On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization classified the COVID-19 virus as a pandemic virus that originated in China and soon spread to other countries. After that, the world entered a pandemic crisis. The spread of the coronavirus and the quarantine resulting from it, has affected the health of countries, economic centers and businesses around the world. Also it’s relatively hidden but profound and long-term effects such as, creating social anomalies, fueling chronic community crises and the emergence of dormant violence. The prevalence of the disease affects women, girls, men, boys and people of all genders differently (Gupta, 2020). However, women and girls, who are historically vulnerable, are also under more pressure in this condition. In particular, quarantine and compulsion to stay at home put thousands or perhaps millions of women around the world at risk of misconduct or even violence by their partners. Therefore, the necessity for gender equality in this situation is more important than ever.
Research has shown that, in times of global crisis, such spread of epidemics, addressing gender equality requires more attention than in the past, because “pandemics affect men and women differently”( Lewis, 2020). According to Gupta (2020), “The Covid-19 pandemic will have a disproportionate negative effect on women”. One of the main reasons for the greater threat to women, especially in such situations, is the role of women in decision-making. “When women have less decision-making power than men, either in households or in government, then women’s needs during an epidemic are less likely to be met” (Hares, O’Donnell, Rand & Silverman, 2020, P.4). Although 40 years have passed since the signing of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and despite several strong normative frameworks for defining human rights and specific guidelines for the protection of women, peace and security, but unfortunately the decision-making process for women's future is very sluggish (Ngowg, 2020). As a result, women continue to suffer from gender inequality, despite efforts to protect them in recent decades.
One of the serious problems women are facing in the Covid-19 pandemic situation is the rise of domestic violence. According to the latest reports from women and children's rights organizations, quarantine, corona terror and fear of the economic consequences of the spread of the virus have exacerbated domestic violence (Gupta, 2020). As Hares et al., 2020, P.7 (2020) argue, domestic violence existed even before the global spread of the virus and quarantine, but with the exception that victims of domestic violence could contact the police and aid agencies to help victims using the absence of the abuser. Nevertheless, these days, victims and abusers are living under the same roof day and night, and it has become increasingly difficult for those who are being harassed to call the police and ask for help. According to Monica (2020), Studies show that economic problems and unemployment during the Corona outbreak are one of the main factors influencing the increase in domestic violence. In addition, in quarantine, family members are constantly together, so the level of communication, contacts, conversations, and tensions increases and the differences that already exist between the couple or their children peak, in this situation, women and girls are usually victims of violence. In this regard, the British Charity Women’s Aid in a speech announced that, it was “concerned that social distancing and self-isolation will be used as a tool of coercive and controlling behaviour by perpetrators, and will shut down routes to safety and support” (Lewis, 2020). Therefore, given the importance of this issue, governments and women's rights groups in most countries around the world have a duty to take precautionary measures to combat the crisis of domestic violence. In overall, these measures are effective in both the current and long-term conditions for achieving gender equality.
The global impact of COVID-19 on women and girls is significant in terms of physical and mental health. Experts believe that COVID-19, like previous epidemics such as the Ebola crisis in three African countries in 2014, Zika in 2015, and the prevalence of SARS, put women and girls at greater risk. Regardless of women's rights and needs, which include access to basic health care and life savings such as sexual health and reproduction, it can be expected that maternal mortality will increase dramatically because women will not be able to give birth easily (Ngowg, 2020). On the other hand, pregnant women experience immune and physiological changes that may make them more susceptible to viral respiratory infections, including COVID-19, and have irreversible effects on the mother and fetus. Moreover, As Monica (2020) states, the risk of unwanted pregnancies increases with the prevalence of pandemic and quarantine diseases, as they lose access to family planning services. As a result, they need health care more than ever, thus ignoring women's sensitivities, especially in the context of the spread of epidemics, is one of the violations of women's rights.
Coronavirus is not only a medical crisis, but also a social and economic crisis. Economists believe that the Covid-19 epidemic will have a disproportionate negative impact on women and their job opportunities. According to Alon, Doepke, Rumsey & Tertilt (2020), “the economic downturn caused by the current COVID-19 outbreak has substantial implications for gender equality, both during the downturn and the subsequent recovery”. Because in most societies, women play a greater role in caring for children at home, closures of daycare centers and schools are likely to have a different effect on women. In addition, when family members get sick, women usually should take care of them (Hares et al., 2020, P.9). Therefore, women's participation in these conditions is reduced in outdoor work. As Lewis (2020) argues, as much of ordinary life is suspended for three months or more, job losses are unavoidable. Economic experts believe that, unlike the 2008 financial crisis, which affected most men's jobs, the recession resulting from the current situation will hurt women more. For example, restaurants, hotels, or the public sectors that are usually closed in these days are mostly women's service job (Alon et al., 2020). In general, the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 shock has an impulsive effect on women.
In conclusion, equality between men and women is an issue that has always been supported by organizations that support gender equality, advocates for women's rights, international organizations that deny violence, and all human rights organizations. It is more important than ever to address gender equality, especially in times of global crisis and epidemics, mainly in these days when we are suffering from COVID-19 disease. Evidence from the prevalence of prior epidemics shows that in both rich and poor countries, domestic violence is expected to rise. Stress, alcohol consumption, and financial problems are all triggers for domestic violence, and quarantine measures around the world increase all three. The scale and severity of the COVID-19 epidemic has clearly become a threat to public health. Careful consideration of the principles of human rights, equality between men and women, and non-discrimination can provide an effective response to the turmoil that inevitably results from a crisis and limit the harms that can happen to the vulnerable, particularly women and girls. In law, especially in the field of women's security and rights, has shortcomings almost all over the world that need to be corrected and revised, specifically in the situation we face today, to ensure that gender equality is maintained now and in the future.
References
Alon, T., Doepke, M., Rumsey, J O. & Tertilt, M. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender
Equality. faculty.wcas.northwestern. Retrieved from http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~mdo738/research/COVID19_Gender_March_2020.pdf
Gupta, A H. (2020). Why This Economic Crisis Differs From the Last One for Women. The
NewYork Tims. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/equal-pay-coronavirus-economic-impact.html
Hares, S., O’Donnell, M., Rand, E. & Silverman, R. (2020). How Will COVID-19 Affect
Women and Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? Cgdev. Retrieved from https://www.cgdev.org/blog/how-will-covid-19-affect-women-and-girls-low-and-middle-income-countries
Lewis, H. (2020). The Coronavirus Is a Disaster for Feminism. theatlantic. Retrieved from
Monica, M. (2020). Coronavirus weekly: as the virus spreads, economies grind to a halt.
Theconversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-weekly-as-the-virus-spreads-economies-grind-to-a-halt-134214
Ngowg. (2020). Why Women’s Rights Must be Central to the UN Security Council’s Response
To COVID-19. Womenpeacesecurity. Retrieved from www.womenpeacesecurity.org/womens-rights-security-councils-response-to-covid-19/
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