This document lists and summarises published resources on Covid-19, gender and intersectionality. It includes evidence, news, tools and guidance about how various factors – including race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexuality, socioeconomic group and immigration status – interact with gender to create different experiences and inequalities around Covid-19.
The majority of resources identified focus on the intersectional impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on different groups of women and girls. Resources that took an approach focusing on people of all genders were less numerous, although there are some included in this collection.
The search terms used were: Covid-19, coronavirus, gender, gender equality, intersectional and intersectionality. Google Scholar was used for the search.
Academic journal articles
Journal: Gender and Society
Publication date: March 2021
Summary:
This article argues for the importance of considering gender not just in terms of increased domestic violence and unpaid care work during the Covid-19 pandemic, but
also within a more complex landscape of pre-existing inequalities, social norms and socioeconomic status.
Drawing on the findings of telephone surveys conducted during the pandemic, the author notes that ‘building back better’ will require connecting up a range of often indirect and complex gender effects and dynamics
Journal: Big Data and Society
Publication date: December 2020
Summary:
This article sets out seven intersectional feminist principles for Covid-19 that recognise power imbalances – both existing and within the impact of and responses to, the pandemic.
The principles are:
- Examine power
- Challenge power
- Elevate emotion and embodiment
- Rethink binaries and hierarchies
- Embrace pluralism
- Consider context
- Make labour visible
Journal: Postgraduate
Medicine
Publication date: September 2020
Summary:
This article discusses the biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) factors behind men’s higher Covid-19 mortality rates. It notes that these factors are compounded by other socio-economic factors and ethnicity.
Areas considered are: men’s health behaviours; reproductive health; mental health; and wider health impacts.
Journal: Indian Journal of Medical Ethics
Publication date: August 2020
Summary:
This article considers the intersectional impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural communities in south Rajasthan, India.
It argues that the absence of analysis and research taking an intersectional perspective on the implications of Covid-19 has meant that, despite response mechanisms being in place, several forms of deprivation, challenges, and barriers are continuing to affect the lives of women from marginalised communities.
Journal: International Journal for Equity in Health
Publication date: July 2020
Summary:
This article argues that intersectional analysis informing responses to the Covid-19 crisis should examine not just the identities of affected populations, but also the historical inequalities, structural drivers, and damaged social contracts that underlie state-society relationships.
Focusing on sexual and reproductive rights, the authors argue that intersectional analysis can illustrate how the pandemic has intensified long standing efforts by states to isolate and alienate particular groups.
Journal: Global Public Health
Publication date: July 2020
Summary:
This article considers the gendered health and economic impacts of the pandemic, and argues that as gender is an intersecting component of wider structural inequalities, an intersectional lens should be a priority in assessments of, and responses to, the Covid-19 pandemic.
This should include consideration of: gender, race and ethnicity, age, indigeneity, class, socioeconomic status, geography, disability, sexuality, religion, migration/refugee
status and other structural conditions, including precarious housing, employment, and political and environmental stressors.
The authors make a number of recommendations, including around: collection of diverse data; service delivery; community participation; and representation in decision making.
Journal: Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters
Publication date: June 2020
Summary:
This article explains why a sole focus on women and girls may obscure how intersecting oppressions are further disadvantaging certain groups and people during the pandemic.
Drawing on learning around access to sexual and reproductive health services during previous public health crises such as Ebola, it considers the unique challenges of
those experiencing overlapping systems of oppression, such as adolescent refugee girls, disabled women of lower caste, homeless transgender youth, or migrant workers from minority ethnicities.
It makes recommendations for development and humanitarian agencies around: intersectional data analysis; meaningful engagement with affected populations; and decision making on resource allocation.
Journal: Global Public Health
Publication date: May 2020
Summary:
The authors of this commentary emphasise the importance of looking at men’s vulnerabilities to Covid-19. It argues for the importance of gathering evidence on both biological and social differences in men and women, including age and race, and tailoring health strategies accordingly. Having a strategic focus on gender in the pandemic response must also, they argue, include engaging men when addressing the threats of Covid-19 to women’s health and wellbeing.
Research reports and evidence reviews
Publication date: March 2021
Summary:
This K4D evidence review looks at emerging evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on governance and conflict.
The section of the review focusing on resilience, vulnerability and risk notes that a better understanding of intersectionality is needed, but that efforts are hindered by a lack of political will to support vulnerable populations, political settlements that exclude vulnerable groups’ voices from decision making, and economic models that support some activity but not others. All of this diminishes resilience and increases
vulnerability.
Publication date: March 2021
Summary:
This Covid Collective helpdesk report gives an overview of available literature on the benefits, challenges, and opportunities of intersectional responses to the socioeconomic impacts of Covid-19.
It also brings together examples of guidance on intersectionality and Covid-19, as well as policies and programmes that have taken an intersectional approach in a range of low and middle income countries.
Publication date: January 2021
Summary:
This research summary discusses the findings of qualitative research on the impact of Covid-19 on education conducted with parents, young people, and teachers in Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Gendered impacts reported by research participants included: in several of the countries, girls from lower income families who were out of education due to the pandemic were more at risk of child marriage and pregnancy; and in Afghanistan, there were concerns that out of school boys were more vulnerable to recruitment from armed insurgent groups.
The summary includes examples of the work being done by BBC Media Action programmes to support girls’ and boys’ learning at home during the pandemic.
Publication date: October 2020
Summary:
This research report draws on country data from CARE International’s work to highlight the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on girls’ health, wellbeing, education, safety, and access to services, showing how gender and age intersects to widen existing disparities and reverse important gains.
The report also contains a collection of good practice case studies and examples of promising strategies to enable girl-led action and solutions during the pandemic.
Recommendations are based around: girls’ participation, leadership and voice; funding for girl-centred initiatives; data analysis; and programming with and for girls.
Publication date: October 2020
Summary:
This gender analysis aimed to find out how Covid-19 has impacted key vulnerable and marginalised groups’ basic needs and entitlements, and what achievements around gender equality and the empowerment of women, girls and LGBTQ+ groups are at risk of being undone.
It found that gender norms and roles are limiting the abilities of Rohingya women and girls to make lifesaving choices around Covid-19, that the reduction of services means that progress toward gender equality is being undone, and that women, trans people, and other vulnerable individuals such as sex workers are facing considerable
backlash.
The report makes a series of recommendations around: women’s leadership and engagement; addressing the different needs of women, girls, LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable populations; and mitigating and responding to new risks for these populations.
Publication date: June 2020
Summary:
This WOW helpdesk report looks at evidence around the impact of Covid-19 on women working in the informal economy, as well as measures and policies that have been put into place to limit the negative consequences of the pandemic for women informal workers.
It contains a range of recommendations directed at the UK government, including around: gender and intersectional assessment; supporting social protection measures; supporting accessible integrated public services; gender-sensitive legislation; galvanising empowering economic recovery efforts; and influencing private sector companies so that they support women entrepreneurs.
Publication date: May 2020
Summary:
This Gender-Based Violence (GBV) AoR evidence review did not find research exploring the intersections between GBV and disability within the context of Covid-19. However, it did find a range of evidence relating to the impact of the pandemic on women and girls, and on people with disabilities, as well as research on barriers for women with disabilities accessing GBV services.
The review contains a number of recommendations around disability inclusion in GBV programming during the pandemic, grouped into the following areas: adapted and remote approaches; strengthening capacity for disability inclusion; case management for survivors with disabilities and carers; and disability inclusion in GBV risk mitigation and prevention.
Publication date: May 2020
Summary:
This report stresses the importance of including LGBTIQ issues when looking at the gendered impacts of the pandemic. It includes the findings from a literature review and interviews with LGBTIQ people from 38 countries. It considered how the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting on LGBTIQ lives and movements. It includes findings on: livelihoods and food security; access to health care; domestic violence; isolation and anxiety; stigma and discrimination; abuse of state power; and organisations and communities.
It includes a number of recommendations, directed towards governments, donors, and the humanitarian, private sector, and non-governmental agencies and organisations involved in pandemic responses.
Publication date: March 2020
Summary:
This report from CARE International and the International Rescue Committee looks at the gender impacts of the pandemic in fragile contexts. It used intersectional gender analysis to identify key groups at direct and indirect risk from Covid-19 and its impacts.
It makes a number of recommendations, including on: sex and age disaggregated data; supporting survivors of gender-based violence; inclusive decision making; and engaging with diverse existing social networks.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This paper brings together evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on men and women in different social groups, with a particular focus on he UK and US. It contains key findings around Covid-19 and masculinities in the areas of: health, care, violence, the economy, politics and human rights.
It contains a broad set of recommendations, including around: data disaggregation; tackling the roots of violence; valuing care work and transforming men’s involvement in care; gender analysis of economic packages; and the importance of men modelling preventative health behaviours.
Policy briefs, statements, tools and guidance
Publication date: 2021
Summary:
This brief considers gendered differences in the secondary economic, social, health, and security impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its aim to help decision makers address gender disparities in pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery plans.
It discusses six priority areas: gender-based violence; mental health; sexual and reproductive health; economic and work-related concerns (including livelihoods, the informal sector, and unpaid care); education; and representation.
The brief includes a framework template with illustrative outcomes, activities and indicators for each of the priority areas.
Publication date: March 2021
Summary:
This policy tool from UN Women and ILO includes a checklist and indicators to help measure the gendered impacts of Covid-19 on employment. Its advice on identifying those most at risk takes an intersectional perspective, looking at gender alongside worker status, immigration status, location, age, and disability.
The tool then discusses how to develop short and longer-term policy priorities to promote a gender-responsive recovery, that will transform inequitable structures, and invest in care.
Publication date: March 2021
Summary:
This guidance document explains how gender and disability exacerbate potential risks of exclusion from social protection programmes, and more so during the Covid-19 pandemic. It discusses the barriers in place in accessing programmes for women and girls with disabilities, including obtaining official documentation for programme registration, low confidence, low levels of literacy, low access to and ability to use digital platforms, and mobility constraints.
The paper outlines the key entry points for increasing inclusivity through information systems, and it includes broader policy recommendations around data disaggregation and analysis.
Publication date: October 2020
Summary:
This brief highlights evidence from the Africa Gender Innovation Lab on initiatives to help protect the lives and livelihoods of women and girls during Covid-19.
Many of these have intersectional elements; for example, initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs and farmers, and those fostering resilience in adolescent girls.
Publication date: September 2020
Summary:
Noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected women and men differently, disproportionately impacting on the poorest and most disadvantaged, this brief considers the gendered impact of the pandemic in each of Irish Aid’s five priority policy areas: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), women’s economic empowerment, girls’ education, GBV, and women, peace, and security.
This includes discussion of intersectional impacts; for example, how women and girls in refugee camps and urban slums are experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage because of poverty, racial, ethnic, and class inequalities, among others.
The brief includes a number of recommendations, including on: addressing the gender-specific impacts of the pandemic; supporting women and girls’ voice and agency; and coordinating and advocating for gender transformative approaches.
Publication date: September 2020
Summary:
This positioning paper discusses how social protection can offer support and be supported in short, medium, and long-term responses, under different scenarios for how the pandemic might unfold. It argues that ‘building back better’ needs a strong, inclusive focus, including on gender.
It notes that the poorest – often female-headed – households, are suffering disproportionately, as are other groups vulnerable to the economic impacts of the pandemic, including informal workers, farming and herding households, internally displaced people, migrants and refugees, and children.
The section of the paper on ‘how to get there’ contains recommendations on: strengthening social protection systems; cross-sectoral links; ensuring inclusion and gender sensitivity; and making social protection climate smart.
Publication date: September 2020
Summary:
This guidance document focuses on social protection and older people during Covid-19, and particularly on pensions. It highlights the increased economic and social vulnerabilities of older people with disabilities, older women and older people caring for grandchildren or other family members. It also discusses the difficulties older women are facing in accessing social protection programmes due to lower literacy levels, language barriers, and less access to technology.
The document includes recommendations on making Covid-19 emergency cash transfers more accessible and inclusive, and on the need for longer term social protection solutions.
Publication date: July 2020
Summary:
This checklist sets out the minimum considerations for supporting disability inclusion in the Covid-19 response and recovery.
Some of its recommendations have an intersectional element; for example, it states that plans and budgets should take into consideration the specific needs of women and girls with disabilities. It also notes that data should be disaggregated by disability (as well as disability type), sex and age, urban vs. rural residence, and other statuses.
Publication date: June 2020
Summary:
This brief discusses the gendered impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the role of women and women’s rights organisations in the response. It also looks at the intersectional impacts experienced by older women and women with disabilities.
The brief includes a collection of recommendations on ‘building back better’ targeted at governments and institutional organisations, in the following areas: political participation and feminist leadership; recognising and valuing care provision; and redistributing global resources.
Publication date: May 2020
Summary:
This document considers how gender and social inclusion can be integrated into Covid-19 responses and strategies via social protection and/or humanitarian programmes.
It looks at:
- The impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on vulnerable groups, focusing on:
health and nutrition; poverty and livelihoods; unpaid care; and violence
and protection. - Considerations for integrating gender and social inclusion into Covid-19
responses, looking at: coverage; adequacy and relevance; and comprehensiveness.
Publication date: May 2020
Summary:
This policy brief discusses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women and girls with disabilities. It notes how the structural inequalities at work pre-pandemic have been exacerbated, and how the lack of gender and disability disaggregated data is impeding the evidence-based analysis needed to support Covid-19 response plans and policies to support women and girls with disabilities.
It makes a series of recommendations, including around: inclusive, accessible and non-discriminatory healthcare; consultation with persons with disabilities; gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive remote working solutions; social protection measures; data disaggregation; and inclusive and non-discriminatory public information and communication.
Publication date: April 2020
Summary:
This brief argues that prioritising women and girls as a homogeneous group in responses to the pandemic is too simplistic. An intersectional approach is needed to captures the experiences of women, men and gender diverse people within a context of wider structural inequalities.
The brief considers how intersectionality helps to determine the risks and impacts of Covid-19, and has a set of recommendations around:
- Collecting diverse and contextualised data
- Committing to leadership diversity
- Analysing national and global responses with an intersectional lens
- Broadening bailout and stimulus packages
- Engaging with affected populations
Publication date: April 2020
Summary:
This statement was developed by the organisation Women Enabled International and partners. It is intended to ensure that decision makers working on Covid-19 responses have the tools they need to ensure that responses are inclusive of women, girls, non-binary persons, and gender non-conforming persons with disabilities.
The statement has a particular focus on: GBV; access to income and education; healthcare; SRHR; and support services for people with disabilities.
Publication date: April 2020
Summary:
This briefing takes an intersectional approach to discussing the gender impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. It notes that women of colour, Indigenous women, and low-income women are particularly susceptible to contracting the virus, and particularly vulnerable to economic instability and restricted access to services. It also points out that trans and gender diverse people are facing increased risks due to stigma and discrimination, while men may be more likely to die from Covid-19.
Publication date: April 2020
Summary:
This UN Women Country Support Policy Brief outlines the challenges being faced by women with disabilities during Covid-19, and sets out recommendations for action by UN Women country offices and partners, including around: data and evidence; inclusive engagement and consultation; inclusive responses; widening access to information and services; and addressing specific vulnerabilities.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This brief from Plan International UK considers the impact of the pandemic on particular groups of girls living in crisis-affected contexts in Jordan, Lebanon,
Uganda, and Nigeria. The key impacts on these groups include: increased GBV; rising food insecurity; isolation and anxiety; and an exacerbation of existing inequalities around access to education and healthcare.
Recommendations are directed towards the UK government, focusing on the need to retain commitments and leadership on humanitarian aid and gender equality, as well as addressing the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic with a particular focus on education, SRHR, GBV, and child protection.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This guide notes that those experiencing the highest levels of socioeconomic marginalisation are more vulnerable in emergencies, as they have less access to early warning systems and health services. It contains recommendations for engaging with and involving the most vulnerable groups in decision making around Covid-19.
It has sections on children, people with disabilities, women and girls, pregnant women, people living with HIV, GBV survivors, refugees and migrants, the elderly, people living in existing humanitarian emergencies, people with pre-existing medical conditions, sexual and gender minorities, and ethnic minorities.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This resource from Men Engage Africa sets out the gendered risks of the pandemic, along with recommendations for addressing these risks.
The risks discussed include: increased gender-based violence; greater care burdens for women and girls; higher morbidity and mortality rates for men (due in part to gender norms impacting on behaviour around health and risk); increased risks for health workers, the majority of whom are women; instability for domestic workers, the majority of whom are women; financial pressures due to job losses, particularly for women trying to balance work and unpaid care; and lack of health insurance for informal sector workers, a high proportion of whom are women.
Comments, editorials and opinions
Publication date: 2021
Summary:
This series of blogs and news articles covers a range of topics related to Covid-19, gender and intersectionality, from across global regions.
Publication date: April 2021
Summary:
This news article is updated on a monthly basis and gathers together information on pandemic responses and socioeconomic inequalities in Africa. Each month information is presented under the following sections: pandemic responses; impacts on vulnerable groups; and impacts on inclusive development. The April edition focuses on Covid-19 and education in African countries.
Publication date: March 2021
Summary:
This letter to The Lancet highlights the importance of not considering health workers as a homogeneous group at risk from Covid-19. It notes that Black women have less access to PPE equipment and training, and that female health workers worldwide are impacted disproportionately as a result of their work, including increased violence, mental health issues, protecting their families from infection, and physical exhaustion.
Publication date: September 2020
Summary:
This blog discusses the example of women entrepreneurs and day traders in Zimbabwe, whose livelihoods depend on crossing borders to acquire and sell goods, and who have been placed in a particularly precarious economic situation by restrictions on movement during the pandemic.
It outlines the work that women’s organisations have been doing to demonstrate the importance of safety nets for the poor during the pandemic.
Publication date: June 2020
Summary:
This article discusses the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on migrants with precarious legal status, further exacerbating their vulnerabilities. It argues for the importance of an intersectional lens that encompasses race, caste, class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability and more. Examples are discussed from Ethiopia, Lebanon, India, Qatar, Turkey, Portugal and Italy.
Publication date: April 2020
Summary:
This blog argues that an intersectional feminist approach to Covid-19 responses is essential in order to highlight how responses that benefit some groups may also reinforce pre-existing situations of injustice, especially when they reinforce marginalisations created by global and local power structures.
Discussing health, policing, work and economic wellbeing, and resilience and resistance, the article discusses examples from Brazil, Jordan, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe.
Publication date: April 2020
Summary:
In this blog, the authors discuss the ways that gender norms may be shaping different groups of men’s experiences of the pandemic and patriarchal responses to Covid-19.
For example, gender norms that position men as invulnerable and strong may make men more unwilling to seek help for loneliness and isolation, and may encourage them to flout social distancing and mask wearing rules.
Norms that position men as powerful and in control may be linked to the rise in domestic abuse during lockdown measures, and masculinist politics have shaped the pandemic responses of some leaders, who have declared ‘war’ on the virus or have dismissed its dangers, arguing that their countries are too strong to be impacted.
Publication date: March 2020
Summary:
This article sets out why it is so important that data is disaggregated in multiple dimensions in order to inform equitable policies around Covid-19, as well as close existing gaps. It argues that disaggregating data in this way will help identify any differences in the experiences of women of different ages, disabilities, refugee and migrant women, or LGBTQ+ people, during the pandemic.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This blog covers three areas: LGBTIQ people’s exclusion from healthcare and other Covid-19 response services; LGBTIQ people’s increased exposure to violence in the home during lockdown measures and restrictions; and the risk of LGBTIQ people losing their livelihoods during the pandemic. It argues that an inclusive Covid-19 response requires meaningful, direct engagement with LGBTIQ-led organisations.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This blog argues for the importance of disaggregating Covid-19 in a way that does not produce separate analyses of gender, race and age, but allows all of these factors to be considered together, in their intersections.
Doing so will allow analysis to move away from gender or racial bias, and towards policies that recognise the nuances in health outcomes.
Publication date: 2020
Summary:
This series of blogs brings together examples of women across the world’s work to mobilise and foster solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Countries covered include Brazil, Jordan, Argentina, Zimbabwe, India, and the Philippines.
Data hubs and dashboards
Publication date: 2021
Summary:
This matrix aims to measure the social, economic, health and security impacts of Covid-19 across a number of areas, including: access to resources; labour/roles; norms/beliefs; power; and institutions/laws. It currently covers Kenya, Brazil, Nigeria, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the UK.
Publication date: 2021
Summary:
This tracker includes the sex-disaggregated data on Covid-19 cases being reported by governments. Not all countries are reporting sex-disaggregated data, however, despite gender differences in health outcomes.
Online learning
Date: March 2021
Summary:
This UNICEF webinar focused on the impact of Covid-19 in girls’ education and featured speakers from across regions. The recording and presentations are available online.
Date: May-August 2020
Summary:
This series of webinars from IDRC examined the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women and girls in the global south, due to the economic sectors in which they work, the unpaid care work they do, and exacerbation of the existing inequalities they experience. Recordings are available of the events that focused on:
- Gender and the Covid-19 response in refugee settings
- Gender and social protection programmes
- Girls’ education
- SRHR, fertility and household structures
- The care economy
- The labour market
Date: May-July 2020
Summary:
This series of webinars from Devex aimed to create better understanding of the issues around gender and the Covid-19 pandemic, and how data can help inform better responses. Recordings are available for the events, which focused on:
- Mitigating the impact of Covid-19 for women and girls
- Data and GBV responses
- Supporting healthcare workers
- Supporting women’s mental health
- Women’s representation in Covid-19 policy making
- Supporting women migrants and refugees
- Supporting women entrepreneurs
- Maternal and reproductive health
- Women and girls’ education
- Women and girls’ wellbeing post-pandemic
Date: July 2020
Summary:
This webinar, hosted by CARE International, discusses the potential for recovery measures that jointly tackle the Covid-19 and climate crises, as well as addressing gender inequality. It includes speakers from across global regions, and the recording is available online.
Date: June 2020
Summary:
This series of webinars from the European Commission aimed to share and discuss approaches and possibilities for gender-sensitive Covid-19 response and recovery.
They covered:
- Good practices for tackling domestic violence
- Gender equality aspects of work and care
- Gender balance in decision making
Presentations from the webinars are available online as well as a compilation report pulling together learning from the series.
Date: April 2020
Summary:
This Spanish language webinar from UNESCO looked at the gendered challenges around educational responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. It featured presentations from Argentina’s Ministry of Education, as well as Plan International and UN Women. Presentations can be watched online and downloaded.
About this report
This resource guide was produced as part of the Covid-19 Responses for Equity (CORE) Knowledge Translation Programme, which supports the translation of knowledge emerging from the CORE initiative. Supported by the International Development Research Centre, CORE brings together 21 projects to understand the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic, improve existing responses, and generate better policy options for recovery.
The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors, or IDS.
It is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution in any medium, provided the original authors and sources are credits and any modifications or adaptations are indicated.
© Institute of Development Studies 2021
DOI: 10.19088/CORE.2021.004