This International Women’s Day takes place roughly one year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic. On 5 March last year we adopted the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy for this mandate with a number of measures aimed at ensuring that women are free, can lead and thrive on an equal basis to men, writes Helena Dalli.
Helena Dalli is a Maltese labour politician serving as European Commissioner for Equality.
When the virus hit us shortly after that, it did not take long before its disproportionate consequences for women were brought to light.
Women were at the frontline in hospitals and care work, and were exposed to the virus and its health risks while caring for others. Women helped ensure that our essential services were kept running. And yet, when childcare and schools closed, women were shouldering an even larger share of unpaid care work. We have also seen incidences of domestic violence increasing sharply during lockdown.