What innovations can address inequalities experienced by women and girls due to the COVID-19 pandemic across the different areas of life/domains: work, health, living standards, personal security, participation and education?

Abstract

TOPLINE SUMMARYWhat is a Rapid Review?Our rapid reviews use a variation of the systematic review approach, abbreviating or omitting some components to generate the evidence to inform stakeholders promptly whilst maintaining attention to bias. They follow the methodological recommendations and minimum standards for conducting and reporting rapid reviews, including a structured protocol, systematic search, screening, data extraction, critical appraisal and evidence synthesis to answer a specific question and identify key research gaps. They take one to two months, depending on the breadth and complexity of the research topic/question(s), the extent of the evidence base and type of analysis required for synthesis.Background / Aim of Rapid ReviewThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to differential economic, health and social impacts illuminating prevailing gender inequalities (WEN Wales, 2020). This rapid review investigated evidence for effectiveness of interventions to address gender inequalities across the domains of work, health, living standards, personal security, participation, and education.Key FindingsExtent of the evidence base21 studies were identified: 7 reviews, 6 commentaries and 8 primary studiesLimited evidence for the effectiveness of identified innovations in minority groupsA lack of evaluation data for educational interventionsA lack of evidence for cost-effectiveness of the identified interventions14 additional articles were identified in the grey literature but not used to inform findings (apart from the Education domain, where there was a lack of peer-reviewed evidence).Recency of the evidence baseAll studies were published in 2020-2021Summary of findingsSome evidence supported interventions/innovations related to work: Permanent contracts, full-time hours, and national childcare programmes to increase income for women and thereby decrease the existing gender wage gap.More frequent use of online platforms in the presentation of professional work can reduce gender disparities due to time saved in travel away from home. Some evidence supported interventions/innovations related to health: Leadership in digital health companies could benefit from women developing gender-friendly technology that meets the health needs of women.Create authentic partnerships with black women and female-led organisations to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality (Bray & McLemore, 2021). Some evidence supported interventions/innovations related to living standards including: Multi-dimensional care provided to women and their children experiencing homelessness. Limited evidence supported interventions/innovations related to personal security including: Specific training of social workers, psychologists and therapists to empower women to use coping strategies and utilise services to gain protection from abusive partners.Helplines, virtual safe spaces smart phone applications and online counselling to address issues of violence and abuse for women and girls. Very limited evidence supported interventions/innovations related to participation including: Use of online platforms to reduce gender disparities in the presentation of academic/professional work.Ensuring equal representation, including women and marginalised persons, in pandemic response and recovery planning and decision-making. Limited evidence from the grey literature described interventions/innovations related to education including: Teacher training curricula development to empower teachers to understand and challenge gender stereotypes in learning environments.Education for girls to enable participation in STEM.Policy ImplicationsThis evidence can be used to map against existing policies to identify which are supported by the evidence, which are not in current policy and could be implemented and where further research/evaluation is needed.Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of educational innovations, the effectiveness of the innovations in minority groups and the social value gained from interventions to address gender inequalities.Strength of EvidenceOne systematic review on mobile interventions targeting common mental disorders among pregnant and postpartum women was rated as high quality (Saad et al., 2021). The overall confidence in the strength of evidence was rated as ‘low’ due to study designs. Searches did not include COVID specific resources or pre-prints. There may be additional interventions/innovations that have been implemented to reduce inequalities experienced by women and girls due to the COVID-19 pandemic but have not been evaluated or published in the literature and are therefore not included here.