In creating policies to overcome the coronavirus pandemic, vulnerable populations cannot be overlooked. Women comprise almost half of Pakistan’s population; because of the systematic power imbalance, they bear the brunt of the pandemic’s negative impacts. Not only have women faced a massive loss of economic opportunities, they have also been burdened with an overload of domestic responsibilities, experienced an inaccessibility to emergency healthcare, and witnessed endless domestic and sexual violence. Many young girls have been unable to return to school.
The situation has further worsened because of lack of access to information. According to a recent report, women in Pakistan are 37 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone or have access to the internet. This limits their access to essential services, helplines, and emergency healthcare.
No crisis is gender-neutral. In fact, when a crisis hits, gender inequalities become much more pronounced. The coronavirus pandemic is no different. According to the UN, 47 million women and girls will be pushed into poverty this year due to the pandemic. The UN also reports that gender-disparities are expected to be further widened with more women than men being forced to live below the poverty line – 118 women for every 100 men aged between 25 to 34.
Why does this difference exist? Because vulnerable populations will always be the hardest hit in times of crisis. Patriarchal gender roles have played a great role in increasing the burden on women during COVID-19. Since women are the primary care-takers of the house, especially in Pakistan where gender roles are clearly defined, domestic responsibilities such as house chores, child-care, meal preparations, have risen dramatically and fall directly on women’s shoulders. A large number of women are self-employed and run their own businesses, which have also taken a hit. Furthermore, a lot of women have lost their jobs as domestic workers due to the fear of contracting the virus.
The increased burden on women is clearly visible in developing countries like Pakistan where class inequalities are stark. There is a difference between the impacts of the pandemic on the upper-middle class and the working class. Those who work on daily wages have lost a huge chunk of their income. When we talk about working class women, the impact is further exacerbated.
Women’s Employment and Education
The nature of women-led businesses is such that they fall under the “informal” category (women comprise 74 percent of the informal economy); meaning there are no external benefits such as insurance or compensation. When the virus hit, these ventures were the first to go. For many women, their family’s income was cut to less than half considering they were the main contributors.
There are approximately 12 million home-based workers in Pakistan, 80 percent of which are women. Home-based businesses operate on a much smaller-scale and thrive on demand for their products or services. The pandemic caused demand for these businesses to take a slump, preventing employers from paying their employees. This caused major salary cuts and layoffs. The major brunt of these events was borne by women.
Women-owned microenterprises, which are locally owned and geographically restricted small businesses, such as fruit/vegetable stalls, etc. are “8% more likely to lose their entire revenue due to the on-going pandemic” because they run on a smaller scale than men-owned microenterprises.
Industries where women dominate, such as teaching, have been greatly affected. Due to the closure of schools, an increased number of student absences, and uncertainty regarding their re-opening, a large number of teachers have been laid off, most of which are women.
Women who work as domestic workers have also faced adverse impacts. Working class women have not only experienced their husbands lose out on daily wages, but have also been fired from their jobs as domestic workers. When the first wave of the virus hit, majority households let go of their house help because of the fear of contracting COVID-19. Sudden loss of employment with no safeguards pushed these women into a pit of poverty.
Not only do women face a loss of economic opportunities because of a chain of patriarchal restrictions such as being less educated and bound by household chores, but young girls also experience a lesser chance of returning to school as compared to their male peers. When cases decreased last year in September, many schools resumed classes either in-person or online. However, 13 million children remained out of school; 60 percent of which were girls. In a study including a sample of 1,188 parents, 63 percent said they didn’t plan to send their daughters back to school while 94 percent confirmed that their sons will be returning.
Access to Sexual and Reproductive (SRH) Healthcare
Access to family planning and reproductive healthcare is limited all across Pakistan, especially for working class women or women from conservative households. Since the pandemic hit the country in February last year, there have been further restrictions on these resources.
The main issue arises when deciding whether or not the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services fall under the “essential services” category. In Pakistan, SRH is a taboo. In such a social climate, the pandemic has made these resources further inaccessible to women not just in Pakistan, but in most of South Asia.
As part of lockdown rules, it remains unclear whether women are permitted to leave the house in case of a health emergency relating to SRH. This poses a major problem because SRH emergencies require immediate attention; but because there is unawareness about its importance, SRH is never specifically mentioned as an essential service.
A “WISH 2 ACTION (W2A)” program started by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) aims to observe and find solutions to the problem of inaccessibility to SRH in developing countries during COVID-19. It has been observed through the W2A program that apart from unclear government rules, even if countries have listed SRH as an essential service, there were no proper plans or trained staff in place to tend to these emergencies. One such country is Uganda where pregnant women have lost their lives because public transport was not available to them. A women’s pro bono program in Uganda called Primah Kwagala confirmed that at least six women lost their lives during child birth because they had to walk long distances to reach the hospital due to unavailability of ambulances.
Women’s accessibility to contraceptives is further limited. Before COVID-19, 218 million women faced difficulty in accessing contraceptives because of taboos attached. Results of a study looking at the potential impact of COVID on SRH have shown that there will be a further 10 percent decline. This puts millions of women at risk because it hinders the prevention of unwanted/early pregnancies amidst financial crisis. It also increases the possibility of contracting STDs.
Domestic Violence
History has witnessed many outbreaks, all of which have led to lockdowns. Be it the Zika virus, Ebola, or Cholera, people have been confined to their homes to help prevent the spread. During each of these outbreaks, there was an increase in reported cases of domestic violence. Lockdowns restrict the victim’s mobility; it becomes very difficult for them to escape their abusers due to the absence of protective care services, crisis centers, or accessibility to family members who may be able to help and provide relief. The coronavirus outbreak has witnessed the same.
A stressful environment can aggravate abusive behavior. Loss of employment and financial stress causes abusers to vent their frustration on family members. This has subjected millions of women in Pakistan to increased domestic and sexual violence with no escape. Pakistan’s health care system has been struggling to accommodate all cases of COVID-19 and this has led to a decrease in funding for crisis centers and rehabilitative services with most social welfare helplines being discontinued. The situation has been serious with around 399 reported cases of murdered women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone with only 25 of these reported to the police helpline.
Pakistan’s COVID-19 Response
The Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program started in April 2020 and targeted three main groups of beneficiaries. These include women falling below the poverty line as part of the Kafaalat program (emergency cash assistance for women), families (targeting both men and women who fall below a defined socio-economic cut-off), and a third group of individuals (both men and women) who have lost employment because of the pandemic. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program aims to specifically target women who don’t have access to any other financial resources and have been severely affected because of COVID-19.
However, despite special focus on women, the government has failed to take important factors into account which has limited the reach of the program; registration depends on ownership of a mobile phone, internet access, and having a national identity card. Women living in rural areas and poverty-stricken neighborhoods do not have proper access to these resources. The gender gap regarding mobile ownership and internet access is considerable, substantially reducing women’s accessibility to the program; because of this gap, approximately 78 percent women will be excluded from accessing this financial resource. Consequently, “economic gender equality” will be further worsened because of an insufficient government response. The patriarchal social climate of the country needs to be considered before designing a COVID response; this is the only way to guarantee accessibility to the targeted beneficiaries i.e. women.
Pakistan needs to work harder to protect its vulnerable populations during these emergencies or otherwise. Gender power imbalances in the country needs to be considered when devising frameworks to overcome the pandemic in order to increase accessibility for women. Women’s access to healthcare, essential information, emergency helplines, and financial resources should be at the forefront of any COVID policies. The government also needs to ensure that all girls return to school once COVID restrictions are eased to prevent higher rates of female school drop-outs.
The writer works for the Human Rights Department of Sindh as part of the Huqooq-e-Pakistan project funded by the European Union.
The situation has further worsened because of lack of access to information. According to a recent report, women in Pakistan are 37 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone or have access to the internet. This limits their access to essential services, helplines, and emergency healthcare.
No crisis is gender-neutral. In fact, when a crisis hits, gender inequalities become much more pronounced. The coronavirus pandemic is no different. According to the UN, 47 million women and girls will be pushed into poverty this year due to the pandemic. The UN also reports that gender-disparities are expected to be further widened with more women than men being forced to live below the poverty line – 118 women for every 100 men aged between 25 to 34.
Why does this difference exist? Because vulnerable populations will always be the hardest hit in times of crisis. Patriarchal gender roles have played a great role in increasing the burden on women during COVID-19. Since women are the primary care-takers of the house, especially in Pakistan where gender roles are clearly defined, domestic responsibilities such as house chores, child-care, meal preparations, have risen dramatically and fall directly on women’s shoulders. A large number of women are self-employed and run their own businesses, which have also taken a hit. Furthermore, a lot of women have lost their jobs as domestic workers due to the fear of contracting the virus.
The increased burden on women is clearly visible in developing countries like Pakistan where class inequalities are stark. There is a difference between the impacts of the pandemic on the upper-middle class and the working class. Those who work on daily wages have lost a huge chunk of their income. When we talk about working class women, the impact is further exacerbated.
Women’s Employment and Education
The nature of women-led businesses is such that they fall under the “informal” category (women comprise 74 percent of the informal economy); meaning there are no external benefits such as insurance or compensation. When the virus hit, these ventures were the first to go. For many women, their family’s income was cut to less than half considering they were the main contributors.
There are approximately 12 million home-based workers in Pakistan, 80 percent of which are women. Home-based businesses operate on a much smaller-scale and thrive on demand for their products or services. The pandemic caused demand for these businesses to take a slump, preventing employers from paying their employees. This caused major salary cuts and layoffs. The major brunt of these events was borne by women.
Women-owned microenterprises, which are locally owned and geographically restricted small businesses, such as fruit/vegetable stalls, etc. are “8% more likely to lose their entire revenue due to the on-going pandemic” because they run on a smaller scale than men-owned microenterprises.
Industries where women dominate, such as teaching, have been greatly affected. Due to the closure of schools, an increased number of student absences, and uncertainty regarding their re-opening, a large number of teachers have been laid off, most of which are women.
Women who work as domestic workers have also faced adverse impacts. Working class women have not only experienced their husbands lose out on daily wages, but have also been fired from their jobs as domestic workers. When the first wave of the virus hit, majority households let go of their house help because of the fear of contracting COVID-19. Sudden loss of employment with no safeguards pushed these women into a pit of poverty.
Not only do women face a loss of economic opportunities because of a chain of patriarchal restrictions such as being less educated and bound by household chores, but young girls also experience a lesser chance of returning to school as compared to their male peers. When cases decreased last year in September, many schools resumed classes either in-person or online. However, 13 million children remained out of school; 60 percent of which were girls. In a study including a sample of 1,188 parents, 63 percent said they didn’t plan to send their daughters back to school while 94 percent confirmed that their sons will be returning.
Access to Sexual and Reproductive (SRH) Healthcare
Access to family planning and reproductive healthcare is limited all across Pakistan, especially for working class women or women from conservative households. Since the pandemic hit the country in February last year, there have been further restrictions on these resources.
The main issue arises when deciding whether or not the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services fall under the “essential services” category. In Pakistan, SRH is a taboo. In such a social climate, the pandemic has made these resources further inaccessible to women not just in Pakistan, but in most of South Asia.
As part of lockdown rules, it remains unclear whether women are permitted to leave the house in case of a health emergency relating to SRH. This poses a major problem because SRH emergencies require immediate attention; but because there is unawareness about its importance, SRH is never specifically mentioned as an essential service.
A “WISH 2 ACTION (W2A)” program started by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) aims to observe and find solutions to the problem of inaccessibility to SRH in developing countries during COVID-19. It has been observed through the W2A program that apart from unclear government rules, even if countries have listed SRH as an essential service, there were no proper plans or trained staff in place to tend to these emergencies. One such country is Uganda where pregnant women have lost their lives because public transport was not available to them. A women’s pro bono program in Uganda called Primah Kwagala confirmed that at least six women lost their lives during child birth because they had to walk long distances to reach the hospital due to unavailability of ambulances.
Women’s accessibility to contraceptives is further limited. Before COVID-19, 218 million women faced difficulty in accessing contraceptives because of taboos attached. Results of a study looking at the potential impact of COVID on SRH have shown that there will be a further 10 percent decline. This puts millions of women at risk because it hinders the prevention of unwanted/early pregnancies amidst financial crisis. It also increases the possibility of contracting STDs.
Domestic Violence
History has witnessed many outbreaks, all of which have led to lockdowns. Be it the Zika virus, Ebola, or Cholera, people have been confined to their homes to help prevent the spread. During each of these outbreaks, there was an increase in reported cases of domestic violence. Lockdowns restrict the victim’s mobility; it becomes very difficult for them to escape their abusers due to the absence of protective care services, crisis centers, or accessibility to family members who may be able to help and provide relief. The coronavirus outbreak has witnessed the same.
A stressful environment can aggravate abusive behavior. Loss of employment and financial stress causes abusers to vent their frustration on family members. This has subjected millions of women in Pakistan to increased domestic and sexual violence with no escape. Pakistan’s health care system has been struggling to accommodate all cases of COVID-19 and this has led to a decrease in funding for crisis centers and rehabilitative services with most social welfare helplines being discontinued. The situation has been serious with around 399 reported cases of murdered women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone with only 25 of these reported to the police helpline.
Pakistan’s COVID-19 Response
The Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program started in April 2020 and targeted three main groups of beneficiaries. These include women falling below the poverty line as part of the Kafaalat program (emergency cash assistance for women), families (targeting both men and women who fall below a defined socio-economic cut-off), and a third group of individuals (both men and women) who have lost employment because of the pandemic. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program aims to specifically target women who don’t have access to any other financial resources and have been severely affected because of COVID-19.
However, despite special focus on women, the government has failed to take important factors into account which has limited the reach of the program; registration depends on ownership of a mobile phone, internet access, and having a national identity card. Women living in rural areas and poverty-stricken neighborhoods do not have proper access to these resources. The gender gap regarding mobile ownership and internet access is considerable, substantially reducing women’s accessibility to the program; because of this gap, approximately 78 percent women will be excluded from accessing this financial resource. Consequently, “economic gender equality” will be further worsened because of an insufficient government response. The patriarchal social climate of the country needs to be considered before designing a COVID response; this is the only way to guarantee accessibility to the targeted beneficiaries i.e. women.
Pakistan needs to work harder to protect its vulnerable populations during these emergencies or otherwise. Gender power imbalances in the country needs to be considered when devising frameworks to overcome the pandemic in order to increase accessibility for women. Women’s access to healthcare, essential information, emergency helplines, and financial resources should be at the forefront of any COVID policies. The government also needs to ensure that all girls return to school once COVID restrictions are eased to prevent higher rates of female school drop-outs.
The writer works for the Human Rights Department of Sindh as part of the Huqooq-e-Pakistan project funded by the European Union.