the consequences of this pandemic than men will. This is not to take anything away from the effect on men, but certain persistent social norms make women disproportionately affected by this virus. Let’s consider some of the effects of COVID-19 on men and women.
Death Toll on the rise. Twice as many men have been dying as a result of COVID-19 as women. In Western Europe, 69% of all COVID-19 related deaths have been male. This is roughly the same in China and many other countries. One theory behind this development describes the female genetic make-up as responsible for their higher immune response to the virus. Also, gender-based behavioral differences have also been marked as a possible cause. Smoking for example is predominantly associated with a male behaviour around the world. This activity affects the level of pre-existing diseases like heart disease, chronic lung disease, and cancer.
People with underlying medical conditions are said to have lesser chances of survival when infected by the coronavirus. While this may seem like men are being disproportionately affected in this respect, another way to look at it is that they are being given an easy way out. These men would leave their wives alone to cope with all the troubles of life and family now being compounded by the global pandemic. The impact of male deaths (especially the married) on women will outlast the actual pandemic.
Unemployment and Underemployment are the new normal. Schools all over the world have shut down, so as the hospitality industry. Women are the most prominent workers in these two sectors. Men traditionally work more in the construction and manufacturing industry upon which the impact of the virus is not nearly as severe. More women are thrown into unemployment than men.
The determining factor of unemployment is whether or not the job is termed “essential” or not. Also, whether the job is telecommutable or not. In both respects, women are disadvantaged. Hospitality services (hotels, restaurants, flights) are not termed critical at this period and more men work remotely than women. The women who remain employed are still being plagued by underemployment. In the U.S., Australia, India, and virtually the rest of the world, women earn significantly less than men.
And where does this bring us? Unemployability is what we should be expecting. More men dying and more women losing their jobs is bad enough. Then it gets even worse when you get to look at the fact that these women would become increasingly unemployable. Single mothers would receive the hardest hit. They have little or no support and have either lost their jobs or are at the risk of losing them.
In homes where the father dies, the mother is left with child-care, due to the fact that schools and similar child-care facilities are currently closed. Even in homes where the fathers are present, persistent social norms still cause women to be responsible for childcare and household management. This greatly limits the time available to women to work, advanced their skills or learn new skills.
Meanwhile, increased Violence Against Women is taking a toll on them. Domestic violence affects both men and women but women experience it disproportionately. In the first week of the lockdown, reported cases of domestic violence rose dramatically in France, Australia and Lebanon. Women are more prone to experiencing domestic violence like rape, from their partners. The psychology of this is that when two people are locked in doors for weeks with declining income and almost no money to spend, tempers become short, and issues naturally come up. This however does not excuse rape or domestic violence towards women by abusive partners – a criminal offence that has been affecting several women since the COVID hit.
Conclusion:
The first thing the government as well as employers need to investigate is flexibility with work arrangements. Women would benefit a lot from this as their time is mostly tied up. This will help put more women into work as well as men. Single mothers can benefit immensely from this. In homes where the woman must be at work, the man could provide childcare if he has a job that he can do remotely. Policies that encourage paternity leaves would also help to include fathers in the care of their children.
Featured photo by Lina Kivaka, Pexels
