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Brussels (dpa) - According to a report by the EU Commission, the corona pandemic has devastating effects on equality for women.

"In Europe and beyond, the pandemic has exacerbated the existing inequalities between women and men in almost all areas of life and wiped out hard-won progress made in recent years," said the Brussels authority on Friday.

It is also criticized that there is a "blatant" shortage of women in Corona crisis teams.

A study that also looked at 17 EU countries showed that more than 85 percent of these bodies are mainly male.

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"It is very important to involve women in these decisions," the report emphasizes.

For an effective response to the pandemic, it is important not to give space to gender-specific prejudices.

Women are also at the forefront of the pandemic, but rarely in management positions: According to the Commission, 86 percent of nurses in the healthcare sector are women.

"Although women make up the vast majority of health care workers in the EU, women are being held back from leadership positions in the health sector," it said.

Around 25 percent of employed women worked in high-risk sectors with a view to the corona pandemic, and 20 percent of employed men.

The report also describes how existing inequalities between men and women are worsening again as a result of the pandemic.

According to a US study, it is more likely that women have reduced their working hours or even quit to look after children.

Specific figures for the EU are not given.

"These patterns have strengthened traditional gender roles," says the report.

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In general, too, the pandemic hits women harder than men on the labor market.

According to Eurostat, unemployment among women rose from 6.9 to 7.9 percent between April and September 2020, and among men from 6.5 to 7.1 percent in the same period.

This could - with a view to pensions, for example - also have an impact far into the future and widen the inequality between men and women for decades.

In addition, the pandemic has led to more domestic violence against women.

For example, the number of reports on this in the first week of lockdown in France rose by 32 percent and in the first three weeks in Lithuania by 20 percent.

"Ireland recorded a five-fold increase in domestic violence cases, and the Spanish authorities reported an 18 percent increase in reports in the first two weeks of the lockdown," said a statement from the EU Commission.

The group of the Greens in the European Parliament launched a petition on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8th.

Its aim is to induce the Commission to issue a legally binding directive to prevent violence against women, including on the Internet.

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210305-99-707144 / 3

Petition from the Greens

Report of the EU Commission, English

Press release from the EU Commission