Girls and women must be front and center of, and included in the decision making of local, national and global emergency responses.
– 2018 and 2019 G7 Gender Equality Advisory Councils
Feminist Response to Covid-19
UPDATE!
We want to say thank you to the many people who dedicated time and energy to this campaign and made it what it was. We are very thankful to the community that surrounded this campaign and supported it from the start, we are nothing without our community and for them we are grateful.
With our community in mind, we are excited to announce that due to some generous funding we are able to fully pursue one of our calls to bring a Gender-Based Analysis Plus to Manitoba!
With the support of a paid staff who will be focused on achieving this goal, we will be able to grow our capacity to engage with our community and ensure that we are able to consult and research in a manner that matches what our community needs.
Background
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic and consequential shutdown of many parts of the world, resulting in a direct impact on women, girls and 2LGBTQIA+ folks, IIWR-Mb has launched a call for a Feminist Response to COVID-19 in Manitoba. This campaign had three original parts:
- Our open letter was sent on May 25th, 2020, followed by a letter-writing campaign launched on May 27th and an op-ed written by Leah Wilson published on May 31st.
- A social media campaign to promote national and international campaigns calling for a feminist response to COVID-19 worldwide.
- A resource list, located at the bottom of this page, with campaigns, initiatives and actions from around the globe for visitors to support and share.
During the summer and fall of 2020, we met with numerous MLA’s who voiced support of the calls and identified how they may support IIWR-MB in working towards our goals.
In December 2020, we hosted a community conversation to discuss gaps in the provincial response to COVID-19 and identify how IIWR-MB could support actions towards fulfilling those gaps in ways that aligned with our original campaign.
In 2021, we began working to be able to hire a paid staff person to be able to take up this research and work to be able to fulfill one of our calls to action, bringing a Gender-Based Analysis Plus to Manitoba. As IIWR-MB is entirely volunteer-run, we are excited to bring in someone who can help support this mission in a way that will allow our full communities voice to be heard.
KEEP THe Momentum Going
The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting our most marginalized populations — including women, girls and gender-diverse people– and this impact requires an intersectional feminist approach in legislation, policies and programs. This is why we are calling on the Government of Manitoba to ensure that these folks are not left behind as we address and emerge from this crisis. If ignored, the COVID-19 pandemic will exacerbate gender inequities, decreasing the ability of women, girls and gender-diverse people to survive in the province.
Media Coverage of the Campaign
CTV News May 25, 2020
Winnipeg Free Press May 20, 2020
CBC May 31, 2020
We need you to SEND A LETTER TO YOUR MLA CALLING FOR a FEMINIST RESPONSE TO COVID-19
Thank you to everyone who joined the call for our letter to Premier Brian Pallister and Minister Cathy Cox. You can view the final letter, sent Monday, May 25th, here!
Take your commitment one step further and send the following letter via e-mail to your MLA by following the steps outlined below.
- Copy and paste the letter below into your e-mail,
fill in the required information and personalize it! - Find your MLA by clicking the red button below and selecting your electoral division or entering your address.
- Click “Contact my MLA”
- Use the e-mail listed on their page to e-mail them your letter.
- Feel free to cc other elected officials in your call.
Should you have any issues or questions, feel free to contact us advocacy@iiwrmb.ca.
Dear [Title, Name of your MLA],
My name is [your name] and I am writing to call for a feminist response to COVID-19 in the province of Manitoba.
I want to begin by thanking you and your colleagues for guiding the province through this unprecedented time. While we have seen a unifying of community during this crisis, we also know vulnerable Manitobans have been and will continue to be disproportionately impacted, including women, girls, and gender-diverse people. As during all times of societal and economic change, impacts are gendered.The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting our most marginalized populations — including First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, women with disabilities, women of colour, black women, women who are experiencing homelessness, newcomer or refugee women, female-headed households and women with precarious immigration status. The response to address these impacts requires an intersectional feminist approach in legislation, policies and practice. I am asking you to ensure these folks are not left behind as we emerge from this crisis.
If neglected, the COVID-19 pandemic will exacerbate gender inequities, decreasing the ability of women, girls and gender-diverse people to survive in the province.
Therefore, I join my voice with many others to ask you and your colleagues to implement a feminist response to the COVID-19 pandemic and:
- Immediately Apply a Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) to all COVID-19 Responses and Initiatives.
- Immediately End Cuts to Public Services, Crown Corporations, and Not-for-Profits.
- Establish Universal Child Care in Manitoba.
- Establish a Living Wage for all Manitobans.
- Immediately Increase EIA by $300.00.
- Establish Paid Sick Leave for All Workers.
I write in support of the letter sent by the Institute for International Women’s Rights – Manitoba on May 25th, 2020 to Premier Brian Pallister and Minister Cathy Cox, calling for a feminist response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Manitoba.
I look forward to your response and the action you will take to respond to these calls throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic and beyond.
Sincerely,
[your name][your email address] [your location]cc: The Honourable Brian Pallister, Premier of Manitoba
cc: The Honourable Cathy Cox, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women
Check out our calls to actions on social media!
#FeministCovidMb #PandemicEquityMb
National and International Resources, Campaigns, & Actions calling for feminist responses to covid-19
Click on the text below for a link to the resource.
Call to Action: Statements
- Feminist Alliance for Rights developed a COVID-19 response to address key areas in policy and practice that disproportionately impact women and girls. Including issues such as food security, health care, education, social inequality, water and sanitation, economic inequality, violence against women, domestic violence/intimate partner violence, access to information, and abuse of power.
- UN Women: Rise for All Campaign - brings together women leaders in support of this UN roadmap for social and economic recovery, and to advocate a fully funded COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.
- MADRE: As the Virus Unleashes Violence, Women in War-torn Countries Organize. A press-release that shows feminist driven campaigns worldwide to respond to COVID-19
- 2018-2019 G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council call for the G7 to put a gender lens on COVID-19 efforts.
- Immigration Partnership Winnipeg has launched a campaign called, "Manitobans: COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate. Nor Should You!" to bring awareness of racism, discrimination and xenophobia experienced by Asian community members, other racialized groups and newcomers due to COVID-19, while condemning the association of COVID-19 with any ethnic or racial group; provide information and tools for these community groups and the general public to stay safe and respond to acts of racism, discrimination and xenophobia; and highlight the key role many of these community members play in Manitoba’s response to COVID-19 as essential workers. Be sure to also check out their resource section for Covid-19 titled, "IWP response to Covid-19."
Call to Action: Letter Writing
- YWCA of Canada is calling for a Feminist Approach to Covid-19 and have developed a letter-writing campaign to federal leaders and your MP. The campaign calls for establishing paid sick leave for all workers, fund emergency child care for essential workers, take a gendered approach to address homelessness during the pandemic, and create a $10 billion emergency fund for charities and non-profits.
- #AllWomenWork Campaign is circulating a statement for individuals and organizations to sign on to call for the investment in the Care Economy for a Just, Green, and Feminist Covid-19 Response and Recovery.
- Abilities Manitoba has posted a campaign calling for an immediate essential worker wage increase for Direct Support Staff. The goal of this campaign is to help stabilize and secure the fragile disability sector workforce by implementing a $5/hour wage supplement for all Direct Support Workers working through Covid-19, and time and a half pay for anyone caring for someone who is Covid-19 positive. Check out their website for how you can support them in their goal!
Resources
- Article in Policy Options by YWCA Toronto staff presents a plan for Poverty Reduction Plan for Ontario based on feminist principles of gender analysis.
- COVID-19 at the Intersection of Gender and Disability: Findings of a Global Human Rights Survey - A new fact-finding report developed by Women Enabled International in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
- The International Women's Rights Project (IWRP) has compiled an initial list of resources on gender and COVID-19 developed by women around the world for advocacy and information.
- Canadian Women's Foundation - Signal for Help How to discretely communicate you need help when on a video call.
- The White Ribbon Alliance - Safer Together Campaign: Respectful Maternity Care during COVID-19 Pandemic, Advocacy & Communications Campaign.
- Oxfam Canada’s recent post about Coronavirus and the case for care: Envisioning a just, feminist future has lots of useful information about the impact of Covid-19 on Women and girls.
- Feminist organizations and activists working in global movements focused on human rights, sustainable development, economic and social justice, have joined forces to collectively define the key principles of a resilient recovery from the current global pandemic. The website hosts one of the most comprehensive websites out there to track feminist responses and actions to Covid-19.
- State of Hawaii’s Commission on the Status of Women has published a feminist economic recovery plan. This model for how feminist recovery can be done elsewhere is a key document to proving it can be done.
- Canadian Federation of Women has launched a series of reports titled, “Resetting Normal,” that examines gender equality and the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. These reports explore risks to women’s human rights exposed by the pandemic and propose new ways to build a gender equal Canada in pandemic recovery efforts.
- Here is a graph of who should apply where for the Emergency Community Support Fund for charities and non-profit organizations requiring financial assistance to address the pandemic. Applications opened on May 19, 2020.