Women and care ethics during the COVID-19 pandemic: Who cares for the care-givers?

Abstract

Caring is a general ethical responsibility that makes human existence worthwhile and fulfilling. Whenever society is distressed be it by a famine, war, poverty or a pandemic, the impact falls hard on women, children and people living with disability. We all need to be cared for and we owe the same obligation to others, especially those who care for us. However, during crises, the ethics of care becomes integral and, more often, men are not readily available to offer it. Arguably, the duty to care is one of the most compelling obligations that make human and non-human beings survive any form of distress. However, it is unfortunate that women face more of the brunt of the requirements of the duty to care than their male counterparts, particularly in the home front. This was most evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most ill persons were kept in the home because healthcare institutions were overwhelmed with numbers of infected persons scrambling for limited and non-existent resources. The pressure was not only on scarce resources, but COVID-19 also brought into sharp focus the need for better care for those who care for the sick in the home, especially during times of national distress. This article is a critical reflection on the impact of COVID-19 on women healthcare providers (HCPs) caring for the sick in the home. It particularly focuses on the caring burden created by COVID-19 and how it impacted on women’s mental health acknowledging that, currently, there is limited feminist analysis of moral distress among women healthcare providers in rural communities and healthcare institutions. Through the ethics of care theory and the feminist political economy lens, the article further explores the care challenges faced by women during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The article employs in-depth interviews and focused group discussions as the methods of data collection. It also proffers interventionist strategies that could be employed to lessen the burden of care on women. The findings show that more women healthcare givers suffered a lot of pressure from the impact of COVID-19 since they received little recognition and appreciation from both patients and the healthcare institutions they worked for.