‘Women at the core of crisis fight’

Listen to this article:

Picture:FILE

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces families into economic uncertainties, girls and young women in Fiji have an added worry of navigating socioeconomic relations in households while trying to keep up with academic and professional roles.

This was revealed in “A Rapid Assessment Impact of the Pandemic (COVID-19) on Young Women and Girls in Fiji” survey instituted by the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement in May.

The survey highlighted that as a result of the pandemic, physical and mental health concerns reinforced by deeply entrenched traditional, cultural and religious systems of patriarchy were surfacing.

The online survey that factored the views of 329 young women and girls in Fiji highlighted the difficulties they faced during the COVID-19 crisis.

According to the survey, the respondents shared their experiences in the home, meeting gender role expectations and other responsibilities such as work and study.

“Seventy-one per cent of respondents indicated that they are expected to do more household work compared to the males in their home. On the other hand, 29 per cent of the respondents highlighted that housework is shared equally amongst family members.”

The survey found respondents who were staying at work and studying at home also shared their frustrations and exhaustion in managing professional and paid work and unpaid care work at home.

The survey recommended the Government strengthens media advocacy and visibility on challenging gender roles in the homes during the COVID-19 period.

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 28
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)

No Posts found for specific category