15 July 2020:The Covid-19  crisis has exacerbated gender inequality and gender discrimination around the world.

Speakers at an International webinar titled “Gender Dynamics in the Current Pandemic” organized by Department of Gender & Development Studies, Lahore College for Women University say Gender inequalities will have a profound impact on the human lives, and because of these inequalities, the corona virus will impact men disproportionately to women, and also affect transgender & women’s resilience in mitigating the effects of the outbreak.

Speakers included Dr Maria Fannin from School of geographical Sciences, Bristol University, UK. Dr Georgina Waylen, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, UK. Dr Aurangzeb Alizai, Chairperson, Dept. Gender and Development Studies Department, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan. Prof. Dr Bushra Mirza Vice Chancellor Lahore College for women university. Dr Subha Malik, Chairperson, Dept. of Gender & Development Studies.Prof. Dr Talat Sohail, Director Women Institute for Leadership & Learning and focal person & Moderator Dr Shehla Ahmad Assistant professor Gender Studies Department.

 Speaking at the International Webinar Prof Dr Bushra Mirza Vice-Chancellor Lahore College for women University says,'' A pandemic deepens economic and social stress coupled with restricted movements and social isolation measures, increasing gender-based violence exponentially''.

 Dr Bushra Mirza mentioned the extensive burden females are facing because of the pandemic whether by faculty or students. She also acknowledges the role of women nurses, doctors, leaders as a positive aspect of pandemic.

Dr Maria Fannin from School of geographical Sciences, Bristol University, UK shared her views regarding “Gender dynamics in UK”. Dr Fannin highlighted the health and economic condition during the pandemic. She highlighted that women are not much affected by the COVID-19 as compared to men. She also discussed gender diversity at workplace, gender segregation and unpaid or domestics labour. She emphasized policymakers to take care of these matters.

The second speaker was Dr Georgina Waylen, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, UK. She shared her views about “Gender Politics, Leadership and COVID-19”. She discussed the role of female leaders governed countries and male governed countries in the current pandemic. She also discussed the family and other institutions. Her debate on critical junctures and hyper-masculine leadership gained special attention from the audience. 

The third panellist Dr Aurangzeb Alizai, Chairperson, Dept. Gender and Development Studies Department, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan. He discussed the “Impact of COVID-19 on third gender in Pakistan”. He discussed the social evolution of transgender and how they are being treated by their family and society. He also highlighted their rights relating it to the constitution of Pakistan and their legal status. He also discussed how current pandemic worsens transgenders’ condition in Pakistan.

The Webinar also concludes that women & transgender already face many hurdles in accessing healthcare and are also likely to have heightened exposure to the virus as the burden of caring for the ill often falls on women especially. The Covid-19 response must take the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women & transgender into consideration.

After the question-answer session, Dr Subha Malik, Chairperson, Dept. of Gender & Development Studies concluded by saying '' at a time when the entire world is gripped by a public health challenge, there is an opportunity to recognize domestic violence for the grave public health crisis that it is and start acting seriously to prevent it''. She extended her gratitude to national and international speakers. The session moderated by Dr Shehla Ahmad Assistant Prof Gender Studies Department attended by near 60 participants and it continued for 90-95 minutes.