Archive: Gender norms and the coronavirus

This article looks at concerns 50 years of progress on gender equality in the UK could be put into reverse unless government intervenes. Published by: The Guardian

Women Respond is a new initiative to unpack the needs and realities of women and girls with whom CARE works around the world – many of whom are first responders in their communities. These voices are critical to strengthen how organisations,…

Emerge has adapted and developed evidence-based survey measures on Covid-19 and gender for topics such as violence, agency, education, environment, time-use, family planning, sanitation, social support and others. It has also produced guidance on…

This article explores the negative impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on women in Africa. The article looks at health care provision, labour, domestic violence and makes policy recommendations for mainstreaming gender in government responses. …

Economic independence and social justice – the anchors of feminism and gender equality in India - have been hit hard by the affects of Covid-19. But will it impact feminism as a movement in post Covid-19 times? This blog takes a look. …

This paper looks at how to ensure the inclusion of marginalised women in fragile and conflict-affected states in Covid-19 prevention, response and recovery. Published by: Women for Women International

Report looking at the impact of Covid-19 on women in India. The reprot analyses the key challenges including soical protection and welfare, health, food, education, livelihoods, and gender-based violence and also suggestions a roadmap for Covid-19…

This multi-blog by experts from ODI looks at gender and Covid-19 in relation to leadership, violence, economic empowerment, education, health, social protection, youth, data and humanitarian contexts. Published by: ODI

Experiences from previous pandemics show that women can be especially active actors for change, while they can also experience the effects of the crisis in different (and often more negative) ways. Given that the Covid-19 is not gender-blind, the…

We know from experience that women’s voices are often excluded in a crisis, robbing us of vital insights into effective responses. We know that women step up to the plate when needed, but once a crisis is over, their contribution is often…

Latest research and analysis on the implications of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide from the Overseas Development Institute. Published by: ODI

Data2X has compiled a running list of resources and reporting on gender and gender data relating to Covid-19 preparedness and response around the world. Published by: Data 2X

The likelihood is though that despite both parents now being at home, much of the “domestic” work will still land squarely on the shoulders of the women of the house. Like the 1950s housewife, women will be expected to make exciting meals, keep…

This article reflects on the disproportionate impact on women’s domestic labour as well as the pre-conditions that allowed it to deepen inequalities (through unequal pay, women's increased domestic care burden, job insecurity etc.). It also…

Reflecting a view from many northern countries, this article on Covid-19 in the USA describes the gender norms which assume women will take on the domestic roles, even whilst managing paid work schedules. Given the USA’s poor social protection (as…

Short article about the physical and social differences between genders on the impacts of Covid-19. Published by: The Lancet

This much-cited paper on the effects of a life skills and livelihoods programme for girls and young women in Ebola-affected Sierra Leone highlights its role in maintaining education and a range of socially protective effects on younger girls. …

This policy brief begins by exploring how child marriage is deeply rooted in gender inequalities and discriminatory social norms. It also notes that the underlying drivers of child marriage in the West and Central African region – including family…

This article aims to show how the gender perspective has been largely overlooked in practice during the pandemic response in Mexico. The authors begin by discussing how domestic violence is exacerbated during the pandemic in Mexico due to stress…

This article begins by examining the kinds of violence driven by patriarchal behaviours that affect women during Covid-19, such as minimizing or monitoring victims’ communication with friends and family; depriving victims of their basic needs;…

This blog reflects on the linkages between GBV in Latin America and Covid-19, with a focus on Peru, considering the structural and cultural drivers of GBV. The authors observe that progress in the region, towards shifting deeply entrenched…

This blog notes how Covid-19 has unleashed a wave of international concern for increasing violence inside the home and how inequalities in gendered power dynamics and toxic masculinities faced by women and children around the world are historical,…

Violence against women has surged in Mexico since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but the country’s president has downplayed the problem and slashed the budgets of agencies charged with addressing women’s issues. Published by: The…

Based on interviews with women’s right’s activists, government officials and secondary data, this report examines the impact of Covid-19 on violence against women and girls in Nigeria and entry points and effective strategies to address this issue…

Governments need to do more to monitor and intervene to prevent violence against women during Covid-19 lockdowns, Human Rights Watch said today in a report to the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women. The problem may be…

This is a living document outlining the current evidence on GBV during Covid-19 as well as innovative solutions and recommendations for organizations to integrate GBV support into their response. It makes recommendations to be considered by all…

Based on the experience of South Africa, the authors indicate the role that alcohol and drugs, gender norms and beliefs about the roles of women in society, and childhood trauma play in increasing the likelihood that men will perpetrate violence…

This note reviews rigorous studies that have analyzed how Covid-19 and related policies are impacting rates of violence against women (VAW) and children (VAC), and highlights more reliable methods, while acknowledging limitations of underlying…

This piece highlights the experiences of violence (such as harassment and psychological torture) suffered by India's LGBTQ community during Covid-19. Although a colonial-era law banning gay sex was scrapped in 2018, and transgender Indians have…

This note reviews rigorous studies that have analyzed how Covid-19 and related policies are impacting rates of VAW/C and highlight more reliable methods, while acknowledging limitations of underlying data sources. It proposes recommendations for…

This article looks at how Covid-19 has exposed just how much work remains to be done to wipe out female genital mutilation (FGM) around the world. Two million girls who would otherwise be safe from the practice are believed to be at risk over the…

This paper explores the potential short- and long-term implications of Covid-19 on the risk of intimate partner violence, highlighting some of the most recent preliminary data. It highlights how the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, record…

This paper looks at the disparities between men and women amidst Covid-19 recognising the role of gender norms in shaping men and women’s health across life stages. The authors note the importance of engaging men in Covid-19 responses, including…

For its West Africa Rapid Gender Analysis - Covid-19, CARE interviewed a total of 266 people (52% women) representing the communities, technical and health ministries, UN agencies and international NGOs and women's rights organizations across 12…

This report by Plan International shares the voices of girls affected by Covid-19 and highlights lessons from previous emergencies and humanitarian crisis that can be useful at implementing better programming and responding. The report touches on…

This report explores the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on forced migrant survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and the organisations which support them across five countries: the UK, Turkey, Tunisia, Sweden and Australia. The…

This blog looks at the plight of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon and Jordan. Now living with the additional strain the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have caused, the blog describes the increase of domestic violence and decrease in…

This briefing note provides concrete actions and strategies from a gender norms perspective that UNDP, UN agencies and development partners can take to prevent and address GBV in the context of COVID-19. The brief begins by stressing that pre…

This article synthesises some of the existing reviews, articles and data, especially those published from the development and humanitarian sector, to study how gender is affected in multiple ways in the Covid-19 situation. It focuses particularly…

This news reveals the ways that lockdowns and movement restrictions affect violence against transgender people in different cities in Latin America such as in Bogota, Colombia, where women can only go out on days with even-numbered dates and men…

This report describes how different forms of gender-based violence (GBV) are likely to increase during the Covid-19 pandemic, creating more demand and greater need for services. Increased GBV can be observed in part due to movement restrictions…

The brief highlights emerging trends and impacts of COVID-19 on online and ICT facilitated VAWG. The reports highlights that ICT facilitated violence has spread under the shadow pandemic of violence against women in part due to norms of acceptance…

This is a living document developed by UN Women and WHO that summarizes principles and recommendations to those planning to embark on data collection on the impact of Covid-19 on violence against women and girls (VAWG). It was informed by the…

This analysis shows how the Covid-19 pandemic could critically undermine progress made towards achieving UNFPA’s goals to ending gender-based violence including harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage. UNFPA predicts…

Gender-based violence (GBV) service provision during Covid-19: This short discussion note for GBV specialists explores low-tech ways to reach women and girls at risk of violence. This note provides a few ideas to the challenging problem of…

This note provides a simple checklist for policy-makers, partners and UNICEF staff as they engage in the design and implementation of Covid-19 related social protection interventions, including those that can address and respond to gender-based…

This blog, which is part of a longer multi-blog on Covid-19 and gender, looks at the impact the pandemic and its resultant restrictions on public movement are having on gender-based violence, as well as measures being taken to protect those…

Gender norms underpin gender-based violence. The rising pandemic of gender-based violence alongside Covid-19 highlights the need for continued and upscaled work to change these norms. Norms also influence what is prioritised in emergency response…

This blog reflects on the effects of Covid-19 on violence against women across the world and highlights the efforts by civil society organisations to provide or connect vulnerable women with services that prevent and respond to SGBV. The authors…

This document is intended to support non-GBV specialist humanitarian actors to identify Covid-19, GBV-specific risks in eleven different sectors (e.g. child protection, education, health, livelihoods, WASH), and take actions to mitigate those…

This LSE blog provides data from surveys of male and female perceptions of the danger of Covid-19 and explains differences in terms of masculine attitudes and behaviours, which may make men more vulnerable. Published by: London School of…

In this commentary, the authors point out that there are important gender determinants to both men’s and women’s vulnerabilities to Covid-19, and call on the global health community to unpack and address these early in the Covid-19 pandemic…

A useful article explaining how Covid-19 is experienced by men whose cultures reinforce macho stereotypes. This includes men’s physical and emotional vulnerabilities, social isolation and male led pandemic responses. Published by: The…

The early evidence leaves little doubt that Covid-19 poses a greater risk to men – but are the reasons biological or cultural? Published by: The Guardian

This piece notes that women are experiencing the emotional brunt of Covid-19, experiencing more anxiety than men with some evidence also showing that women’s employment is more likely to be impacted. Women are also more likely to be front line…

Focused on humanitarian contexts, this piece highlight the multiple factors that can cause mental ill-health in such contexts, noting also that appropriate responses are often neglected. The COVID-19 crisis will exacerbate the need for such mental…

This blog makes a plea to include how social realities also need to be taken into account when addressing the mental health effects of Covid-19. In particularly, the author highlights the need to address social and economic conditions as well as…

This position paper calls for multidisciplinary mental health research related to Covid-19 including its psychological, social, and neuroscientific effects, drawing also on the expertise of people with lived experiences. It discusses priorities…

We asked how to prevent suicides caused by the pandemic. This is what experts told us Published by: The Lancet

Covid-19 has clearly shown that Public Health infrastructure must be fortified, and women’s mental health urgently needs to be a priority. Covid-19 has affected women much more profoundly, (even though the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and…

Two surveys carried out in the UK to help inform the framing of priorities for mental health research in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. The data is separated by age and gender and was carried out through Ipsos online survey platform. …

This briefing is from the UK's Gender and Development Networking highlighting key areas for action and support for women's voice and leadership in Covid-19, including financial support, voice in the workplace, and engaging with existing…

Four months into the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a growing awareness for norm collisions between the right to life and well-being associated with the virus on the one hand and a broad array of other norms. This blog discusses the politics…

This article looks at research suggesting female leaders are managing their country's response to Covid-19 more successfully than their male counterparts and what attributes may be causing the difference. Published by: The Guardian

This high level convening brought together women leaders to discuss how to 'put women at the centre of decision-making' in the Covid-19 response. The meeting notes here lay out some of the critical areas of concern for women leaders, and begins to…

As Covid-19 continues to touch every country, it is clear the amplification of women’s voices is a global concern. But recognising the urgency of inclusion is just one step. How can we ensure transformative social changes that will enhance women’s…

This blog looks at UN Resolution 1325 which recognises how women and girls are deferentially impacted by conflict and war and the critical role women can and already do play in peace building efforts. As the world deals with the Coronavirus…

As COVID-19 exposes gaps in the world's pandemic response infrastructure — and challenges our collective social, political, and economic systems — we are faced with an opportunity to tackle the defining issue undermining global health…

School closures, massive rates of job loss and furloughing, and a shift to working from home are all affecting how parents spend their time, and how mothers and fathers divide responsibilities for paid work, housework and childcare. But the divide…

New research reveals the gendered impacts of Covid-19 on livelihoods in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Published by: Cenfri

This briefing examines the economic implications of Covid-19 for women and girls, and concludes with recommendations for a gender-sensitive response. Published by: CARE

This article highlights the impacts of lockdown on a stigmatised social group – sex workers – and their exclusion from social protection initiatives. Published by: The Guardian

This article highlights the effects of Covid-19 on informal sector workers, with a particular focus on the agricultural workforce. It highlights some of the specific gendered effects as well as the ways in which intersecting inequalities put…

This article highlights the effects of Covid-19 on women workers in the tea sector in Sri Lanka. While they are able to work, living and work conditions increase the risk of contracting the virus and of a wide range of social impacts. Published…

Health care professional bodies, experts and trade unions have warned that female healthcare workers’ lives are being put at risk because personal protective equipment is designed for men and is risking lives of female workers. Published by:…