Research shows that during the pandemic, women are exposed to more violence, face a higher risk of losing their jobs and have a higher workload at home.
Stating that women are subjected to psychological, physical, digital, economic and verbal violence in a wide variety of ways, experts state that countries should add legal practices on women's violence to their national action plans. Tuğba Aydın Öztürk, Assistant Professor at Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, shared the causes of violence against women and her suggestions for prevention.
Women faced more violence during the pandemic
Stating that all humanity entered a new period of struggle during the pandemic period, Prof. Dr. Tuğba Aydın Öztürk said, "Fear of losing health, uncertainty, economic losses, stress and feelings of burnout became common problems for everyone. Research shows that women have been subjected to more violence in this process, they are more at risk of losing their jobs and they are among the most vulnerable groups due to the increased workload at home. We know that cases of violence and the number of applications to emergency hotlines increased especially during the quarantine period."
Violence against women is a global problem
Pointing out that violence against women is a global problem, Öztürk said, "Unfortunately, we are living in a period when femicides are on the rise all over the world. The starting point of the call to stay at home is not to put ourselves and others' health at risk. However, homes, as the most private and intimate spaces, are also the places where domestic violence is most common. We say stay at home, but we do not know what happens in those homes. For this reason, it is of great importance to be aware that women do not go through the pandemic process easily in many different ways. Women are subjected to physical, psychological, digital, economic or verbal violence in this process."
Women's labor is not seen
Pointing out that psychological violence is one of the most common types of violence, Öztürk said: "Women are subjected to this violence regardless of their education, socio-economic class or age group. The fact that the unpaid domestic labor of housewives is not seen and their work is considered worthless is a psychologically and economically devastating situation for women. In addition, during the pandemic, the workload of both housewives and women working from home has increased considerably. The fact that working women have to take care of their responsibilities at home, especially during working hours, condemns women to more than one shift during the day."
Women lost more jobs during the pandemic
Stating that in this process, women had to take care of their school-age children's online classes, housework, cooking, and caring for the sick and elderly in addition to their main workload, Öztürk said, "It is possible to talk about an effort that starts early in the morning and continues until bedtime. In addition, studies around the world show that women lost their jobs more than men during the pandemic and became more impoverished. In other words, working women have to cling to their jobs more with the awareness of this danger and maintain their work-life balance at home. This burden creates psychological pressure on women and exhausts them day by day. It should not be forgotten that nearly 70% of healthcare workers all over the world are women. In the health sector, where the most devastating effects of the pandemic are seen, women working in this sector, from receptionists to staff working in care institutions, nurses, doctors and pharmacists, also need psychosocial support."
Gender equality should be given more importance
Stating that we learn gender roles from the cultural habits of the society we live in, Öztürk continued her words as follows:
"This learning process starts at home and extends to school, our social environment, workplace, media and the state. These roles related to being a woman or a man are fed by stereotypes and after a while we accept these stereotypes without questioning them. It is more common in society for the mother to be more involved in housework or childcare, and we normalize this picture. However, with the pandemic, the increased workload of women creates a feeling of burnout in the family, work life and social life. The first things that can be done at this stage are the division of labor among family members, employers being aware of the responsibilities of female employees, and the concept of gender equality being given more importance in society in general. Increasing the sensitivity and awareness of the society on this issue requires a multi-faceted cooperation."
It is important that children take parents as role models
Stating that education starts in the family and children are influenced by the behavior of their parents, Öztürk said, "It is important for children to observe a parent who divides the work and supports each other and take them as role models. Gender equality courses should be taught to students before university level. It is very important for countries to include legal practices on violence against women in their national action plans and to work in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, academia, administrative administrations and ministries on this issue. It is necessary to come together and take action as soon as possible in order to resolve the difficulties faced by women in society and contribute to gender equality."
