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Authors: Luna K.C., McGill University, Research Network on Women, Peace and Security, Postdoctoral Fellow, and Crystal Whitstone, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Sam Houston State University
Attention to the impact of the pandemic on women has largely focused on the Global North, ignoring countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka, which continue to grapple with the effects of prolonged war. . The civil war in Nepal ended in 2006 and the civil war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, but the civil war continues.
As scholars of gender and war, we focus on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. A recently published paper also explores the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls in Nepal and Sri Lanka, examining policy responses and their impact on the women, peace and security agenda.
COVID-19 is disproportionately and negatively impacting women. One reason is that most are primarily family caregivers, and the pandemic has increased the caregiving obligations of women.
This pattern is even more pronounced in war-affected countries, where the complications of war and pandemics leave women generally more vulnerable. It exists on the fringes of the system and suffers from what the World Bank calls “fragility, conflict and violence.”
Women, Labor and Gender-Based Violence
Gender-based labor insecurity is not new to Nepal and Sri Lanka, and is a pandemic. has only eroded the female workforce and already has a poor economic outlook.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, her Tharshani (pseudonym), a Sri Lankan mother of three children and head of household, was able to earn a living. But when the pandemic hit, her lockdown prevented Tharshani from marketing her chickens. She was forced to take out loans from her neighbors and her family had to skip meals.
Some 1.7 million women in Sri Lanka work in the informal sector, where state employment protection does not exist and not working means no wages. COVID-19 is exacerbating and debilitating debt to women's fight against poverty.
Sri Lankan men also face increasing labor insecurity due to sexism and sexism in the job market, whereas women are employed in the informal sector. forced to do so.
The pandemic is also increasing the number of women and girls facing gender-based violence.
Nepal experienced an increase in cases of gender-based violence from March 2020 to June 2021. More than 1,750 cases were reported in the media, 82% of which were rapes and sexual assaults. Pandemic lockdowns have also created new vulnerabilities for women seeking quarantine shelter. A woman was allegedly gang-raped in a quarantine facility in Ramkichuha, Nepal.
Gender-based violence is more prevalent among low-caste women and girls in Nepal, a situation exacerbated by the pandemic. reported 90 cases of gender-based violence faced by lower caste women and girls.
Next.
While COVID-19 recovery efforts generally focus on preparing for future pandemics and economic recovery, the women, peace and security agenda is It can also address the needs of the most marginalized people when it comes to -19 recovery.
The Women, Peace and Security Agenda promotes women's participation in peace and security issues, with a focus on supporting women in the face of violent conflict. By incorporating women's perspectives, issues and concerns in relation to the COVID-19 recovery, policies and activities can help address issues that disproportionately affect most women in war-affected countries. Helpful.
These issues are a precarious gender labor market, a surge in care work, an increasing feminization of poverty and an increase in gender-based violence.
Policies include efforts to provide women with living wage jobs with state benefits; ), and the number of resources (such as shelters and legal services) for women experiencing gender-based domestic violence.
The impact of COVID-19 needs to be integrated into women, peace and security planning to achieve agenda objectives of improving the lives of women and girls in post-war countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka. I have.
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Luna KC is a postdoctoral fellow in the Women's Peace and Security Studies Network at McGill University. The project is funded by the Government of Canada's Mobilizing Insights in Defense and Security (MINDS) program.
Crystal Whetstone does not work for, consult with, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article and has
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This article is reprinted from The Conversation under a Creative Commons License. Disclosure information is available at the original site. Read Original Article: https://theconversation.com/war-peace-and-security-the-pandemics-imp https://theconversation.com/war-peace-and-security-t
