In 2019, a corona virus causing a disease called COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, China. The disease spread rapidly around the world and the WHO declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The rapid spread put enormous pressure on health capacities so different countries tried to limit it as much as possible through various measures like social distance, curfew, working from home, restricting movement to municipalities, closing schools and kindergartens, shutting down economic activities where people come into contact with each other. With these measures the health crisis also became social and economic one. However this crisis must also be addressed from a gender perspective. At that time the UN Women Agency warned that the measures could reverse the progress made on gender equality. During the closure, women were doing more of housework and family care. So increased risk of the returnment and the reinforcement of past gender attitudes and stereotypes about women. During the closure people were spending more time at home what led to an increased need for household chores. Women, who already did most of the housework before the pandemic, bear the brunt. But it is also the case that more women than men gave up their job because of the increased workload at home. Hence the main thesis of this master's degree goes: measures accepted to limit the spread of COVID-19 also reinforce the patriarchy of society and worsen the social position of women.
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