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Pandemic pushes gender equality back a generation

~bhrigu



It is said that "men carry the burden of feeding their families.” While it is true when it comes to visible and paid work. A lesser acknowledged fact holds more weight in reality, viz having to feed and take care of families without being paid. Women and men have been advocating the need for gender parity for centuries now. And while we did make significant progress, there are always new challenges that one needs to face especially while trying to advocate against an established societal practice.

In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it was the battle against totalitarianism. We believe that in this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world. And COVID-19 has added many more hurdles to this challenge of gender equality. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic had a severe effect on various businesses. Many companies shut down, many people went jobless, salaries were cut down as soon as work from home overtook the physical jobs. As an outcome of this, women have been affected the most. As it is known that women are more likely to have fewer hours of employed work, they are highly expected to be fired than men (5% vs 3.9% among men) at times of economic instability. In addition to that, they bear the burden of care & responsibility as schools get closed and family members stay at home. They are at a greater risk of domestic violence. There has been a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” since the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, said United Nations secretary-general AntónioGuterres in early April.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, another generation of women will have to wait for gender parity.

”Despite over half of the 156 indexed countries registering an improvement, women still hold only 26.1% of parliamentary seats and 22.6% of ministerial positions worldwide. On its current trajectory, the political gender gap is expected to take 145.5 years to close, compared to 95 years in the 2020 edition of the report, an increase of over 50%.”, the report says.

The economic gender gap has seen only a marginal improvement since the 2020 edition and is expected to take another 267.6 years to close.

It becomes important in this scenario, to acknowledge and act on these areas of inequalities with a collective force. Only then we can ensure that all genders are at par. The government has taken many steps, the youth has taken many steps, but still, there is a long road to go.


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