Rising gender-based violence, difficult return to work, poor mental health: the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have deteriorated the living conditions of women around the world.

Studies are once again sounding the alarm on International Women's Day.

  • Gender-based violence on the rise

UN Women published in November 2021 a survey of 16,154 women in 13 middle-income countries (Colombia, Ukraine, Morocco, Bangladesh, etc.) Some 45% of these women say they have been victims, or know a woman who has been the victim of violence since the start of the pandemic.

"Economic uncertainties, school closures or even the mental load due to domestic chores have created an environment conducive to intra-family conflicts", explain LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin, researchers at the World Health Organization (WHO).

  • Impaired mental health

The UN survey reveals that two out of five women have felt a negative impact of the pandemic on their mental health.

In question, the mental load caused by the management of household chores, "linked to higher risks of stress and depression in women than in men", according to LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin.

A mental load reinforced by telework, children at home and restrictions on outings.

  • The difficult implementation of telework

LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin point to the incompatibilities between teleworking and domestic tasks, the fault of employers' rigidity.

"A greater number of women were forced to resign because they could not cope with the double stress of their profession and the mental load of the home", assure the WHO researchers.

Another point, working from home has certainly led to a reduction in attacks on public transport, but returning to the office by bus or metro has been accompanied by an increase in the feeling of insecurity.

Three out of five women questioned in the UN survey consider that they are more often than before 2020 victims of sexual harassment in public transport.

  • The new consideration of women's speech

"We can speak of a real effort (of associations and public authorities) to be more reactive and effective against domestic violence" since the pandemic, says Dr Salmona.

An observation that tempers Marion Tillous.

The aid devices have been identical since the start of the pandemic, regrets the academic.

“We no longer hear women victims of violence, but they speak in a vacuum”.

For LynnMarie Sardinha and Avni Amin, the health crisis has shown the consequences of an inequitable sharing of household chores, with serious consequences for the mental health of women.

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  • Violence against women

  • gender equality

  • Women

  • Covid-19

  • World

  • Coronavirus

  • Womens rights

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