Gender Research 4 COVID 19

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, and with the support of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), has granted special support, "Gender Research 4 COVID 19", to projects and initiatives that enable the production and dissemination of knowledge about the gender impacts of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and the dissemination of contingency plans and measures adopted to contain and resolve it.

Each historical moment of crisis, be it environmental, health or economic-financial, and each regime of social gender relations, imposes specific demands on women and men. No crisis is neutral from the gender point of view, bringing about differentiated impacts during and after the time of its occurrence. It is, therefore, necessary to know the demands faced by women and men due to the contextualized configurations of gender regimes and the demands and ways of reacting to the crisis. One of the fundamental dimensions to be taken into account is the division of the public and private sphere, of production and reproduction between women and men, and this is a crisis that places care at the center of health, political, economic and financial concerns. Women are on the front lines of the response to the pandemic, as health workers, social support workers, cleaners, as scientists and researchers, and as mobilizers; also as working mothers they are particularly hard hit by the demands of reconciling care with caring for and supporting children whose schools and nurseries have closed. Another level of impact of the pandemic crisis will be on the economy and the functioning of the labor market, with expected differentiated effects on women in terms of employment, unemployment and working conditions, and exacerbated by the strong sexual segregation of professions and sectors of activity. Finally, times of crisis are generally associated with an increase in violence against women and domestic violence, and the increased risk of violence is closely associated with the situation of uncertainty and confinement in which families find themselves and with difficulties in accessing formal and informal networks of help.

The studies produced in the framework of this support should contribute to the production of knowledge about these different impacts, the constraints posed by gender social relations in the individual, family, economic and health reaction to the pandemic, and their future effects, and to the presentation of response and intervention tools.

Results

FCT has edited a brochure presenting the16 selected projects in the scope of the special support to R&D projects "Gender Research 4 COVID 19", which is available in digital format.

An online workshop was held on March 23 and 24, 2021. The sessions of the online workshop "Gender Research 4 COVID-19" are available to view here.