How is the coronavirus affecting women? Part Two

14 May

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

A month ago, when we were still at the early stages of the coronavirus crisis, I wrote a piece breaking down some of the key issues affecting women during this time. Thank you so much to everyone who read it so far and if you haven’t yet, it can be read here. As the weeks have gone on, even more issues have come to the fore and so, I’m back with another rundown of some of those issues. Again, this is a non-exhaustive list and you can, unfortunately, expect a part three next week.

Accommodation:

An issue that has received more attention during this crisis is that of landlord coercion. This can involve landlords asking women for sex and sexual favours in exchange for rent. These can be worded as obviously as asking for sex or ambiguously asking for “arrangements.” There had been several reports of this even before the crisis in both Ireland, partly due to the housing crisis[i], and globally and the problem is increasing exponentially now. As an example, since the start of the pandemic, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women has received 12 complaints from tenants alleging sexual harassment by their landlords.[ii] And as we know, where there are reported cases, there are usually several times more unreported cases. And when and if they do report, they risk being thrown out and all the legal repercussions that come with that. This issue is being exacerbated right now for several different reasons relating to the crisis. Probably most obviously, women may have lost their jobs and are now ‘housing insecure’ and may be more desperate to stay in their accommodation despite maybe not having the money and as such, are more vulnerable. Furthermore, with the stay at home orders and social distancing rules in place, it’s not feasible for many women to move out of a location even if they could find a place, find housemates and afford to which many can’t. Landlords now also know that you’re home because you’re being instructed to be there – what’s to stop them from barging into ‘their’ house to rape you? Even if the tenant does agree out of desperation, the 2017 Sexual Offences Act clearly states that sexual consent must be given freely and voluntary.[iii] If a tenant is ‘consenting’ to sex for survival or for shelter, that sex is not free or voluntary. This is a crime. If you’re in Ireland and you’re experiencing sexual exploitation or abuse, you can call Rape Crisis Network Ireland’s 24-hour confidential freephone number on 1800 77 88 88.[iv]

Periods:

Periods don’t stop in a pandemic. There are so many knock-on effects of the global shut down on periods. To start with, if you’re used to being out and about and using a public bathroom to change a pad or tampon, for example, that is no longer an option for you. Thankfully, for many, we have homes where we can easily reach a clean bathroom. This cannot be said for homeless women and menstruaters – where are they meant to go? Period poverty amongst homeless women is, as with everything else, already a major issue and is now intensified by the fact that there are no public bathrooms open. I will speak more on homeless women’s situation below. Moreover, access to period products if you can afford them could be threatened. With many panic buying, there may be fewer products on the shelves and with some supply chains affected, it may take more time for them to be restocked. Furthermore, due to restrictions, some women may have less access to shops with products during this time. For many less privileged women across the world where periods are already extremely taboo, access to products is even worse. Many women and girls cannot work and rely on others to buy their products, that is, if they’re not using a cloth. Sana Lokhandwala, co-founder of non-profit organisation HER Pakistan, said that, for many “it comes down to either buying bread for their children or sanitary pads for themselves.”[v] I know, personally, I am in an extremely privileged position and even I’m concerned about running out of prescription painkillers for my cramps and being in intense pain. Furthermore, cortisol, the stress hormone which may be affecting many people more during the current situation is also known to disrupt periods.[vi] And personally, when my period is disrupted or late, it’s even more painful when it does come. On a semi-positive note, if you can, now would be a good time to try out reusable options such as period underwear or a menstrual cup. There’s no worry about them running out or being out of stock once you have one. I personally use a cup and would be more than happy to talk to anyone about it.

Homelessness:

As mentioned above, period management is a huge issue for homeless women regardless and is, once again, aggravated by this crisis. A further issue for many homeless women is the lack of shelters available. Again, there is already a scarcity of refuges for homeless women to go to and with many closing down or having less available space due to social distancing rules, it has been getting increasingly difficult for homeless women. Moreover, many of the refuges that are open are not female only. It is imperative that there are spaces where women do not come in close contact with men. This is important for many reasons: a woman may have escaped an abusive marriage, she may have been the victim of sexual abuse, she may simply not want to be around people who don’t understand what it’s like to have a period and be homeless or be pregnant and homeless. Refuges and shelters are typically small and those that stay there tend to be in close quarters which means a virus can spread quickly. Imagine having to choose between sleeping on the street and contracting coronavirus. Furthermore, and much of this can be said for homeless men as well, but, again, with a lack of access to public bathrooms and areas to wash your hands, homeless women, who are already more vulnerable and more likely to have an existing illness, may be more susceptible to getting infected. And this is before even thinking about accessing proper healthcare or attempting to self-isolate when you have no home if a person does get it.[vii]

Employment:

I spoke about employment in my last post and I wanted to quickly elaborate now. An interesting and unfortunate side effect of the pandemic is that with a depleted job market, men who were in other, more lucrative industries may compete for roles traditionally filled by women; things like nurses and teachers which are notoriously underpaid because they are ‘women’s jobs’ and therefore unattractive to men (and let’s be honest, low pay is unattractive to women as well.) Men will be able to jump back on the job search more readily as soon as restrictions start to ease and the economy picks up. Women, however, who still bear the brunt of the paid and unpaid care work in society, may have to wait to search for work until their kids are settled at school and any sick family members get well. An optimist might look at this and say “yes! We’ll have more male nurses and more male teachers which may raise the pay and respect given to these positions” but if that reform is at the expense of women who have been doing those jobs underpaid and under-respected for years because they are caring for family members during a global pandemic, that doesn’t seem so progressive to me. Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organisation for Women (US) foresees that there will be a scarcity of job openings available for women to take because they’re going to lag behind in being able to access those jobs.[viii] Employers hiring from now until probably long in to the future cannot become complacent when it comes to gender biases in hiring and need to be cognisant of the impact the pandemic has had on women’s capacity to work.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

When I saw that this was an issue, I was in no way surprised but I just thought to myself, “God, does it ever end?” As explained in my last post, women are already more susceptible to contracting the virus due to a large majority of healthcare workers being female. And even when they are at their jobs, actively trying to save lives whilst themselves being at risk, the very equipment that is meant to protect them does not fit properly.[ix] Medical Personal Protective Equipment or PPE includes things like masks, gowns, gloves, goggles, and earplugs amongst many more. Recently, one NHS frontline worker described PPE as being “designed for a 6 foot 3 inch bloke built like a rugby player.” PPE goes through a ‘fit test’ which, as you might guess, is a test to make sure it fits.[x] One intensive care nurse revealed that half the women on her unit had failed the fit test. Many reported abrasions on their faces caused by having to pull masks too tight, others spoke about having to roll up the sleeves of their fluid-repellent gowns. Some are literally having trouble seeing, which I’m told is important. (Sarcasm.) We already know about things not being made with women in mind, everything from CPR training mannequins to spacesuits, to only using male crash dummies to see how a car crash would affect humans (i.e. men).[xi] But Jesus, one would have thought or at least hoped that some consideration would have been given to medical PPE fitting women. Not least, because we’re worthy of protection too but more so, because we’re 70% of the healthcare workforce[xii] and so, if they should be made for any one type of person, which they shouldn’t, but if they were, arguably it should be for women. But regardless, it shouldn’t take a global pandemic for people to realise that women are a different shape to men. In Ireland, as of right now, 57% of cases are women while 42% of cases are men.[xiii] Ill-fitting PPE may be just one of the factors as to the disproportionate numbers.

Vaccine:

Another gender issue that is noteworthy is that as scientists work hard to find a coronavirus vaccine, it is imperative that they take women's and men's biological differences into account.[xiv] So many medical trials, studies, medicines etc. are gender blind as we assume men and women function the same, or rather we assume women function like men do and don’t bother to check otherwise. This is not surprising given the underrepresentation of women in medical research but if clinical trials on this vaccine are mainly run on men, the adverse side effects that are more common or exclusive to women will not be known. There’s already been reports of women’s research plummeting due to the virus and trying to balance childcare responsibilities while there has been an increase in articles from men.[xv] As an example, it is well documented that things like strokes and heart attacks show up differently in men and women and that’s why so many go unnoticed in women because we assume man is the standard.[xvi] Furthermore, interestingly, there is also brand new research, “The Influence of Female Directors on Product Recall Decisions,”[xvii] which found that highly-defective medical products and treatments are recalled 28 days faster (35% faster) when more than one woman is on the board of directors, compared to all-male boards. This is extremely important when testing coronavirus treatments which could literally mean the difference between life and death. We don’t want to end up with a vaccine only to realise it only works on men. Or is that just me?

As always, it’s extremely important to be aware of these issues, if for nothing else than to just be sensitive to people who are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic and have empathy towards them. I am extremely aware of how I am in a very privileged situation where many of these issues may not directly affect me but that won’t stop me from speaking out on behalf of all women, many of whom the pandemic will negatively affect in one way or another. To end on a positive note, I want to shout out women leaders who are doing a phenomenal job right now. The countries arguably managing this crisis the best have women leaders.[xviii] We could talk about the leadership styles of men and women all day but one thing is clear, admitting when you’re not an expert and listening to those who are is what helps your country. By trying to portray stereotypical strength, men (#NotAllMen) are actually weak.[xix] The fact that women leaders are excelling right now is even more pertinent when considering that the Spanish Flu outbreak over a hundred years ago nearly upended women getting the vote – the vote!![xx] They didn’t let a pandemic hold them back then and hopefully someone can else can say the same about us in another hundred years.

[i] https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/Free-rent-for-sex-twice-a-week-with-landlord-Shocking-advertisement-for-Cork-city-flat--6081c82b-01e9-470c-8bd0-9e3d84a08a40-ds

[ii] https://www.wcbi.com/justice-dept-targets-landlords-demanding-sexual-favors-in-lieu-of-rent/

[iii] http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2017/act/2/enacted/en/print.html

[iv] https://www.rapecrisishelp.ie/how-we-can-help/rape-crisis-centres-services-during-covid-19/

[v] https://tribune.com.pk/story/2205396/1-lockdown-sanitary-napkins-become-luxury/

[vi] https://helloclue.com/articles/cycle-a-z/stress-your-period

[vii] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/23/coronavirus-gp-surgeries-homeless-people

[viii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/un-coronavirus-pandemic-gender-inequalities-women

[ix] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/sexism-on-the-covid-19-frontline-ppe-is-made-for-a-6ft-3in-rugby-player?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR0v_aVV-Myjw5dI94nT4HVddVeAKJSuRhBjA30btmRLLLxjBqmN66hhHHU

[x] https://www.hse.gov.uk/news/face-mask-ppe-rpe-coronavirus.htm#

[xi] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47725946

[xii] https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/311314/WHO-HIS-HWF-Gender-WP1-2019.1-eng.pdf?ua=1