We think COVID is over… but not for women

Last week I wrote about surviving a crisis. I shared my learnings from work in emergency humanitarian aid over two decades and how it might be relevant in our daily, hopefully less urgent, lives.

At the same time, in January of 2020, we were all in it together when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared an international public health emergency. Whether or not you feel this was warranted — I know the jury is still out on how we all responded to this crisis — the reality is that over 6.3 million people have died, a disproportionate amount of which have been in the US.

Most people would argue that COVID is over. We are, in many ways, in the era AC — After COVID. But for whom is it over, really? And who is going to bear the brunt of this pandemic for years to come?

Women.

For whatever you might think of our almost-normal lives, women (1) have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and (2) will continue to pay a significant socio-economic toll.

Let’s start with the gender gap. That’s the distance we’ve got between men and women for equality — looking at health, education, politics, and the economy.

In the era BC, Before COVID, the gender gap was 100 years. Meaning, we’d need 100 years to achieve equality in those areas I mentioned. Now, we need 136 years. The gap has increased a whole generation because of COVID. And it’s even wider at the regional level, where inequalities are magnified.

Overall, the pandemic led 97 million more people into poverty in 2020. The virus, increasing inflation, and the Ukraine conflict will lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people in extreme poverty in 2022.

That’s a lot of millions of people. What does that actually mean?! Poverty means a lack of access to basic needs such as food, water, housing, healthcare, and education. In terms of measurement, according to the World Bank extreme poverty is measured as the number of people living under $1.90 per day.

At present, the world has 689 million people in extreme poverty. That means 689 million people trying to survive on less than $1.90 a day. Let that sink in for a second.

In the economy, divisions are stark. The pandemic resulted in lost jobs for women — who already hold the majority of insecure, informal and lower-paying jobs. An estimated 740 million women work in the informal economy. During the first month of the pandemic, it is estimated that informal workers lost an average of 60% of their income. Informal jobs are the first to disappear in times of crisis and as one example, 72% of domestic workers worldwide lost their jobs as a result of COVID.

At home, the majority of the world’s unpaid care is done by women and girls. COVID made this worse. Women are their community’s social safety net, caring for children, the elderly, the sick, and those affected by COVID.

Globally, women already perform three times more unpaid care work than men. As a result of the pandemic, men and women both report an increase in unpaid work but it is women who continue to be burdened with the bulk of it. And more specifically, when schools closed, 61.5% of mothers took on the brunt of additional care work — it’s been called a “momcession”.

Formally, women are the majority of healthcare workers and frontline workers. They constitute 70% of the world’s healthcare force which has exposed them to greater risk of infection and other health issues.

In the first year of the pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25%, prompted largely by the unprecedented levels of stress caused by isolation measures. Also linked was loneliness, fear, grief, and people’s inability to work. Or to function productively. Data indicates that women were more severely impacted than men, with mental health issues that will take a long while to address. In the US,Total Brain — a self-monitoring mental health platform — found 83% of their women users reported a significant increase in depression, compared with just 36% of men. And 98% of women are at risk of general anxiety disorder compared to 67% of men.

And, even though women are more susceptible to mental health issues, they are often dismissed or gaslit when they do seek help. Add that to the long list of reasons — lack of time, lack of access, and so on — why women are unlikely to seek help.

In terms of education, an estimated 10 million children may never return to school as a result of the pandemic — more girls than boys. Girls face a vicious cycle of risk, impacted by all forms of violence — particularly forced marriage and teenage pregnancy — which increases the longer they are out of school.

Girls are left behind to take on greater roles at home, and also to get married. The pandemic means we will see an additional 10 million girl-child marriages because, in order to offload the economic burden, families will have no choice but to sell off their girls. Female genital mutilation is also increasing, with 2 million additional cases likely to occur as a result of COVID.

Adult women are also severely impacted by COVID-related violence. Since the outbreak, data and reports show how all forms of violence against women and girls have increased. We already know that 1 in 3 women worldwide will experience some form of violence in their lifetime. We already know that this figure drastically underestimates reality. More than 80% of us have experienced some form of sexual harassment, as one example. I for one do not know a single woman who doesn’t have a story.

Worldwide, the most common form of violence against women is intimate partner violence. Isolation measures meant many people were trapped with their abusers. And new forms of abuse also emerged. Domestic violence helplines received unprecedented calls — when women could actually have private use of the phone. Fewer women were able to report these incidents to the police, also due to restricted movements and lack of privacy.

Increased demand for services exposed the weaknesses in current support systems. They were never strong enough to begin with, even BC. Ultimately, the global health crisis took priority, reallocating already-scant resources for women’s health and safety. In any emergency, these are usually the first to go, and the last to return.

This “shadow pandemic” has been extensively documented all around the world, with more stories still emerging. And this type of violence doesn’t just go away once the pandemic is declared “over.” In fact, intimate partner violence happens in a cycle because it is hardly ever “over.” Over the long term, poverty and lack of education will drive this up even further as people get locked into cycles of poverty and cannot leave situations of abuse.

And, despite the fact that we restricted our mobility, stayed home, and masked up, we were still catcalled. Still.

Catcalling got worse during the pandemic?! Yes.

Some argue it is a way for perpetrators to channel pandemic-related frustration — unemployment, loss of power, isolation, and so on — and get attention, vent, or reclaim power.

Masks did little to reduce catcalling. Unsurprisingly, men still find ways to make women uncomfortable, even when their faces are covered. This further reminds us that catcalling has nothing to do with looks and everything to do with abuses of power and attacks on our right to public space. Masks actually served to “increase anonymity, which can dehumanize potential targets of harassment.” In this way, a target’s individuality — and humanity — is reduced, and perpetrators are emboldened.

Not only did catcalls increase, but women felt less safe in public due to empty streets and increased vulnerabilities. Safety in numbers, they say. And streets felt less safe. A UK-based survey found that during lockdown, 52% of girls felt less safe because there were fewer people around to help, and 43% felt there were fewer public places to go to feel safe.

The same survey found that less cases of catcalling were reported than in previous years, due to the fact that 26% did not feel that it would not be taken seriously. And 23% believed this was due to a different priority — the pandemic.

Meanwhile, despite the data — in BC or AC — the challenges faced by women and girls continue. And the response continues to be gender blind.

Even as we hope to be AC — After COVID — It’s hard to remain hopeful. Pandemic or not, women everywhere deserve better.