During COVID-19 in Australia, we learnt...

  • Lessons from previous pandemics and other disasters shows gender stereotypes and norms can intensify. This can lead to women having less access to power and decision making than men, including access to services and health care.
  • Gender segregation of the caring professions of early childhood education, teaching, aged care and nursing has seen women workers shouldering a significant burden of care for the community during the pandemic.
  • Many female-dominated industries, such as teaching where women workers account a majority of the teaching workforce, have been required to provide primary care during the pandemic with insufficient access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face masks and hand sanitiser.
  • Part-time workers were more likely to lose hours during the recession than full-time workers. Most part-time workers in Australia are women, whereas most full-time workers are men.
  • Even though more women lost jobs during the crisis, most recipients of the Government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy were men. Women were more likely to miss out on the JobKeeper payment because casual employees who had been with their employer for less than 12 months were deemed ineligible.
  • The impacts of a pandemic can be wide-ranging and situational stressors, such as victims and perpetrators spending more time together, or increased financial or economic hardship, can be associated with increased severity or frequency of violence.
  • The pandemic compounds the already inconsistent access to sexual and reproductive health services (particularly contraception and abortion services).

1 in 10 (9.6%)of Women

had experienced physical violence from their partner since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1 in 4 (26%) women

who had experienced physical or sexual violence in the 12 months since the pandemic said they'd been unable to seek assistance due to safety concerns.

Maintaining services to Emergency response of COVID-19 outbreak also means that resources for sexual and reproductive health services may be diverted to deal with the outbreak, contributing to a rise in maternal and newborn mortality, increased unmet need for contraception, and increased number of unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections.

UNFPA

COVID-19 saw women to be significantly more likely than men to have experienced negative mental health impacts, such as higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress, and increased frequency and severity of family and sexual violence. However, these statistics likely underrepresent the true rates of violence and poor health following disaster; women typically sacrifice their own needs and put others first which means they are less likely to report domestic violence following a disaster or it may be unrecorded due to stretched support services.

Interviews with service providers show that women who experience gender-based violence “may experience other symptoms and seek professional help for those symptoms”. It is therefore important that recovery and support workers are aware and alert to the likely increase in abuse, isolation and exclusion that many women experience in the wake of a disaster.