From child marriage to revenge porn: 10 set-backs for women in 2020
Reuters :
From mass job losses to soaring domestic violence, the rise of revenge porn and a widening gender poverty gap, 2020 has threatened to hobble progress on women’s equality as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks global havoc.
UN experts predict the gender poverty gap will widen in 2021 amid the economic downturn.
Even before Covid-19, women were doing three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men, according to UN data, but this has soared in 2020 with women undertaking the lion’s share of caring for sick family members and children off school.
One survey of parents in five wealthy countries showed mothers’ unpaid work at home had nearly doubled to 65 hours a week – almost a third more than for fathers.
A woman’s equality group in Britain said there were “hints of a return to the 1950s” in terms of the division of labour.
In Turkey, the research found women did four times as many households and care work as men during lockdowns.
Covid-19 has disproportionately hit sectors employing high numbers of women including hospitality, retail and tourism.
Some women have also cut back paid work to take on extra caring duties. One report found mothers in England were 47% more likely than fathers to have lost or left jobs.
In developing countries, most women work in the informal economy with few protections against layoffs.
In Kenya, 20% of women have lost jobs or income compared to 12% of men, according to the government.
The pandemic has had a particularly devastating impact on migrant workers. In Lebanon, some foreign maids have been thrown on the street by employers unable to pay them.
From mass job losses to soaring domestic violence, the rise of revenge porn and a widening gender poverty gap, 2020 has threatened to hobble progress on women’s equality as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks global havoc.
UN experts predict the gender poverty gap will widen in 2021 amid the economic downturn.
Even before Covid-19, women were doing three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men, according to UN data, but this has soared in 2020 with women undertaking the lion’s share of caring for sick family members and children off school.
One survey of parents in five wealthy countries showed mothers’ unpaid work at home had nearly doubled to 65 hours a week – almost a third more than for fathers.
A woman’s equality group in Britain said there were “hints of a return to the 1950s” in terms of the division of labour.
In Turkey, the research found women did four times as many households and care work as men during lockdowns.
Covid-19 has disproportionately hit sectors employing high numbers of women including hospitality, retail and tourism.
Some women have also cut back paid work to take on extra caring duties. One report found mothers in England were 47% more likely than fathers to have lost or left jobs.
In developing countries, most women work in the informal economy with few protections against layoffs.
In Kenya, 20% of women have lost jobs or income compared to 12% of men, according to the government.
The pandemic has had a particularly devastating impact on migrant workers. In Lebanon, some foreign maids have been thrown on the street by employers unable to pay them.
