Pandemic Continuities through a Gendered Lens

Abstract This chapter examines four areas in which the actions and omissions of governments during the Covid-19 pandemic had significant gendered impacts: gender-based violence; access to abortion as essential healthcare; the representation of women in decision-making bodies; and the collection and reporting of gender-disaggregated data. The chapter assesses developments on these four issues against long-standing findings in the gender equality literature. It argues that legal responses to the pandemic reveal both continuities and discontinuities in the broader structures responsible for embedding or stifling a gender-sensitive approach in all aspects of public life, as well as the shortcomings of a gender-neutral conceptual understanding of emergencies. The chapter also notes instances in which the pandemic created limited space for innovation and progress. Nevertheless, the chapter ultimately shows that the best-performing countries were those that had long-established and entrenched gender equality policies, practices, and protections in place.