COVID-19: Where are the women?

Outbreaks affect men and women differently. This has been evident during Ebola, Zika and Cholera, but has become acutely evident during COVID-19. Not only are women disproportionately represented as healthcare workers on the frontline, but they also are doubly burdened with the informal labour within homes as shelter in place orders are implemented and schools are closed. Beyond this, domestic violence rates have skyrocketed, and access to sexual reproductive health services have been altered and/or have ceased. These pose real risks to women’s safety and health. This seminar examines these gendered effects of COVID-19 and asks: where are the women? Are governments thinking about them, and if not, why not?

View Clare Wenham’s biography here.

This event was a part of the Global Health Security Seminar Series, which is co-sponsored by Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security and the Global Health Initiative.