UN: COVID-19 Pandemic Widens Gender Gap at Alarming Proportions

UN Women warned on Sunday that by 2021 around 247 million women over 15 years old would be living with less than $1.90 a day, and  47 million will be pushed into poverty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which will stretch the gender gap to even more massive proportions.

RELATED:

Chile: The Senate Passes a Remarriage Law in Favor of Women

In its latest joint report, the UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) explain that globally, women represent 70 percent of the health and social care workforce, and many of them are front-line health workers, especially nurses, midwives, and community health workers.

According to the latest data, this workforce is the most exposed to the virus. Studies from Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States demonstrated that COVID-19 infections among female health workers are two to three times higher than those observed among their male counterparts. 

However, some of the sectors hardest-hit by the pandemic are jobs performed mainly by women who suffer from low pay and poor working conditions, including lack of basic protections like paid sick and family leave. In the food and accommodation services alone, the United Nations' organization estimates that 54 percent of the 75.4 million workers are women.

Furthermore, the report forecasts that out of the 96 million people pushed into extreme poverty in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, 47 million will be women and girls. The proportions indicate that in 2021 there will be 118 women in poverty for every 100 poor men on the planet. 

The regions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia will be the most affected by these inequalities. Nevertheless, globally 60 million women in their prime reproductive period from 25 to 34 years old are expected to live on less than $1.90, while only 54 million men will be living in these same conditions.

Moreover, women are also at a disadvantage regarding access to education as well as access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Women are also at an alarming risk of domestic violence and femicides.

The UN Women reports that "an estimated 243 million women and girls aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner in the last year." During 2019 one out of three femicides was carried by a current or former partner of the victim. Since the lockdowns femicides, rates have increased worldwide, and the organization estimates that the risk of sexual violence is ten times higher for women with disabilities.