The pandemic exposed gender inequality: Let’s seize the opportunity to remedy it

While COVID-19 affected everyone, it did not impact everyone equally. Some, like women, were hit harder than others. This year, we are commemorating International Women’s Day alongside the three-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 affected everyone, it did not affect everyone equally . The pandemic exposed many aspects of inequality , including socioeconomic inequality, accessibility and gender inequality. The pandemic destroyed the momentum towards more emancipatory gender relations by disproportionately harming women and gender diverse people, according to the United Nations and Canadian Human Rights Commission . As the world reopens after the global catastrophe, I join in on the urgent call to reset “normal” in a more emancipatory way. There is an opportunity to capitalize on the potential offered by the pandemic to rebuild our professional, business and personal lives. To echo Winston Churchill’s words from the Second World War : we cannot “let a good crisis go to waste.” We will waste the COVID-19 crisis if we don’t address the inequalities — specifically the gender inequalities — the pandemic both exacerbated and revealed. Burden of unpaid labour Women do an unequal share of unpaid labour in Canada , as they do around the world . […]

Click here to view original web page at theconversation.com