COVID 19 are all things equal between men and women?
COVID-19. Is there a equal impact men and women?
COVID 19 has been relatively indiscriminate in its assault. However, there have been some well documented disparities between people from richer economic groups who mostly due to their living arrangements are less likely to contract the virus than those living in poorer areas. SImilarly the greater likelihood to contract the corona virus if your ethnicity is non white has been well explained.
But what about the disparity between men and women?
The medical data shows that both men and women are equally susceptible to contracting the virus, although men are more likely to have a severe illness and die. In fact, clinically women are in slightly better off with resistance. However, that is not what drives infections necessarily.
Some bleak statistics help to explain:
women 25 - 35 are 25% more likely to live in extreme poverty
women spend 3 times as many hours as men in unpaid care or domestic work
65% of women have a bank account compared with 72% of men and, not a great starting position.
There are 4 key areas that the United Nations identified for major concerns due to the pandemic.
1) Economic impact
Emerging evidence on the impact of COVID-19 suggests that women’s economic and productive lives will be affected disproportionately and differently from men. Across the globe, women earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. The situation is worse in developing economies where around 70% of female employment is in the informal economy with few protections against loss of income and dismissal. Paid sick leave and access to social protection is not possible.
2) Health impact
Women may be at more risk globally due to the occupational sex-segregation: Globally, women make up 70 percent of the health workforce and are more likely to be front-line health workers, especially nurses, midwives and community health workers. They are also the majority of health facility service-staff – such as cleaners, laundry, catering – and as such they are more likely to be exposed to the virus.
3) Unpaid care work
The COVID-19 global crisis has brough to light that the world’s formal economies and the maintenance of our daily lives are built on the invisible and unpaid labor of women and girls. With children out of school, intensified care needs of older persons and ill family members, and overwhelmed health services, demands for care work in a COVID19 world have intensified exponentially.
4) Gender based violence
Violence against women is increasing globally as the COVID-19 pandemic combines with economic and social stresses and measures to restrict contact and movement. Crowded homes, substance abuse, limited access to services and reduced peer support are exacerbating these conditions.
Would access to the internet solve these problems?
The simple and honest answer is no, not all of them. However, it can help. For example:
Connectivity can soon lead to formal banking arrangements and government loans
The internet can bring better health information and bring help when it is needed
A connection can mean continued education
More equal employment opportunities result from digital communications channels
Mobile phones bring safety to those who need it most
Imagine if you in the developed world faced COVID 19 in the year 1990, when your internet access (if you had it) was dialed up through your phone, unstable and ineffective. How would have survived that?
No you can imagine what lockdown in the developing world is like for 3.2 billion people today.
Especially if you’re a woman.
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