Webinar: Women on the front line of the crisis

When: April 23, 2020

April 23
1pm (BST)
Online

This webinar is part of our fortnightly series: Coronavirus, capitalism and inequality. 

Although the coronavirus affects the health of both men and women, it is women who are feeling the heaviest burden of its many impacts on work, childcare and the economic situation around the world.  This is true in the UK where, for example, a recent study found that 98% of workers in high risk jobs that are being paid poverty wages are women. This is equally true, if not more so, for women living in lockdown in the global south. For example, in the Philippines, the capital city Manila and the entire island of Luzon are under lockdown. This is a totally unplanned situation, that is creating chaos and misery especially for low-paid women vendors, households, nurses and hospital workers, many of whom now have to walk for hours just to get to work.

In this webinar, we’ll be talking to two women from the global south who have been campaigning for many years to challenge the power structures that result in inequality for women and marginalized people. Jean Enriquez and Mercia Andrews will compare their experiences of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in urban Philippines and in rural South Africa. 

Speakers

Jean Enriquez, National Coordinator, World March of Women, Philippines
Mercia Andrews, Rural Women’s Assembly South Africa

• To what extent has their own government’s response particularly impacted on women?  
• Has the neoliberal agenda preceding this emergency that gutted public infrastructure, made tackling the virus even more challenging? 
• How are women organizing to protect each other and vulnerable groups during this time? 
• And how can we support a global response that shows solidarity with women in the global south at this time?

We’ll be using Zoom for the event.  To join, please click below and we’ll email you the details of how to do that.