Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted women in Japan. It shows how the pandemic led to increases in women’s care burdens, increased difficulties in managing domestic responsibilities and paid employment, and rising cases of domestic and sexual abuse.

Paper long abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted social problems arising from gender-based inequalities and differential social role expectations of women and men. Based on an analysis of public documents, this presentation focuses on three ways that women have been adversely affected by the pandemic in Japan. First, it became clear from the time of the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 that caregiving burdens had increased for women. As women are responsible for both childcare and nursing care for aged parents, it became difficult for women to fulfill their roles as essential workers such as nurses and nursery schoolteachers, despite the acute need for women's labor. Women’s labor force participation, especially for women in non-regular employment, declined during the pandemic. School closures hit women hard. When schools closed, many female teachers and students were forced to stay at home. When children could not go to school or day care, women could not go out to work. Social norms that expect women to manage caregiving created gender disparities and inequalities in the roles and burdens taken up by men and women in the home. When men worked from home, women and children were expected to stay quiet leading to high levels of stress in families. Lastly, rates of domestic violence (DV) and sexual exploitation and abuse of displaced girls and young women increased. The reported number of the unexpected teenage pregnancy also increased particularly during the first wave of the pandemic.