Being a disease with a great contagion power, Covid-19 has spread around the world, interrupting the functioning of various activities of the company. across Europe, until now, the number of deaths exceeded more than 1 million, leaving severe consequences in the region. All this interruption, offers an opportunity for change, but it also poses the risk of significant reversals in certain aspects of social progress.. In this context, the Covid-19 crisis reinforced gender inequalities at all ages, ethnicities and social groups. What was a problem before, especially in relation to women, it was accentuated, representing setbacks to decades of hard-won rights.
The economic impacts of the pandemic are unquestionable, and end up affecting the most vulnerable segments of society more deeply, like female, children and low-income people, according to the EU annual report on gender equality. Among the difficulties faced by them during the pandemic, unemployment stands out. Gender inequality in the labor market places women in a situation of greater economic vulnerability and manifests itself in different ways. Segundo snow tree (2018) and Barbieri (2016), they not only have less access to savings and wealth., as they are also more prone to poverty. also, represent some of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, as accommodation, food, sales and manufacturing. A very strong example of how the pandemic has affected them in the labor market is Serbia, Where, between april and july of 2020, 34.700 women lost their jobs, while men had a net increase in 1.500 more employees.
According to Jill Rubery and Isabel Tavora (2020), and Forbes research (2021) About the subject, it can be concluded that, with social isolation, many families with children had to take on more full-time responsibilities., taking into account the closing of day care centers and schools. In addition to domestic activities and child care being automatically linked to women, in heterosexual couples, it is common for these to earn less than men. Mothers are also responsible for helping with learning., so distance learning made it very difficult for young children to learn and pay attention in online classes, making them assume the responsibility of helping their children with their duties and jobs., in addition to supervising online classes. Depending on family situation, many women found themselves without electronic devices to do their own work, as the available ones were being used. In this way, many of them found themselves cornered and forced to quit their jobs, so that you can devote most of your time to your children and home activities., depending on the salary of their husbands.
Separation of household chores, being associated with women, it also has a great impact on this issue., since men generally find it easier to access and use electronic devices., while women, who often don't have the time or the opportunity, as they are occupied with unpaid housework, end up falling behind on the technological wave. Businesswomen and owners in the micro sector, small and medium companies (MPME) were also very affected by the crisis.. The Azerbaijan SEIA project, shows that the loss of cash flow affected 22,5% of women-led companies, being these 20% more affected than male-led companies. after the pandemic, a world much more connected to the home office is expected, digital fluency, innovation, agile adaptation, infrastructure and investments in technological fluency, what can result, in the future, in an even bigger gender pay gap.
In the years before the pandemic, the participation of women in the European labor market had been growing and with expectations to continue increasing and seeking to reduce inequality, even with fewer women acting than men. No year of 2019, the unemployment rate of those in the Eurozone was 7,7%, while in 2020, the height of the pandemic on the European continent, reached the highest number in recent years, getting at 8,7%. With the vaccination process and the attempt to re-establish the economy by loosening social isolation measures, it is important to emphasize that, in the first quarter of 2021, the rate dropped to 8,4%, showing a possible reintegration of women into the labor market. According to the UN Secretary General, AntĂłnio Guterres, "Covid-19 could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women's rights". This because, the vast majority of health professionals, the women, were at the forefront of the pandemic, with greater exposure to risk, being able to have greater visibility and appreciation of their work in health and care services, however, what actually happened was the opposite.
Besides that, the confinement of families and closing schools, during a pandemic, had serious implications for the safety of women at home., with an increase in domestic violence across the region, since women and children were forced to stay with their aggressors in the same household, without the ability to evade or ask for help. Financial insecurity can force victims to stay with their abuser (OECD, 2020). In Europe, before the pandemic, this type of violence was already common. According to Folha de SĂŁo Paulo, one in three women (33%) suffered physical and/or sexual violence in the EU. However,, with Covid, this problem has intensified alarmingly. In France, reports of domestic violence grew 30% after quarantine starts; in Spain, calls for help over the phone grew 18% after confinement; not Cyprus, calls increased 30%. Incidents and evidence are increasingly frequent, persisting to the present day, showing that isolation and confinement lead to increased levels of domestic violence, sexual and gender – e, therefore, to a greater need for protection against it.
Therefore, the pandemic had a profound and disproportionate impact on women and girlsâthey suffered higher unemployment rates, rising levels of violence within the home and a sharp increase in unpaid care and domestic work. As an alternative to saving and helping women, the governments of some European countries offered financial support to domestic anti-violence organizations, counseling centers to ask for help in person, the purchase of empty hotels to accommodate victims of domestic violence, 24-hour telephone lines and email addresses for just that. With the economic reopening, it is necessary to implement social protection and labor redistribution measures, so that women have equal access and opportunities to men. The presence of women in public sectors and high positions is essential., Eliminating Gender Barriers to Innovation, technology and digital skills, in addition to the initiative to invest in social services that were affected by the pandemic.
Por Gabriela Lombardi and Giulia Vanni
References:
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