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Rising gender-based violence, difficult return to work, weakened mental health… The two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have deteriorated the living conditions of women around the world. A new study by UN Women takes stock.
UN Women published in November 2021 a survey of 16,154 women in 13 middle-income countries (Colombia, Ukraine, Morocco, Bangladesh, etc.) Some 45% of these women say they have been victims, or know a woman who has been a victim, of violence since the start of the pandemic.
“Economic uncertainties, school closures or the mental load due to domestic chores have created an environment conducive to intra-family conflicts”explain LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin, researchers at the World Health Organization (WHO).
And as before the pandemic, women are more victims of online violence than men. “Revenge porn (dissemination of pornographic content without a person’s knowledge) and the risks in terms of child crime have increased in a very worrying way”adds Muriel Salmona, psychiatrist specializing in the study of disorders after trauma.
An ever-present mental load
The UN survey reveals that two out of five women have felt a negative impact of the pandemic on their mental health. In question, the mental load caused by the management of household chores, linked to higher risk of stress and depression in women than in men“, according to LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin.
A mental load reinforced by telework, children at home and outing restrictions. Another indicator, studies on the movements of women during and after the pandemic also reflect the deterioration of the mental health of women. “During the confinements, they had to report to the State on their outings – like men – but also very often to their spouses”, recalls Marion Tillous, lecturer in geography and gender studies at the University of Paris VIII. This very specific context may have held back “the confidence of women, who now dare less to move away” from their homes and withdraw into themselves, according to her.
LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin point to the incompatibilities between teleworking and domestic tasks, the fault of employers’ rigidity. “More women were forced to quit because they couldn’t cope with the double stress of their profession and the mental load of the home”assure the WHO researchers.
Household chores and telework: reinforced inequalities
The study of women’s travel during the pandemic shows that they spent more time on household chores than on their jobs, compared to men and compared to before the pandemic. These studies reveal that “Inequalities have widened and we have fallen behind by twenty years”denounces Ms. Tillous.
Working from home has certainly led to a reduction in attacks on public transport, note the experts contacted by AFP. However, returning to the office by bus or metro was accompanied by an increase in the feeling of insecurity. Three out of five women questioned in the UN survey consider that they are more often than before 2020 victims of sexual harassment in public transport.
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Reconsidering the voice of women
“We can speak of a real effort (of associations and public authorities) to be more reactive and effective against domestic violence” since the pandemic, says Dr. Salmona. An observation that tempers Marion Tillous. The aid devices have been identical since the start of the pandemic, regrets the academic. “We no longer hear women victims of violence, but they speak in a vacuum”.
For LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin, the health crisis has shown the consequences of an inequitable sharing of household chores, with serious consequences for the mental health of women. “The pandemic has given the opportunity to imagine a different and more equitable future for women, especially for those who face the most exclusion or marginalization”they suggest.