To mark International Women’s Day, the UCD Alumni team were delighted to have Frances Fitzgerald MEP join us to discuss her European Parliament report “The gender perspective in the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis period” with Prof Ursula Barry, Professor of Gender Studies at the Centre for Gender, Feminisms and Sexualities at UCD.
No one has been left untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic but women have been particularly impacted personally, socially and economically. They remain at the forefront of the crisis in Europe making up 76% of healthcare workers, 93% of childcare workers, 95% of domestic cleaners and 82% of cashiers and they will continue to be impacted by COVID long after vaccines have led us back to a new normal. This important discussion explored the impacts of COVID as a gendered experience and the actions that must be taken to create a more equal, post-COVID world.