Women, Men and COVID
By Sofia Rehnstrom
The economic impact of COVID-19 brings to light once again the discrepancies between women and men. Economically, the pandemic has hit women harder, as the sectors of industry most concentrated with female employment suffer the most. Moreover, for women of colour the data is even bleaker. Throughout the COVID crisis, The Kota Alliance and other like-minded organisations have not stopped fighting to promote gender equality and shine light on the problems facing women today. What are men’s organisations working for gender equality doing and how have their approaches been different?
Men’s organisations fighting against inequality such as Promundo, continue to engage men to reflect on these harmful social norms in order to foster healthy masculinity.
The COVID Pandemic has given a new and different perspective on society and how it is run. Due to confinement, this has also been an opportunity for people in the general public to step back and look at the world from a different angle. Men’s organisations such as MenEngage Alliance are recommending that one use this time to reflect on and analyse the current global model of capitalism which promotes the version of masculinity, known as ‘toxic masculinity’ rather than equity, empowerment, inclusion and justice for all.
Thus, the way forward being to promote a feminist response to the COVID pandemic. By putting a gender lens to the response to COVID, the needs of women and girls are met while their expertise is also leveraged. Although ‘we are all in this together’ and the entire globe is fighting the same virus, the outcome is just not the same for everyone and the impacts of the virus for men, women and gender diverse people should be considered.
The UN has described the worldwide increase in domestic abuse as a "shadow pandemic" alongside COVID-19. As many women and children are trapped at home with their abuser, it is said that cases have increased by 20% or more. The need, therefore, to engage men and boys to prevent and promote equal and caring masculinities is more pressing than ever! Men’s organisations working for gender equality are doing exactly this. Promundo outlines exactly how one can help. Our societies are based on patriarchal systems whereby men have greater access to power which justifies social norms such as, promoting a version of masculinity based on physical strength and dominance.
This crisis is giving us the opportunity to make systemic changes so that women will no longer carry a disproportionately higher economic cost in comparison to men - as UNCTAD puts it, in order to “create a gender-equal future”. Whether it is a men’s organisation, a female organisation or a gender diverse organisation, whether we are fighting during the COVID crisis or post-crisis and no matter how different our approaches are to creating change, we are all fighting for the same goal: gender equality.
