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Information Sciences Letters

Information Sciences Letters

Abstract

There has been an increasing concern that the global shutdown period during the spread of the COVID -19 epidemic will widen the gender gap, and that the gains of women before the epidemic will decline. Since COVID-19 crisis affects men and women in different ways, measures to solve it must take into account the gender. This study clarifies the student community’s interest and awareness of gender equality issues during the initial lockdown period by selecting a representative sample of the student community at Ajman University,362 students out of a 6,042 students, the total number of students, according to Yamani mathematical equation n = N / (1 + Ne ^ 2). The information was collected through an online questionnaire, formulated according to systematic procedures on the Likert trio model, and procedures were reviewed and approved by the Universitys Research Ethics Committee (REC). The most important findings of the study are that there is a risk that women and girls face the loss of some of the gains made in recent decades, the worsening of gender inequality during the initial lockdown and the spread of the epidemic, in relation to the growing gender gaps in labor force participation rates, and the authority to make decisions, and the equality in unpaid home care. The time that women devote to unpaid care work may increase with the presence of children in the family, especially with the closure of early childhood education centers, care services and schools, which led to the worsening of care requests during the crisis. Also, this decrease in the gains appears through an increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The significant findings shows that gender equality during COVID-19, especially during the lockdown period, is decreasing.

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