{"id":268995,"date":"2020-12-10T11:30:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/the-pandemic-is-undoing-womens-physical-and-financial-security\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T23:19:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:19:55","slug":"the-pandemic-is-undoing-womens-physical-and-financial-security","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/12\/the-pandemic-is-undoing-womens-physical-and-financial-security\/","title":{"rendered":"The pandemic is \u201cundoing\u201d women\u2019s physical and financial security"},"content":{"rendered":"

The finale for \u201cThe Undoing\u201d was deemed by HBO to be its \u201ctelevision event of the year,<\/a>\u201d featuring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as wealthy and beautiful Manhattanites embroiled in a murder mystery. The six-part miniseries relied on flashbacks that repeatedly revealed the grotesquely battered face of the young, racialized female victim. It was yet another example of the pornification of femicide and how it\u2019s become normalized as entertainment.<\/p>\n

As millions of people watched the fictional show\u2019s last episode on Nov. 29, United Nations Women had started its 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence<\/a> (from Nov. 25-Dec. 10). The UN Secretary General suggests that COVID-19 has meant an \u201cincrease in the already existing pandemic of violence against women.\u201d One-in-three women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence \u2013 most by an intimate partner \u2013 in their lifetime. And because of COVID, all types of violence have intensified<\/a> \u2013 making this a \u201cshadow pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here in this country<\/a>, 67 per cent of Canadians know a woman who has experienced sexual or physical abuse. Every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. Canada spends $7.4 billion on spousal violence alone.<\/p>\n

We hardly ever hear about this routinized violence though. Police have a tendency to keep intimate partner crimes quiet, considering them to be a private issue, even though according to Statistics Canada, they make up about 30 per cent of all police-reported violent crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more going on right now than just increased levels of violence. Women\u2019s financial and social independence are being threatened by this pandemic, meaning women are more at risk of violence and exploitation. What\u2019s more, there has also been a loss of available safe spaces for women in Canada.<\/p>\n

Shelters and transition homes during COVID-19<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shelters and transition homes across the country are operating at reduced capacity as a result of public health regulations, a new survey released by Women\u2019s Shelters Canada suggests. The majority (71 per cent) of the respondents to the survey<\/a> say they have had to reduce beds to ensure there is a COVID-19 isolation unit available.<\/p>\n

As well, the shelters and transition houses surveyed say that in the second phase of the pandemic (June to October), calls for help increased. Respondents also suggested that it was difficult for women to leave during lockdown because they were being monitored by their abusers or they were fearful of the virus.<\/p>\n

Over half of the shelters and transition homes have noted an increase in the seriousness of cases, as suggested by the UN Women campaign. Among those who answered the survey, 16 per cent saw much more severe violence, 36 per cent reported somewhat more severe violence while almost half (48 per cent) noted about the same level of violence.<\/p>\n

At the same time, because of the pandemic, fundraising for domestic violence shelters is much more difficult. Many cancelled events put programs in jeopardy. The survey indicates that slightly more than half of the respondents to the survey had fundraised less than in years previously (53 per cent). Some have had to lay off staff because of a lack of sustainable funding.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s financial independence<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the employment statistics start to become known about the impact of the pandemic on Canadian workers, it becomes clear that women have borne the brunt of this crisis.<\/p>\n

Enter yet another type of pandemic term: the \u201cshe-cession<\/a>,\u201d because the economic crisis of the pandemic has hurt women, particularly racialized women, at rates much higher than men. RBC Economics released a report in July<\/a> suggesting that women\u2019s participation in the labour force is \u201cdown from a historic high to its lowest level in over 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

It does look like things have improved in the second round of the pandemic. A recent Statistics Canada report<\/a> from September suggests that the economy may be recovering, with employment returning to pre-COVID levels for mothers and fathers.<\/p>\n

However, this same study noted that \u201cmothers (33.3 per cent) were more likely than fathers (26.8 per cent) to have worked most of their hours from home.\u201d This suggests that women were more likely \u201ctrying to balance work and childcare responsibilities.\u201d In September, \u201cthe number of mothers who worked less than half of their usual hours for reasons most likely related to COVID-19 was 70 per cent higher than in February.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal government announced in May that it was providing $40 million<\/a> through the federal agency Women and Gender Equality Canada for women fleeing gender-based violence. That\u2019s a good start, but it\u2019s not enough. Provincial and territorial governments are responsible for operational funding for shelters and transitional homes, and according to the November survey<\/a>, respondents felt that they needed more money to ensure long-term planning. This would be another important step.<\/p>\n

We know that COVID-19 has altered the lives of many people in Canada and resulted in close to 13,000 deaths. Governments at all levels should step in to ensure that femicide doesn\u2019t become a shadow pandemic because of a lack of financial independence or safe spaces for women. Violence against women isn\u2019t just a banal Hollywood plotline \u2013 it\u2019s real life.<\/p>\n

Photo: Crisis line volunteers Shoak Alhussami, left, and Dyalla Popatia are seen at Battered Women’s Support Services, in Vancouver, on October 13, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Darryl Dyck.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The finale for \u201cThe Undoing\u201d was deemed by HBO to be its \u201ctelevision event of the year,\u201d featuring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as wealthy and beautiful Manhattanites embroiled in a murder mystery. The six-part miniseries relied on flashbacks that repeatedly revealed the grotesquely battered face of the young, racialized female victim. It was yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":278591,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T03:19:57Z","apple_news_api_id":"4c11dba2-cd0a-4757-8e22-64c9bb15c677","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T03:19:57Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ATBHbos0KR1eOImTJuxXGdw","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9385,9357,9372],"tags":[8493,8496],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4348,4251],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7136,7122],"class_list":["post-268995","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medias-et-culture","category-politiques-sociales","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-gender-inequality-fr","tag-sexualized-violence-fr","irpp-category-egalite-des-genres","irpp-category-politique-sociale","irpp-tag-medias-et-culture","irpp-tag-violence-liee-au-genre"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe pandemic is \u201cundoing\u201d women\u2019s physical and financial security<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/12\/the-pandemic-is-undoing-womens-physical-and-financial-security\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The pandemic is \u201cundoing\u201d women\u2019s physical and financial security\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The finale for \u201cThe Undoing\u201d was deemed by HBO to be its \u201ctelevision event of the year,\u201d featuring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as wealthy and beautiful Manhattanites embroiled in a murder mystery. 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