This page compiles resources on the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of people through the lens of gender. It also includes resources on the ‘shadow pandemic’ of gender-based violence that has increased since lockdowns were imposed across the world to contain the spread of the disease. The resources are primarily for a general audience, although some are created for service providers working on gender issues, and policymakers to account for the gender-specific effects of the pandemic.
Note: This page was last updated in 2022. Some of these links, events or services offered may no longer available or functional. We continue to list them for their archival value and request people to contact relevant organisations for more information.
| Content | Description | Type | Audience | Created / developed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feminist Resources on the Pandemic | This page lists resources on various topics to ensure that the response to COVID-19 is feminist, and to “ensure that governments’ responses to this pandemic don’t trigger a roll back on human rights”. | Resources | General | Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy |
| Call For a Feminist COVID-19 Policy | A statement demanding that States adopt a feminist policy to respond to COVID-19 “in a manner that is consistent with human rights standards and principles”. | Statement | General | Feminist Alliance for Rights |
| Borders of an Epidemic- COVID-19 and Migrant Workers | This online publication highlights the implications of the epidemic in India, particularly for its migrant workers. “This book is written as the crisis unfolds with no end in sight.” | Resources | Policymakers | Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group |
| COVID-19 and Gender Equality | This list of resources focuses on the risks and vulnerabilities posed by COVID-19 on girls and women. | Policy Brief | General | UN Women and Empower Women |
| Violence Against Women and Girls- the Shadow Pandemic | A statement by the executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, that addresses the growing shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls. | Statement | Policymakers | UN Women |
| GNWS Webinars | GNWS has been hosting webinars to “to hear from the VAW/GBV field, with panelists from across the globe, as they discuss the impact of COVID-19 on essential services and survivors.” | Webinar | Service Providers | Global Network of Women’s Shelters |
| Men, masculinities and COVID-19: Actions, resources, and connecting online | An “online space for those working to transform masculinities and engage men and boys for gender justice during these [COVID-91 pandemic] times.” | Resources | General | MenEngage Alliance |
| Digital Activism for Engaging Men during Covid-19 | A page with that compiles campaigns and actions from around the world “to promote healthy, equitable, and caring ways of being men throughout COVID-19.” | Resources | General | MenEngage Alliance |
| An open letter to friends and partners | Pointers that are “important for us to continue working towards a feminist internet as a part of our collective and hopeful futures.” | Statement | General | APC Women’s Rights Programme (WRP) |
| COVID-19, Gender-based Violence and Mascullinities | A webinar that “explored the links between masculinities and various forms of gender-based violence that have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, including domestic violence against women and girls, or on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and other forms of marginalization.” | Webinar | General | MenEngage Alliance |
| Women Peacebuilders Responding to COVID-19 | A collection of weekly virtual gatherings of predominantly women peacebuilders “many of whom are first responders to the Corona pandemic, speak of the situation in their countries, emerging threats, positive developments and always their own extraordinary response”. | Resources | General | ICAN |
| Protecting Her Right To Decide | An online campaign from She Decides that highlights activism “to protect [a woman’s] right to decide about her body, her life and her future during Covid-19.” | Resources | General | She Decides |
| Field Stories | A compilation of case studies of women from the grassroots whose lives have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. | Resources | General | SWATI |
| Stand With Adolescent Girls and Young Women | A statement of solidarity on the increased rights violations and impacts on the lives of adolescent girls and young women during COVID-19 which will not recede after the peak of the pandemic, and recommendations to work towards and invest in a “feminist vision where young women and adolescent girls—in all their diversity—are free and equipped to choose their own futures”. | Statement | General | The Child, Early & Forced Marriage & Unions and Sexuality Working Group, and Partners |
| Impact of COVID-19 National Lockdown on Women Informal Workers | A series of five reports on the impact of COVID-19 national lockdown on women working in the informal economy, specifically domestic workers, waste workers, construction workers, street vendors and home-based workers. | Resources | General | Institute of Social Studies Trust |
| Women Healthworkers on The Frontline | This 90-second short film features glimpses from the work of women healthworkers (ASHAs and ANMs) in communities, to thank them and celebrate their efforts. | Resources | General | Population Foundation of India |
| Imagining Feminist Digital Spaces for Activism During & Beyond COVID-19 | A session with young feminists from South Asia on reimagining digital spaces for activism during and after the pandemic | Webinar (recording) | General | Sangat |
| Not In lockdown: Voices and struggles against gender, racial and social injustices | A session on the stories and experiences of resistance during the COVID-19 pandemic owing to its close association with human rights, social justice, and health equity. The webinar will go live on the 25th of June, from 5:30PM. | Webinar | General | Sama |
| Six Concrete Measures to Support Women and Girls in All their Diversity in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic | The report talks about how governments can address and confront the gendered and discriminatory effects of COVID-19. It “highlights the needs of women and girls in all their diversity, particularly the most marginalized, and the importance of access to essential health services” | Resources | General | UNAIDS |
| The Invisible Work of Care | A podcast on the invisible nature of domestic and care work and how the lockdown in the wake of a global pandemic has made the invisibilisation even more stark. | Podcast | General | The Curio-City Collective |
| Aftermath | A “Blog Symposium” curated by Dr. Bhavana Nissima and Nandhini Shanmugham on the challenges and opportunities for women’s rights and gender equality, during and after this pandemic. | Resources | General | The Prajnya Trust |
| Domestic Violence During COVID-19 Lockdown in India | A report “to describe, analyse, and suggest the way forward” regarding domestic violence during the COVID-19 lockdown in India. | Resources | General | Shakti Shalini |
| Applying A Gender Lens to COVID-19 | A collection of relevant resources at the intersection of gender equality and COVID-19, along with information on the ongoing advocacy efforts of Women Deliver towards applying a gender lens to COVID-19. | Resources | General | Women Deliver |
| Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Feminist Perspectives | An article talking about the terrible impacts of COVID-19, especially for countries of the Global South, deepening pre-existing inequalities and exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems. It applies a feminist lens to the pandemic, debunking the myth that the virus is a universal equalizer. | Resources | General | Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era |
| Domestic Violence Under COVID 19: Toolkit | A domestic violence toolkit, for local groups seeking ways to safely adjust their work during the pandemic. It draws on best practices of Global South women’s organizations. The toolkit also includes sections on “addressing violence towards LGBTIQ people and people with disabilities and on working with men as allies.” The toolkit is available in English, Arabic, French, Kurdish, Spanish, and Swahili. | Tips and tools + resources | General | MADRE |
| COVID-19 Impacting Gender Dynamics | The article looks at the changing gender dynamics in heteronormative households, during COVID-19 and how it has brought out newer vulnerabilities for women or intensified those that already existed. | Resources | General | Vihara Innovation Network |
| Unpaid Care Work During COVID-19 | A 3-minute video in Hindi about the unpaid labour of care work and the inherent gender-based inequalities in the performance of this labour that the pandemic has brought to the forefront. | Resources | General | Feminism In India |
| Rethinking Feminist Intervention and COVID-19: Voices from the grassroots | This webinar will highlight the challenges that the work at the grassroots has seen in the last few months, with the ongoing pandemic, while informing learnings for Civil Society Organizations. The conversation will take place primarily in Hindi, on 29th July at 4PM. | Webinar | General | CREA |
| Gender Discrimination During COVID-19 | A resource in Hindi on the multiple forms of gender inequality that the impact of this pandemic has intensified. | Resources | General | Jankipul |
| At Home, At Risk | This is a series of Infographics based on “a rapid survey looking at how the redressal ecosystem for domestic violence functioned during the COVID-19”. The survey is being carried out across 7 states by member organisations of Lam-lynti Chittara Neralu (LCN), a national network that “works towards improved and rights-based shelters for survivors of violence”. | Resources | General | Lam-Lynti Chittara Neralu |
| Understanding How The COVID-19 Crisis Impacted Girls’ Education In India | This article looks at the impact of the COVID crisis on girls’ education, in the context of the lockdown and the lack of supportive measures to disadvantaged learners. | Resources | General | Feminism In India |
| A Practical Approach to Prevent, Address and Document Domestic Violence under COVID-19 | This paper explores the problem of domestic violence under COVID-19 and shares best practices used to prevent, address, and document violence. | Resources | General | MADRE, Media Matters for Women, MenEngage, OutRight Action International, Women Enabled, and WILPF |
| Domestic Violence Toolkit | This toolkit of best practices by Global South women’s organizations is tailored to the current environment of physical distancing, social isolation, and lockdowns, including guidance on using social media in domestic violence prevention campaigns | Tips and tools + resources | General | MADRE, Media Matters for Women, MenEngage, OutRight Action International, Women Enabled, and WILPF |
| How Coronavirus Impacted Women | This video explores how the COVID-19 pandemic “has affected the health of rural women who already suffer from lack of gynaecologists and resources for treatment”. | Resources | General | Chalchitra Abhiyaan |
| Gender and Data Resources During COVID-19 | This is a compilation of resources and reports on gender and gender data as they relate to COVID-19 preparedness and response around the world, including the current and anticipated impacts of the pandemic. | Resources | General | Data 2x |
| Masculinities and COVID-19: Making the Connections | The report, based on critical masculinity theory and a wide range of academic and news sources, reveals and analyzes the interconnections among men, masculinities, and the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. | Resources | General | MenEngage Alliance |
| Advisory On Rights Of Women | This is NHRC’s Human Rights advisory on the rights of women, especially women from vulnerable and marginalized sections of the society, who have been disproportionately imppacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown. | Resources | General | NHRC |
| Feminist Futures- Oxfam Discussion Paper | This paper, written in the context of COVID-19, “contains reflections from members of Oxfam’s gender justice community and draws on feminist thinking in order to develop a vision for a caring future, what it might look like and how we might achieve it”. | Resources | General | Oxfam International |
| Translations of the Pandemic: Women In STEM | This article explores the underrepresentation of women and under-recognition of their work in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) academia and how the pandemic has effectively worsened this scenario. | Resources | General | Manthan Magazine |
| Violence in Times of COVID-19 Lack of Legal Protection for Women Informal Workers | “The article tries to analyse the impact of the pandemic particularly on the women workers in the informal sector through an examination of existing legal protection measures, access to social security and the issue of violence and harassment.” | Resources | General | EPW Engage |
| Gender Blindness During COVID | In this article, Pamela Philipose looks at how the media representation of the COVID-19 pandemic and its outcomes have been extremely gendered. | Resources | General | The Tribune |
| Gender and COVID-19: A Feminist Economic Lens | In this webinar, held on Feb 18, 2021, Professor Naila Kabeer used “a feminist economic lens to analyse a range of different impacts associated with COVID-19 and to explore the kinds of policies that such a lens would suggest for a more resilient and equitable future.” | Resources | General | LSE |
| How COVID-19 Magnified The Performance Of Toxic Masculinities In My Family | In this article, the author talks about the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on men and masculinities. | Resources | General | Feminism In India |
| Transformative Approaches to Engaging Men and Couples to Accelerate Family Planning Outcomes | This webinar focuses on the importance of engaging men in family planning, the methods, practices, and approaches adopted globally for engaging men in family planning, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on men’s behavior and gender-equitable family planning. | Webinar (recording) | General | ICRW |
| ‘One cup of kadak chai’: How Mumbai’s Koli women survived the coronavirus pandemic | This article discusses the challenges faced by Koli fisherwomen in Mumbai and looks into the network of solidarity built by them to navigate through the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. | Resources | General | Scroll |
| Don’t Neglect the Domestic Worker | This article looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of domestic workers and how their economic and healthcare needs have gone unnoticed. | Resources | General | The Indian Express |
| She Told Us So: Rapid Gender Analysis | This study looks at the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls in the global south. | Resources | General | Care International |
| Post-COVID Urban Women’s Mobility: Experts Weigh In On Patterns & Impacts | This article looks at the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on women’s mobility in urban spaces. | Resources | General | Feminism In India |
| COVID-19 – Women from the South Reimagining the Intellectual Property System | In this webinar, feminist speakers from different intersections come together to reimagine intellectual property from a Global South perspective. | Resources | General | DAWN |
| Going Beyond The Crisis Of Care: Women In The Post-Pandemic Labour Market | This article looks at the impact of the pandemic on the changing dynamics of the labour market owing to the existing sexual division of labour and how the “burden of work has unfairly shifted more towards women than men because of the pandemic.” | Resources | General | TARSHI |
| Breakthrough India’s Response to COVID-19 in 2021 | This is a compilation of SOPs, toolkits and research studies developed by Breakthrough to address issues like impact on mental health in the communities and the youth, misinformation around Covid-19, fake news around vaccines, unequal medical care, children’s safety etc during the second wave of the pandemic. | Resources | General | Breakthrough India |
| Men, Masculinities and the Pandemic | This is a set of consultation and research reports that map the challenges faced by 17 development organisations engaging young men and boys with issues of gender, health, livelihoods, education etc. and lists recommendations for building more synergetic programming that can respond to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic with more resilience. | Resources | General | The YP Foundation |
| Preventing Domestic Violence Against Children During COVID-19’ toolkit | This toolkit brings together examples of tried-and-tested approaches to preventing domestic violence against children in diverse contexts and communities around the world, adapted to work during the COVID-19 crisis. It features examples of prevention approaches from members of the Family for Every Child alliance like Bangldesh, Mexico, South Africa, Sri Lanka and others. | Resources | General | Family For Every Child |