Shadow Pandemic
The Impact of Covid-19 on Women By Dr Gifta Angline Kumar, Church of North India (CNI)
Dr Gifta Angline Kumar completed her PhD in Hinduism at South Asia Theological Institute (SATHRI), and has been teaching religions at Bishop's College in Kolkata, India.
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated lives
around the world. The pandemic has exposed sharp economic and social inequalities and has widened the already existing gap between privileged and most vulnerable in the society. The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have not been genderneutral. Women and girl children are more affected by the virtue of their gender. There is no doubt to say that the crisis brought by Covid-19 has deepened pre-existing gender inequalities.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report 2021 estimates there has been a step back of 39 years due to the pandemic. Healthcare access for women and girls has been disrupted, confinement measures increased gender-based violence, and girls disadvantaged and marginalised. Worryingly, it seems we are not learning from the past, as women and girls have encountered similar issues experienced during previous health crises. During the Ebola epidemic, increases in abuse, violence, and exploitation faced by women and girls were also reported.1 Hence, the current article attempts to understand gender-based violence as an aspect of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Plights of Women amid Pandemic The slogan “Stay home, Stay Safe,” really meant, ‘stay home, stay unsafe, stay in fear, stay facing abuse and violence.’ As far as women are concerned, an increase in domestic violence was reported from all over the world as a consequence of the lockdown. According to official data, the National Commission for Women (NCW) registered an increase of at least 2.5 times in domestic violence complaints since the nationwide lockdown in India. Domestic violence is not a new phenomenon.2
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/lessons-must-be-learned-from-covid-19-s-impact-on-women-s-
1
health-and-rights/ (15th February 2022) 2
Joycia Thorat, “Impact of Covid -19 on Women and Children,” Religion and Society 65, no. 3 (July 2020): 25.
www.cwmission.org 31
