Compilation of data on impact of coronavirus on women stressed

Islamabad: Khawar Mumtaz, Former Chairperson, National Commission on the Status of Women, has said that the data on how the crisis is affecting women, overall state of gender-based violence, domestic violence and other specific impacts on women should be compiled and disseminated on an urgent basis.

Ms Mumtaz was speaking at the 16th episode of the Online Policy Dialogue Series on “Covid-19 crisis: Impact on women's health, domestic violence, and lost livelihoods” organised here by Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

Ms Mumtaz said that we need to check that whether women are being tested for the coronavirus or not. She said in the situation of the lockdown, women are not only stressed by additional burden of household responsibilities but are also prone to the frustration of men that are not able to find work in this crisis.

Wendy Gilmour, High Commissioner of Canada, said that the pandemic hit various countries quite hard including Canada. However, with the help of a number of spaces such as tax relief and other support mechanisms, we have been able to respond to the urgent needs of our population. She said the nature of impacts in developing countries like Pakistan is different and the lack of resources in the situation of lockdown was having the worst impact on vulnerable segments of society including women.

She said that the institutions that are at the forefront while responding to the pandemic are coherently male-dominated and thus, the women’s voices are excluded from the key decision-making on the response side. She said that drastic measures are required to ensure the access of women to healthcare and other essential services through inclusive decision-making.

Dr Abid Qayyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI, observed that evaluating the impacts of the global pandemic on already marginalised segments including the women, is a pressing need of the hour. He said that the cash grants to most vulnerable families had been a positive step on the part of the government. However, he urged the authorities, especially the district administrations, to disseminate the grant among the women while respecting their dignity and ensuring safe social distancing.

Dr Eaisha Tareen, Special Education and Training Centre and Director the Palm Practice, Sadia Bokhari, founder-Director Mohsinini Resource Center, Dr Seema Pervez, Psychologist and former Professor at Quaid-i-Azam University and Saman Ahsan, Programme Management Consultant at UN Women, covered the diverse aspects of the women specific impacts of the pandemic. Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, and Uzma Haroon, also spoke on the occasion.