According to a recent UN policy brief regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and its adverse effect on gender equality, the “limited gains made in the past decades are at risk of being rolled back”. This condemning brief is concerning, not least because of the facts and figures contained therein, which highlight how this pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities between men and women. The extent to which health crises have long-lasting and detrimental effects—not just on women's mental and physical health, but also their socio-economic well-being—is worrying. However, as of yet no formalised framework has been put in place to ensure that women are incorporated into policymaking processes across the board to limit further degradation of gender equality. In a gendered analysis of the COVID-19 crisis it is important to consider both health effects, and the social and economic ramifications that accompany them. This could allow future governments to better prepare for the inevitable reoccurrence of a health crisis and its gendered impacts.

PHYSICAL HEALTH EFFECTS

Physically, the virus seems to affect women less seriously, with women tending to be less symptomatic and the death rate among women being somewhat lower than that of men. However, with around 70 percent of the global health workforce being female, women have greater exposure to COVID-19 which could have flow-on effects for their family members and family life. A poll by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) found that 55 percent of women in the UK were fearful of contracting the virus compared to only 45 percent of men. The overrepresentation of women in this sector could, in part, explain this discrepancy. NHS figures from 2019 showed that women carried out more than 80 percent of all jobs in adult social services. Moreover, after years of funding cuts and a resulting scarcity of resources, men and women working on the front line, as well as health facility service staff who are predominantly female, are left unprotected due to a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The RSA poll suggests that the impact of the virus on women's mental health has been, and continues to be, far greater than on their male counterparts. According to the poll, 46 percent of female workers expressed concerns about the economic impact of the virus on their mental health, compared to 37 percent of male workers. However, we must take into account that statistics are likely to overlook the major stigma felt amongst men about expressing emotion and/or admitting to feelings of anxiety or depression as a result of centuries of "toxic masculine” behavioural conditioning.

Another particularly poignant matter is the health risks that pregnant women face, and the abundance of mixed and confusing advice given to them. Academic studies of previous epidemics—such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa—have shown that public health crises pose a great threat to the livelihoods of young women, particularly as a rise in teenage pregnancy is compounded by school closures and school dropouts. In the context of the UK, it was reported that the Assistant Professor of Global-Health Policy at London School of Economics (LSE), Clare Wenham, believed there to be “a distortion of health systems” with virus-related cases being prioritised and those not considered priorities being cancelled. This can, in turn, “have an effect on maternal mortality, or access to contraception”. There are intersecting inequalities at play that must also be considered. It is reported that Black women are two times more likely to die during childbirth as white women. Such atrocious statistics highlight the many ways in which women across the world are left suffering, and particularly during a public health crisis, without mention or consideration by those dictating policy on such issues.

EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS

As previously stated, women are heavily concentrated in lower-salaried positions, working in sectors that have been majorly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak—namely hospitality, retail, and tourism. Given the prolonged economic injuries that come hand-in-hand with health crises, especially on this scale, it can be expected that women will be hit hardest. Data from the Fuller Project—an independent non-profit journalism organisation that reports on issues impacting women in the US and elsewhere—suggests that the majority of unemployment applications in mid-late March across New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Minnesota were made by women. UK government figures show that 40 percent of employed women in the UK work part-time compared to 13 percent of employed men. This means that during times of economic hardship, as we are currently experiencing, more women will suffer job-losses and significant pay cuts. Figures from the RSA poll also showed that 19 percent of women feared homelessness in this situation, whilst 13 percent of men said they were anxious about this. Furthermore, of the two million single parents living in the UK—90 percent of whom are women—70 percent are currently employed, yet three out of 10 single parents who work are living in poverty. Such economic disparities are further aggravated by the existence of the gender pay gap, which stood at 17.3 percent in the UK in 2019. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) recently reported that in the UK on average, as a result of this gap, women effectively work for free two months out of the year.

The UN policy brief also observes how circumstances for women in developing countries are even worse, as 70 percent work in the informal sector with no job security or protection against unfair dismissal, sick leave, etc. Following the Ebola crisis in West Africa, there was disparity in the rate at which incomes returned to normal—with men’s incomes returning faster than women. Only time will tell whether such conditions will be replicated following this COVID-19 outbreak.

WHO BEARS THE WEIGHT OF CAREGIVING?

COVID-19 school closures have meant a number of parents now working from home are struggling to balance their jobs with child-care and home-schooling. It has also meant that many dual-earner households no longer have access to external sources of childcare. As a result, many women have had to stop working all together, and hence gender equality efforts are described as having been rolled back. Clare Wenham from LSE stated that "it's not just about social norms of women performing care roles; it's also about practicalities. Who is paid less? Who has the flexibility?” Since women are more likely to work part-time and earn less, it would seem that many couples would settle for this divide in labour. Much to the pleasure of politicians, this disproportionate split has a "soaking up" effect whereby much of the childcare and care for the elderly is provided by private citizens, acting as a huge subsidy for the UK government. This expectation for women to absorb caregiving responsibilities without any recognition, let alone pay, is something that governments have relied upon for far too long.

DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE

In addition to the detrimental economic factors affecting women during this time of crisis, as well as the deleterious social costs that have had a reversing effect on much of what has been achieved by feminists throughout the 20th century, the COVID-19 crisis has led to an increase in domestic and sexual violence. According to the UN, calls to helplines have increased five-fold in some countries. Since the outbreak, there has been overwhelming pressure on helplines, particularly in the US, with many domestic violence victims being forced into quarantine with their abusers. Research on past health crises has shown that this is a pattern that repeats itself, yet still no action has been taken.

Government responses to the crisis today have shown our failure to learn from past experiences with epidemics. So far there has been no official gendered analysis of the coronavirus outbreak, despite recommendations by the UN for how governments can limit the extent to which inequalities are magnified. In response to this, Clare Wenham, Julia Smith, and Rosemary Morgan carried out a gendered analysis of the outbreak on behalf of the Gender and COVID-19 Working Group. Wenham stated that given “their front-line interaction with communities, it is concerning that women have not been fully incorporated into global health surveillance, detection, and prevention mechanisms”.

What is perhaps most infuriating about the response to the virus is the fact that despite an outbreak in China being predicted, and despite previous close calls with pandemics, no government had any form of contingency plan in place. Nahla Valji, the UN senior gender adviser to the executive office of the secretary-general, told the Guardian that “if there were more female leaders, the world might have been able to anticipate some of the crises it is facing now," such as the rise in violence against women.

Amidst all the confusion and fear, one thing is for certain. The gendered differences in the impacts of COVID-19 cannot be ignored any longer. It is vital that the extent to which the virus outbreak impacts men and women differently is recognised and acted upon. Governments must take into account how “this pandemic is being layered on top of existing inequalities, and it is exacerbating those inequalities”. They must take a gender-centric approach, implementing a formalised framework for the permanent inclusion and protection of women during times of crisis. More broadly, policymakers must realise the replicability of this situation and ensure that plans are put in place to try and limit the disruption to civil society by future epidemics and pandemics.

Anna is a Politics graduate from Queen Mary, University of London currently doing an MA in Law at the University of Law. She is an aspiring barrister interested in fields of international human rights and equality, criminal law, and constitutional law.

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