Gender in Crisis

#14–2020 The protests and upheavals that erupted in the Arab world since 2010 were the starting point in 2019 to look at issues of gender in political and social crises. At the moment, since the beginning of 2020, we are facing the global coronavirus pandemic and witnessing gender imbalances in this crisis, imbalances that turn against wo*men and their role in contemporary societies. This goes for Europe as well as the Middle East and North and South America. Wo*men bear and will bear a disproportionate burden of the measures taken against the coronavirus. Mostly wo*men have been working in the nursing sector in general and with Covid-19 patients in particular. Wo*men did more unpaid work before Corona, and do so even more during the Corona epidemic. Mostly wo*men have seen their working hours reduced, stay at home, and take care of the children due to the closed childcare facilities and schools. In addition, more jobs in which predominantly wo*men work are being cut, explains the ESCWA (Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) study on the impact of Covid-19 on gender equality in the Arab region. What does the lockdown mean for gender relations? What is being locked down and to what places? A conservative understanding of the family seems to be the EDITORIAL 05