K Jafar*

Assistant Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India

*Corresponding Author: K Jafar, Assistant Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India.

Received: November 24, 2021; Published: January 21, 2022

Abstract

  While disasters like epidemics affect almost all areas of human life, their differential impact on the vulnerable groups often exposes the structural inequalities in society. The evidence reported from different countries indicates that girls and women bear a disproportionate burden of the pandemic. At one level, they constitute the critical group leading the fight against the present pandemic on the ground but their under-representation in its global leadership and cost paid at individual and collective level remain as a concern. The present review highlights the differential impact of Covid-19 pandemic on women and girls in terms of their access to livelihoods, technology, education, healthcare, and dual burden (with additional care work) and incidence of gender-based violence reported in India and outside. They highlight the importance of addressing gender inequality and the inclusion of gender-sensitive strategies while managing a public health crisis.

KeywordsCovid-19; Differential Impact on Gender; Health Care; Violence

References

1. Davies Sara E and Belinda Bennett. "A gendered human rights analysis of Ebola and Zika: locating gender in global health emergencies”. International Affairs5 (2016): 1041-1060.
2. Global Health 50/50. "The global health 50/50 report 2020: power, privilege and priorities” (2020).
3. John Neetu., et al. "Lessons never learned: crisis and gender‐based violence”. Developing World Bioethics2 (2020): 65-68.
4. Cameron Erinn C., et al. "COVID-19 and women: Key components of SDG-5 and the estimated prevalence of modern slavery”. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation3 (2021): 138.
5. “5 ways women and girls have been the hardest hit by Covid-19” (2021).
6. Ryan Nessa E and Alison M El Ayadi. "A call for a gender-responsive, intersectional approach to address COVID-19”. Global Public Health9 (2020): 1404-1412.
7. Pinchoff Jessie., et al. "Gender specific differences in COVID-19 knowledge, behavior and health effects among adolescents and young adults in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India”. PloS One12 (2020): e0244053.
8. Deshpande Ashwini. "Early effects of lockdown in India: Gender gaps in job losses and domestic work”. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics1 (2020): 87-90.
9. Kalsoom Qudsia. "Covid-19: experiences of teaching-mothers in Pakistan”. Journal of Gender Studies (2021): 1-13.
10. Mazumdar Ketoki., et al. "Psychological well-being of Indian mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic”. International Perspectives in Psychology (2021).
11. Standish Katerina and Shalva Weil. “Gendered pandemics: suicide, femicide and COVID-19”. Journal of Gender Studies 7 (2021): 807-818.
12. Mutavati A., et al. "Fighting the ‘shadow pandemic’ of violence against women and children during COVID-19”. 80 (2020).
13. Pentaraki, Maria, and Janet Speake. "Domestic violence in a COVID-19 context: Exploring emerging issues through a systematic analysis of the literature”. Open Journal of Social Sciences10 (2020): 193.
14. Sánchez Odette R., et al. "Violence against women during the COVID‐19 pandemic: An integrative review”. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics2 (2020): 180-187.
15. Amaro D., et al. "COVID-19 and education: The digital gender divide among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa” (2020).
16. "Gender-responsive Education in the Context of COVID-19-Framework and Progressive Standards for South Asia” (2020).
17. Azevedo Joao Pedro. "Learning Poverty in the Time of COVID-19”. A crisis within a crisis. World Bank Brief, December. (2020).
18. De Paz Nieves., et al. "Gender and COVID-19: What have we learnt, one year later?”. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 9709. (2021).
19. Brady Emer., et al. "Lack of consideration of sex and gender in COVID-19 clinical studies”. Nature Communications1 (2021): 1-6.
20. Schwartz David A. "Being pregnant during the Kivu Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo: The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine and its accessibility by mothers and infants during humanitarian crises and in conflict areas”. Vaccines1 (2020): 38.
21. Gausman Jewel and Ana Langer. "Sex and gender disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic”. Journal of Women's Health4 (2020): 465-466.
22. Wenham Clare., et al. "COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the outbreak”. The Lancet10227 (2020): 846-848.
23. Darney Blair G., et al. "Access to contraception in the context of Zika: health system challenges and responses”. Obstetrics and Gynecology4 (2017): 638.
24. Riley Taylor., et al. "Estimates of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health in low-and middle-income countries”. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 46 (2020): 73-76.
25. Roberton Timothy., et al. "Early estimates of the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child mortality in low-income and middle-income countries: a modelling study”. The Lancet Global Health7 (2020): e901-e908.
26. Ahmed Zara and Adam Sonfield. "The COVID-19 outbreak: Potential fallout for sexual and reproductive health and rights”. Guttmacher Institute (2020).
27. Behar Upasana. “Did COVID-19 widen the access gap for rural menstruators?” Youth Ki Awaaz (2020).
28. Morgan Rosemary., et al. "Beyond a zero-sum game: How does the impact of COVID-19 vary by gender?”. Frontiers in Sociology 6 (2021): 126.

Citation

Citation: K Jafar. “Pandemic and Gender: A Review of the Differential Impact of Covid-19 on Girls and Women". Acta Scientific Women's Health 4.2 (2022): 11-15.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 K Jafar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.