Maintaining focus on equity and inclusion and their implications for gendered roles and responsibilities in times of crisis can be quite challenging, especially during this testing period of coronavirus pandemic.
One notable fact is that this is the period whereby women leadership emergence can be very strong because women have the tenacity to display their leadership traits during crisis globally. Women have the capacity to cooperate in curtailing the spread of coronavirus through government and private protocols.
Women have been fully involved in donating and distributing relief packages across the nation. They have also relentlessly supported campaigns against the spread of coronavirus by advocating for people to adhere to preventive measures.
However, the experience of women remains peculiar worldwide and specifically in Nigeria. Despite the fact that Nigerian women are not invisible at the fore-front and taking decisive steps against the pandemic, they are still vulnerable when compared to their male counterparts. These women are utilizing lessons learnt from the experiences of the past and status-quo such as patriarchy, marginalization and stereotype to navigate through the present situation.
Unfortunately, due to social gender norms, Nigerian women are now more vulnerable more than ever before. Women who are supporting their families during lockdown at homes – cooking meals, cleaning, managing the kids and spouses, keeping up moods etc. – are unsung heroes in this crisis.
There is a need, therefore, to provide the context for appreciating these largely unsung heroes (especially women at the grassroots who have very little information about what is going on) in the society by articulating some of the challenges they face and how these challenges are best managed to reduce both intended and collateral damages.
It is imperative to express the risky adventure of women, who still have to go out and look for food for their families, in spite of the ‘stay at home’ order, at the expense of their own lives. Thus, women are not able to fully adhere to social distancing rules because they need to get food for the family. Women, especially those with families, are under tremendous stress to manage the home fronts while still meeting their work details as they work from home. Thus, it is not business as usual for women. This further shows the leadership and sacrificial nature of African women in general and Nigerian women in particular.
Of special interest is the area of women’s mental health, as a lot of women who are already vulnerable now have to cope with abusive spouses amidst the compulsory yet necessary curfew in parts of the nation. These women have to cope not only with physical but also psychological violence. These are further reinforced by poverty and hunger.
There is now the belief that there has been an increase in females whose lives are at risk during this crisis, even though the statistics are yet unknown, simply because many have no other choice than to stay at home with violent partners and relatives.
A step further would be to consider the lives of young females who are now more likely to be victims of domestic violence such as paedophilia, incest and all other forms of Gender-based Violence (GBV) during this lockdown time. Some of the factors responsible for these vices in the homes are not far-fetched – from high level of stress, being restricted in their physical environment and cooped up with others, as well as unavailability of foods and funds. Noteworthy is the fact that most triggers of GBV are economic in nature.
In essence, advocating for women’s resilience and adaptability during this pandemic entails identifying risks, especially those specific to women, and including them in strategic plans geared toward curtailing such risks. Gender-based analysis, therefore, should be used in developing sustainable interventions In this regard. Thus, the federal and state governments should give priority to women and children in their programming rather than relegate them to the background.
Furthermore, social media and helplines should be made available to support women in distress. Moreover, women should stand for each other through advocacy on mental wellness. This can be achieved by utilising mobile phones and text messages for calls and text messages to the vulnerable. In addition, women themselves should at this time prioritise their actions and needs, making right choices and developing coping mechanisms through resilience, synergy, jokes, and an understanding that there are things beyond their immediate control.
Finally, community and state and national leaders should ensure that opportunities are put in place for equity to thrive during and after the crisis.
Dr Funmilayo Idowu Agbaje is a Research Fellow, Gender, Peace and Security, Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
