COVID-19 Pandemic: A Major Challenge for Gender Equality

There is the pandemic everyone knows about, and all too well. It is legitimately clogging press headlines and consuming the attention of government leaders. Then there’s the shadow epidemic, which is swiftly unravelling the world’s meagre, but invaluable accomplishments toward gender equality over the last few decades. The global COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc on people’s lives and it is apparently observant that its repercussions are having a regressive influence on gender equality. The incidence and intensity of gender-based violence, particularly sexual and domestic violence, are amplified during times of crisis, reflects the anecdotal evidence and data sets from past pandemics and natural catastrophes. Also, access to official support services becomes more difficult for victims of abuse in such predicaments. The combination of growing demand on the one hand and more limited access to resources on the other broadens the existing rift, potentially leaving more woman victimized and their children in need of assistance. This is equally applicable to COVID-19. The effects of COVID-19 are magnified for women and girls merely because of their gender in every single domain, from health to the economy, security to social protection. The coronavirus pandemic has the potential to undo “substantial progress” attained in past decades toward gender equality. This paper documents some of the most blatant gender biases that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and articulates how social theories and research, comprising work on traditional gender roles and stereotypes, responses to potential danger, patriarchy, perception of risk, and backlash, can aid to explain the fundamental causes of these inequalities. Lastly, this paper proposes key considerations for future research, specifically (a) challenging the lack of a gender equality perspective in short-term emergency and long-term reconstructing measures, (b) identifying similarities and differences in approaches to service access, and (c) adopting a concurrency approach to address systemic inequalities in the aftermath of COVID-19.