Why a Lack of Gender Data on the Impact of COVID-19 is Concerning
Disaggregating data by gender is critical for national and international organisations, as well as policymakers, to make informed, data-driven decisions about their response to the pandemic and its economic and social fallout.
Yet, despite knowing from the past how critical gender data is in humanitarian and disease responses, there has been a lack of gender data relating to COVID-19 and its impacts.
Survey design and methodology has played some part in the paucity of gender data. Data collection needs to be undertaken in a manner that ensures equality in participation by men and women.
This means understanding the cultural context in which data collection is being undertaken, and accounting for social norms that may mean women are less likely to participate. It also means ensuring a gender balance among enumerators, so that women feel comfortable answering questions that may be sensitive.
Also at play was perhaps an underestimation of two things: how the impact of the coronavirus pandemic would differ among men and women and how important it was to collect data so that it could be disaggregated.
It has become clear that women and girls have suffered an increased rate of domestic violence as families are forced to remain at home due to lockdowns and other social distancing measures. Girls’ access to education has also been hampered by the shuttering of schools. Has that impact been greater than among boys?
Open Data Watch has found a lack of sex-disaggregated data on COVID infection rates and data to measure the effects on domestic violence. There is also a lack of data on mobile phone ownership inequality, which could be used to explore whether coronavirus mitigation measures have worsened existing gender inequality levels.
In the circumstances, policy measures have been enacted that may impact women and girls more severely than men and boys. A gender perspective is necessary to make informed decisions around mitigating the spread and the impact of COVID-19.
A UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) study in the Asia Pacific region found that women were accessing less medical care, suffered worse mental health outcomes, and had less access to information about the virus than men.
From a medical perspective, COVID-19 affects men more than women, making “being male” almost as significant a risk factor as being elderly. But the long tail of the pandemic’s economic and social impact is being felt more significantly by women and girls. Data is urgently required to determine the extent of the difference and the appropriate measures to tackle it.
A fuller picture is critical.
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