Global Roundup: There is Nothing Benevolent About Patriarchy
The COVID-19 pandemic is a fucking disaster for women around the world. It is especially hard on poor and working class women who do not have the privilege to work from their own homes, practice social distancing, avoid public transportation, have savings to fall back on, or any other privilege to buttress them.
A recent study in South Africa shows the devastating toll the pandemic has had on domestic workers.
This year has been a difficult period for all South Africans as the nation faced an unprecedented global crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic. This was compounded by South Africa struggling with a stagnant economy and marginal growth in the years leading up to 2020.”
This placed severe downward pressure on household incomes with as many as 34% of households expected to exit the middle class. Given domestic workers earn a subset of the income of the homes they work in, the pandemic is expected to have dire consequences for their livelihoods - SweepSouth
For women who are able to work from home in the U.S., a study published in the Gender, Work & Organization Journal found that among heterosexual couples, the pandemic disproportionately affected mothers.
The study found that because of increasing housework and childcare, mothers have reduced their working hours “four to five times more than fathers,” and concluded that the pandemic has made the gender gap in work hours 20% to 50% worse. That division was manifested in arenas like virtual education, where almost half of the men said they do most of the educating — but only 3% of women agreed with that statement.
These trends are not limited to America, either. A similar study in England found working mothers are doing the bulk of childcare and housework. France is facing similar problems — a labor activist there told the Atlantic in May that her biggest worry is “a violent return of women to the home.” Globally, a United Nations study found the pandemic is a significant threat to gender equality in the workforce.
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Twitter is still not doing enough to tackle the deluge of abuse women face on the platform - Rasha Abdul Rahim, Co-Director of Amnesty Tech.
Social media is a pit of patriarchal fuckery and abuse. New Amnesty analysis shows that despite some progress, Twitter is not doing enough to protect women users, leading many women to silence or censor themselves on the platform. Twitter can and must do more to protect women from abuse, according to Amnesty’s latest report.
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I wouldn't have left home if I was accepted for who I am.
LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers are subjected to multiple forms of oppression. BBC Africa has some of their stories.
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You know a lot about cars for a woman.
You’re not like other girls.
If you’ve heard shit like that from men, you’ve been served a dose of “benevolent sexism.” Learn more via Feminism in India’s explainer.
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The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), a global, feminist, membership and movement-support organization has published an invaluable tribute to 450 feminists and activists from around the world who are no longer with us. AWID currently has over 6,000 members, from over 180 countries, who form a “powerful base of feminist, women’s rights and gender justice defenders, activists and allies, connecting, exchanging, learning and acting together for transformative change.”
