COVID-19 and Gender Equality: An Abnormal Normality

Abstract

Abstract“A woman has a right to survival, protection, participation, and development.” Although much emphasis is being laid worldwide on gender equality, yet deep-rooted discrimination still prevails in society. Forever since, women have been victims of social conventions and are constantly being pulled down in personal, social, economic and political scenarios. History has warned us numerous times that crisis in health and economy can create huge force to put women’s solicitude to the back stage. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the most pervasive and insidious inequities that women everywhere have been facing in their lives. This paper discusses the different cultural barriers to women’s participation and success in a global scenario, and how the pandemic has aggravated the conditions. It begins by discussing the relationship between economic development and female employment and thereafter argues that the traditional cultural norms, which vary across societies, help explain the large differences in female employment universally. The paper examines several gender-based social norms and how they constrain women’s development and participation. The arguments are compared and collated with the COVID-19 pandemic situation to efficiently explain the seriousness of the scenario. In conclusion, the paper examples change that must be incorporated into policies that are aimed at overcoming these cultural barriers to female employment and the volume of the impact that they will have in the future.KeywordsCOVID-19 pandemicWomen unemployment rateUnpaid domestic careGender pay gapPaternity leaveWomen educationImposter syndromeEconomic growthPolicy