The Covid-19 pandemic is yet another case where women’s vulnerabilities are intensified by disaster.

 The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified the pre-existing vulnerabilities facing women every day. These vulnerabilities such as domestic or gender based violence and the adoption of new responsibilities in addition to daily responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and caring for family have all been increased since the start of the pandemic.

Domestic Violence 

Within the past few months the Washington Post published an article expressing concerns that other humanitarian crises will take a backseat to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst these neglected crises is domestic or gender based violence. Within this article they note that COVID-19 control measures, such as having to maintain quarantined within your home, has caused an increase in domestic violence, most commonly intimate partner violence. 

One article published by The Interpreter refers to this crisis as “Intimate terrorism” brings attention to the “coercive methods domestic abusers use to control their partners and children.” They make note of the fact that physical violence is not always present in cases of abuse, but the psychological abuse, which can be displayed in a number of ways such as isolating the victim or strict and consistent surveillance, is just as damaging. With mandated quarantining put in place to help control the pandemic the abuser is given more power to control the victim at home. 

An article published by Wiley Online Library shows that there has been an increase in this violence across many affected countries. These rates of domestic abuse have risen anywhere between 20% all the way up to 50% in countries such as Brazil, Spain, Cyprus, and the UK.  

This article also brings attention to “one of the most serious manifestations of intimate partner and familial abuse,” domestic homicide. “During the COVID‐19 pandemic, reports have emerged of an apparent increase in domestic homicides in a number of affected countries. 

Without proper resources in place to help victims of abuse these rates will unfortunately continue to rise. 

What about the organizations created to help?

Not only has this violence increased, access to proper help for these situations has decreased during this time. The same article by the Washington Post states that “Despite high rates of gender-based violence in emergencies, a review of humanitarian funding data from 2016-2018 by VOICE and the International Rescue Committeefound that only 0.01 percent of all humanitarian funding was for work related to gender-based violence. Two-thirds of humanitarian programs to address this violence received no funding. Despite recent efforts to increase funding to violence prevention and response activities, many working in this sector are concerned that donor funding will prioritize other pandemic-related work.” With this severe lack of funding, organizations put in place to assist with gender based violence are unable to provide the necessary services that they were created to provide. 

This Pandemic has also put other barriers in the way of victims attempting to escape abuse. Those who have made the decision to escape their situations through divorce may find their divorce proceedings postponed to due Covid-19.

Excessive Responsibility

Aside from domestic violence women are also under the stress of taking on new responsibilities due to the Covid-19 Pandemic in addition to their daily responsibilities, while also being given less time to balance these tasks. This is reported to have lasting negative impacts on a woman’s wellbeing. An article published by MDPI elaborates on the “three spheres of women’s triple burden.” These spheres are represented as productive, reproductive and community work (Moser 1993).  Productive work is seen as an exchange of goods or services, while reproductive work is focused on caring for family, community work is often voluntary services. These 3 spheres of work are generally undervalued in society and can be hazardous to a woman’s health and life.

Overall

The Covid-19 Pandemic has caused immense strain on all populations across the globe, but it is irrefutable that the average woman has been caused more stress than the average man. Increasing rates of domestic violence, which is a crisis that faces not only women but is faced by women at a disproportionate rate, and an increase in responsibilities in the daily lives of women all play a detrimental role in a woman’s wellbeing. Without increased funding for gender based violence or more gender based Covid-19 relief efforts we are bound to see a deepening in pre-existing gender inequalities. All we know for sure is that history sure can be scary when you don’t know how it ends.

Bibliography

Bradbury‐Jones, C., & Isham, L. (2020, April 22). The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID‐19 on domestic violence. Retrieved August 01, 2020, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocn.15296 

Irwin, N. (2020, April 16). It’s the End of the World Economy as We Know It. Retrieved August 09, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/upshot/world-economy-restructuring-coronavirus.html 

McLaren, H., Wong, K., Nguyen, K., & Mahamadachchi, K. (2020, May 21). Covid-19 and Women’s Triple Burden: Vignettes from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia. Retrieved August 01, 2020, from https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/5/87/htm

Reis, C. (2020, May 18). Analysis | 5 ways the coronavirus is making the world’s most vulnerable a lot more vulnerable. Retrieved August 01, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/05/18/5-ways-coronavirus-is-making-worlds-most-vulnerable-lot-more-vulnerable/ 

Taub, A. (2020, April 6). A new covid-19 crisis : Domestic abuse rises worldwide. Retrieved August 9, 2020, from https://chescocf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Domestic-Abuse-Rises-Worldwide-New-York-Times.pdf