As the world shelters in place and takes action to slow down the rapid spread of COVID-19—a disease that is wreaking havoc on humanity, healthcare systems and economies, all with gender implications—the focus and solutions have been on the immediate short-term crisis, as they should be.
Healthcare workers—the majority of whom are women—are desperate for personal protective equipment (PPE), and emergency rooms are struggling to acquire enough ventilators to keep pace.
People are losing their incomes, making it hard to pay for basic needs like housing and food, and there is an increased risk for gender-based violence.
As the virus reaches further into communities worldwide, it may seem too soon to look towards recovery.
But based off the experiences of other crises, like the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, we know that we cannot afford…