The impacts of COVID-19 are gendered and is potentially intensifying pre-existing gender gaps. In order to discuss this and delve into the different aspects of COVID-19’s impact- covering issues such as the impact on female education; reproductive health; family violence and broader aspects of gender equality and well-being; BIGD and the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) at Monash Business School jointly hosted a webinar to draw out lessons for policies to ensure the advancement of the related SDG goals with a focus on developing countries.
In the webinar titled “Gender in the time of COVID-19“, Sajeda Amin, Population Council, New York; Alaka Basu, Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University, New York; and Toby Monsod, School of Economics, University of the Philippines, Manila, discussed the impact of COVID-19 and the effect it had on magnifying the existing gender gaps in developing nations. Maheen Sultan, Senior Fellow of Practice, BIGD, participated as a discussant at the webinar. And Asad Islam, Director, CDES moderated the event.
The webinar shed light on COVID-19’s impact on women, specifically in developing countries where resources are inadequate for addressing sexual and reproductive problems faced by women. It further discussed the effect of pandemic and lockdown on women’s physical, mental, and emotional health, and the rise in Gender-based Violence (GBV).
