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A woman and her toddler in Agartala in northeast India: mothers are often hit particularly hard by the corona crisis
Photo:
Xinhua / imago images
First of all, the good news: the vast majority of people think it is important that gender inequality is ended.
According to a recent survey, women, and yes, men too, demand this.
The majority of respondents worldwide demand that women and men have the same opportunities, earn the same amount of money, and be able to graduate from school.
That women and men share power in their countries.
The bad news: the corona crisis has pushed this goal further into the distance.
Even before that, authoritarian regimes and heads of state prevented women's opportunities from growing in many places.
But now, in the pandemic, it is women and girls around the world who are the first to suffer from the economic and social consequences of the crisis.
They are the first to go down in society, to lose their jobs.
Those who are exposed to violence more than before, on the streets, in their own homes.
Women are also often exposed to a higher risk of infection because of their jobs and they have fewer savings to fall back on.
More women than men have lost their jobs
In a current study by the global initiative Women Deliver and the French organization Focus 2030, researchers in July and August 2020 asked people from 17 countries around the world how they think the corona crisis affects the gender ratio.
Are you still making the same earnings as you were before the pandemic?
How have your living conditions changed?
How are you doing with your mental and physical health?
In addition, the participants were asked representative what would specifically improve their situation - especially that of the women.
What is your own experience of gender discrimination?
What has to change?
Developing and emerging countries such as Kenya, Colombia, Mexico and China participated in the study, as did industrial nations such as Great Britain, Germany and the USA.
In India, too, women and men took part in the study.
Even before the pandemic, fewer women were formally employed there than men.
But according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, this development intensified in the months of the shutdowns in 2020.
Hundreds of millions lost their jobs.
In percentage terms, women are more affected than men.
In the large-scale study, the majority of the men and women surveyed stated that gender equality was a priority for them personally, and the topic plays a major role, especially among younger people.
65 percent urge their governments to do more to improve gender equality in their country.
The overview:
Respondents believe the pandemic is affecting women more than men.
Participants between the ages of 18 and 44 in particular report that their situation worsened during the crisis.
In 13 of 17 countries examined, women report a higher burden in the household, their stress level has increased.
You speak of mental health problems.
48 percent of women and 37 percent of men reported their time in the household
be
increased during the pandemic.
A majority has the feeling that gender equality has improved over the past 25 years.
Nevertheless, an average of 57 percent of women report
having experienced some form of gender-specific discrimination in their lives,
first and foremost
Respondents from Kenya (83 percent), India (81 percent) and South Africa (72 percent).
Harassment on the Internet was mentioned as well as sexual assault, forced and child marriage and female genital mutilation.
82 percent of women and men would like
women to be more involved in fighting the pandemic
.
They should have a greater say in health measures as well as help and make decisions on reconstruction after the crisis.
Because women may work on the front line in the current crisis - as doctors, nurses, nurses - but they are less often in the control centers of power to exert influence.
The main reasons for gender inequality in all 17 countries: women have to do the
housework
more than men
.
According to participants, their chances on the job market are worse.
In addition, many respondents perceive the culture and religion in their countries as discriminatory.
The most important thing for the respondents was the end of violence against women
.
People who commit rape and other acts of violence should be held more accountable.
The respondents demanded that women should be given more self-determination over their bodies, especially when it comes to contraception, sexual education and abortion.
“Equal pay” was very important to the respondents in all countries - especially in Germany.
The majority of men and women would like women to be
more represented
in politics and society
, including in management positions.
Women should become more visible in the fields of innovation, climate policy and technology.
According to the United Nations Equal Opportunities Unit, 435 million women and girls around the world will be living in extreme poverty and on less than $ 1.90 a day by 2021 - 47 million of them will have driven the pandemic into poverty.
The UN Women Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, sees the current study as a strong signal: The world is ready for gender justice, she says.
And called on the heads of state and government of the G-7 states to also consider the future of women and girls accordingly in their corona policy.
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