Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lives of Women with Different Socioeconomic Backgrounds and Victimization Experiences in Portugal

Abstract

The heavy economic, social, and psychological toll of pandemic lockdowns around the world and their disproportionate effect on women are widely acknowledged, but different socioeconomic backgrounds and contexts may influence the degree to which stay-at-home measures impact their lives. Additionally, knowing that violence against women tends to increase during times of crisis, we are testing if the additional burden of victimization represents an added load to the perceived social impacts of the lockdown. Using 2021 survey data from a random sample of 1541 Portuguese women, the paper explores, through logistic regression models, the social impact of the lockdown on the lives of women, its socioeconomic determinants, and the role played by violence against women during the pandemic. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown did not equally affect all facets of women’s social lives, and women with higher education status and that experienced income reductions due to the measures taken to control the pandemic are more prone to experience a more severe negative impact of the lockdown on the various facets of their lives. Additionally, having been a victim during the pandemic partially mediates the effect of education and income reduction on the social outcomes of the lockdown.

Lazer & COVID-19: Corpos Proibidos e Alterações nas Dinâmicas de Lazer nas Cidades da Maia (Portugal) e Curitiba (Brasil)

“…In the first months of the pandemic, the social, personal, political, and economic effects of the total confinement of bodies and minds were visible and of unprecedented magnitude: economic recession, political instability, a sharp rise in unemployment and food aid, obesity, depression, domestic violence, increased domestic workload and stress associated with unequal task distribution (Bonalume, 2020;Coelho et al, 2021;Instituto Nacional de Estatística, 2021;Teixeira et al, 2022;United Nations, 2020;World Health Organization, 2022a, 2022b.…”

The role of family doctors in the management of domestic violence cases – a qualitative study in Portugal

“…In 2022 the Portuguese Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality registered the highest numbers of reports of DV in the past three years, according to the numbers provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) and the Republican National Guard (GNR), with 30,389 cases filed to these law enforcement entities [ 5 ]. The reported numbers may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic impact, as studies have shown a decrease in reports during periods when more restrictive measures were implemented by the Portuguese government to prevent the spread of the virus [ 6 , 7 ]. DV has been linked to adverse health issues in both victims and aggressors, leading to a higher utilization of health services [ 4 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Assessment of Urban Neighbourhoods’ Vulnerability through an Integrated Vulnerability Index (IVI): Evidence from Barcelona, Spain

“…Financial globalisation has generated neoliberal city production models, which in turn has intensified social inequalities. These inequalities are likewise heightened in crisis contexts, whether the 2008 economic crisis, in which vulnerable areas and groups were most badly hit (Janoshcka and Hidalgo 2014;Echaves García and Echaves 2017;Fernández Aragón and Shershneva 2017), or the 2020 health crisis, which generated significant inequalities (Guterres 2020;Seiz 2020;Teixeira et al 2022). The different crisis scenarios reveal the need to pinpoint the most vulnerable groups and areas in order to design public policies to offset the negative impacts of crises.…”