The election of the Scottish Parliament took place on May 6th, 2021. In recent years the Scottish government has gained international praise for its implementation of feminist policies. Catherine Robertson, Global Social Challenges Research Intern and Jennifer A. Holland, leader of the "Population and Society" theme, explore if these recent elections gave attention to the fact that the impact of Covid-19 is not gender-neutral.
The pandemic has disproportionately impacted women. Due to occupational segregation, the majority of frontline workers are women. Women around the world shoulder the burden of unpaid care. The spike in violence against women during COVID-19 has been described as a 'shadow pandemic'. But how have the five main parties in Scotland addressed this in their manifestos during the Scottish Parliament election?
Holland and Robertson analysed the manifestos of the five largest parties and focused on four key themes: the impact of COVID-19, violence against women, unpaid care, and plans for future recovery. They find that some parties are front-runners by recognising women as the backbone to our resilience to the pandemic and central to a recovery that promotes equality in their election manifestos. Still, women need to be more visible in policy and politics to break the cycle of inequality.
Read their analysis on the parties' manifestos here.
- Researcher