Women on the Frontline of Covid-19: Interrogating Women’s Contribution from a Frontline Perspective.

Aug 27, 2020 | Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria
Online

Women are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic response, in the public and private sectors, and in their public and personal lives, and are affected on social and economic as well as physical and emotional levels. While the focus on the frontline work has largely been narrowly confined to the public health sector, where women constitute 70% of the health workforce, as healthcare and social workers and caregivers in nursing homes, the frontline role that women play transcends to all spheres of life. Women as employees, informal traders, human rights defenders, activists, domestic workers and unpaid caregivers in the home, are on the frontlines of the pandemic and are on the receiving end of its brutal impacts.

In the healthcare sector, women as nurses and doctors work long hours, taking care of COVID-19 patients, sometimes with inadequate PPE supplies and amidst concerns about their own safety and fears that they may be putting their loved ones at home at risk. In the retail sector, more women than men are employed as tellers, sales consultants, floor managers, packers and cleaners, interacting directly with customers and risking unknowingly being exposed to the virus and taking it home. On the home front, women are typically caregivers, directly responsible for taking care of family members who may have been exposed to risk at school, in public spaces and at work. Within communities, women are the first responders during deaths and other tragedies within the community, often tasked with the role of comforting, feeding and taking care of the bereaved in the community. Women informal traders are found in taxi ranks, crowded market places and other places frequented by the public. Women have also been at the forefront of campaigns to address the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown, working as activists to highlight increased gender-based violence, gaps in service delivery, and inequality and injustices in society at this time.

In light of the above, it is time to recognise women’s contribution in society, community and families as frontline work, to acknowledge the gendered impacts of the pandemic, and to also interrogate what “women on the frontline of COVID-19” means for women in all their diversity and in all spheres of life. This is an important first step towards addressing the gendered impacts of the pandemic with the urgency and the priority that they deserve.

To this end, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria will host a webinar to interrogate how women’s vital contributions and participation in society inadvertently place them on the frontline of COVID-19. The webinar will focus specifically on women’s experiences on the frontline of the pandemic in South Africa and will facilitate a discussion on how we can elevate their issues, experiences and concerns within the frontline perspective. This virtual meeting envisions a platform in which South African women can share experiences and share lessons learned/best practices for work on the frontline of the COVID-19 response.

Who: Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria

Where: Online

When:  27 August 2020    Time: 11:00 AM SAST