May 31st, 2021

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How Covid-19 made gender inequality in Latin America even worse, by Agustina Ordoqui

Latin America is one of the most unequal regions in the world, and the pandemic has aggravated an already dire situation. The United Nations estimates that 22 million more people were pushed into poverty in 2020, bringing the total for the region to 209 million. This means one in three people in Latin America and the Caribbean cannot cover their basic needs. At the same time, the unemployment rate has risen to 10.6%, the highest in more than a decade.

But what happens to these already concerning figures when we focus in on the 118 million women living in poverty? Figures from the International Labor Organization show that women in Latin America are even more likely to have lost work than men, with an unemployment rate of 12%.

The domestic burden

Why the difference? It’s the same story in Latin America and the Caribbean as anywhere else: women are held back by the extra burden of care work they must shoulder, and the pandemic has only made things worse. « Women spend three times more time caring for children, disabled people or the elderly, as well as doing household chores,” says Mercedes D’Alessandro, the head of the directorate of economics, equality and gender at the Ministry of Economy in Argentina. In Argentina, women spend an average of six hours a day on unpaid care tasks.

In Mexico, less than half of women are in paid employment, according to UN data. Unpaid care work accounts for 23% of national gross domestic product and is mostly performed by women, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics. « These jobs can carry more weight for a country’s economy than manufacturing, commerce or transport, » says Ericka López Sánchez, a professor of politics and government at the University of Guanajuato.

The burden of unpaid care work has only increased during the pandemic. School closures, a common strategy
employed by governments trying to contain outbreaks of Covid-19, meant millions of children were suddenly at home throughout the day. « And who is going to make sure the children are studying, doing their homework or eating?” d’Alessandro says. “Women.”

Heloísa Marques for Impact x Les Glorieuses

The domestic burden means women are less likely to participate fully in the labour market, taking on jobs that allow them to continue with their care-giving tasks. These jobs tend to be precarious and low-wage, but they allow for flexible hours and shorter working days. They often include paid domestic work – positions which in turn allow higher income women to work full-time.

Between 11 and 18 million people are engaged in paid domestic work in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the International Labor Organization, and 93% of them are women. Three in every four work informally without social protections from the state.

Paid domestic work has been hit hard by the pandemic. The International Labor Organization
estimates that 70% of domestic workers have been affected by quarantine measures, either through unemployment, reduction of hours or loss of wages.

Double discrimination

Many migrant, Indigenous or Afro-descendant women end up working in this sector because of the lack of job opportunities elsewhere. López Sánchez says they work in conditions “bordering on exploitation, with inhumane working hours for minimal pay or jobs that violate their dignity without the protection of a legal framework.”

Trans women face additional barriers and discrimination in the workplace, López Sánchez says, arguing that this population is among the most precariously employed throughout the region, with sex work the only option for some. Trans people and their needs are often rendered invisible in countries that do not have a gender identity law – which allows people to change name and gender on ID cards and provides access to gender
confirmation treatments. In the region, only Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay have gender identity laws in place.

– Agustina Ordoqui is our correspondent in Latin America. She is a freelance journalist.

– Heloísa Marques is a visual artist whose principal mediums are embroidery and collage.

United States – The supreme court of the United States has announced that it will hear argument in an appeal that could overturn Roe v Wade, the court case that established abortion rights in the country in 1973. The Roe v Wade judgment has been under sustained attack from anti-abortion right-wing groups ever since. The current appeal relates to a law from the southern state of Mississippi that restricts abortion after 15 weeks except in medical emergency or in
cases of severe foetal abnormalities. It’s the first significant abortion ruling since former president Donald Trump appointed his third conservative justice to the court. Reproductive rights advocates fear as many as 20 US states could outlaw abortion if Roe v Wade is overturned.  The court is likely to deliver its decision in 2022.

Uganda – The Ugandan parliament has formally adopted the 2019 Sexual Offences Bill, which discriminates against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, as
well as sex workers and people living with HIV. The new law seeks to convict people living with HIV of harsher sentences than the general population accused of some similar crimes. « Targeting people living with HIV, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and sex workers increases stigma and discrimination and undermines the HIV response by preventing people from receiving the HIV treatment, prevention and care services that they so urgently need, » UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, said in a statement.  The legislation bans sex between people of the same gender, anal sex — which is already punishable by lifetime
imprisonment — defining it as « an unnatural offence » ». It also criminalises engaging in sex work, operating a brothel and the buying services from a sex worker.

Samoa – The first female prime minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, was sworn into office in a tent after her predecessor Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi refused to give up the office. Mata’afa won the premiership when she gained the support of an independent MP who held the balance of power, but she and her supporters
was locked out of the parliament building by the former speaker. Malielegaoi lost his parliamentary majority in April elections, having ruled the Pacific Island nation for 22 years. Mata’afa is the second woman in the region to head a government. She has pledged to cancel a port development with China worth $128 million.

Costa Rica – Emergency contraception is now available free of charge in Costa Rica. As of May, the morning after pill is being distributed through the health centres of the Central American country’s Social Security Fund. Previously, the medication was only available for victims of sexual assault. « From today, we are providing emergency contraception to any woman who requires it. This
method prevents pregnancy in the same way as regular birth control pills, » Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado tweeted on May 5. Figures from the United Nations Population Fund show that 14,000 teenagers become pregnant in Costa Rica each year, of whom almost 500 are younger than 15. Abortion is heavily restricted in the country, only permitted in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.

UK – The United Kingdom has announced it will cut 85% of its funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) by the end of this year. This move will have a significant effect on many African countries, such as Zambia, where UNFPA provides government health facilities with at least 60% of their contraceptive supplies. The UK government is UNFPA’s leading donor. The government said the decision to cut
around $180 million in funding was due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sexual and reproductive health activists around the world have described the cut as devastating. Others have likened it to the former United States President Donald Trump’s 2017 iteration of the Global Gag Rule, which cut aid funding to organisations that provide or refer women to abortion care. President Joe Biden recently rescinded the policy. Simon Cooke, CEO of MSI Reproductive Choice, told global development publication Devex that the UK government’s funding cut would be even more damaging. “The US government made a lot of noise but didn’t actually cut a lot of [sexual and reproductive health] funding to the international community, but in this case, the UK government is actually doing it,” he said.

West Africa – Activists and experts have criticised the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) for the lack of commitment in implementing the Roadmap to Ending Child Marriage.  In 2019, ministers responsible for children’s affairs from ECOWAS member states adopted a plan which stipulates all children from the region must stay in school to the age of 18 in an effort to reduce child marriage. But the implementation has been slow at the country level because of a lack of political will,
experts argued at a webinar hosted by the West African Civil Society Forum. According to the international human rights group Girls Not Brides, most families who face poverty and have limited access to education often prioritise educating boys, while girls are made responsible for household duties. This usually results in girls being married off young to help relieve the family’s economic burden by accepting a dowry, also known as a “bride price”. UNICEF estimates that two in every five girls in West Africa and Central Africa are married before their 18th birthday. Experts believe that
full implementation of the ECOWAS policy would require ensuring civil society organisations can adequately monitor and evaluate government interventions.