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A 16-year-old Australian student, Mayela Dayet, will address the United Nations general assembly on Wednesday night to present the findings of a survey showing that young women and girls are bearing a greater economic, domestic and economic burden. emotionally and working harder during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The study, published by the humanitarian organization Plan International as part of a report titled “Stopping Lives: The Impact of Covid019 on Girls and Young Women,” surveyed more than 7,000 young people aged 15-24 in 14 countries.
“I think Covid has exacerbated the problems that we already knew were there, that we had become complacent with or that we felt comfortable with, especially in terms of the gender divide,” said Dayet, a student at the Blackwattle Bay campus of Sydney Secondary College.
“As for my circle of friends and acquaintances, greater responsibilities were expected of them at home, and there has been an absolute deterioration in mental health.”
As part of the Plan International survey, 7,105 young women and girls from Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Spain, United States, France, Vietnam, and Zambia were surveyed between 9 June and July 14. They were asked about their knowledge of the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences on their lives in relation to education, well-being, economic security, livelihoods, and access to technology.
Almost a third (26%) were concerned about the loss of family income due to the pandemic, and 62% said they were struggling as a result of not being able to go to school or college. More than half (58%) of the girls were feeling the negative effects of not being able to leave the house regularly, while 58% highlighted not being able to socialize with friends as a negative consequence of the pandemic. Nine out of 10 girls surveyed said they felt high or medium levels of stress or anxiety due to the pandemic.
In Africa, the failure of girls and young women to go to school or university was the most frequently cited negative effect (20%). Girls and young women in Spain and India reported the highest levels of “major changes” in their lives, the survey found.
“This is in line with reports of lockdowns in both countries,” the report said. “Spain had the highest number of reported cases in Europe and quickly imposed a nationwide quarantine to stop the spread. India also had one of the strictest blockades in the world. The severity of the confinement in India has not necessarily resulted in fewer cases … Unsurprisingly, perhaps as the high levels of poverty and overcrowding in India make social distancing practically impossible. “
A report from the United Nations population fund, released in April, predicted that the lockdown-related disruption for six months could leave 47 million women worldwide unable to use contraception, prompting a projection of 7 million. of additional pregnancies. The United Nations report also said that “over the next decade, the often overlooked secondary impacts of Covid-19 could also result in 31 million new cases of gender-based violence, 2 million more cases of mutilation. female genitalia and an estimated 13 million more child marriages ”. This was seen during the Ebola outbreak, when there was an increase in unwanted teenage pregnancies in Sierra Leone.
One of the respondents to Plan International’s survey, 16-year-old Lucilene from Mozambique, said: “I live with my brother and my parents who have chosen not to talk about issues like sexual health because they are so traditional. I fear that if the coronavirus does not go away soon, many girls who grow up in families like mine will not be able to access the useful information we get from girls’ clubs in schools.
A co-author of the Plan International report, research director Isobel Fergus, said the survey results revealed that “the hard-fought opportunities are disappearing.”
“They have told us about the stresses at home, about feeling alone and missing school, about their friends and the easy freedom to leave home,” Fergus said. “It is going to be very difficult to make up for this lost time and the digital divide means that girls, particularly in low-income countries, will have a hard time accessing the information they need for their education and health.”
When the results are presented to the United Nations general assembly on Wednesday, Dayet will ask her and other international donors to pay special attention to low-income countries. Education ministries should prioritize continuity of learning during school closings, the assembly will be told.
Holly Crocket, Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy for Plan International Australia, said: “The survey is a wake-up call for governments to recognize that health emergencies affect groups differently.
“For girls, the risks of staying home are higher,” she said. “It affects their mental health and puts them at greater risk for domestic violence. Due to patriarchal social norms that dictate that girls must take on the vast majority of unpaid domestic work, there is a real threat that they will be forced to drop out and skip school. “
