A paper issued by the National Committee for Women's Affairs said Monday that the total lockdown increased the burden of care on women and raised the rates of violence against them, especially with their inability to access the services of civil society organizations.

The committee added that women faced many other difficulties, namely their access to justice and alimony, and the inability of many female workers in the private sector to receive salaries through electronic wallets.

The paper explained that despite the adoption by the Jordanian government of the National Strategy for Women in Jordan 2020-2025 prior to the pandemic, which focused on the importance of taking all criteria of fragility when planning development, and closing the gender gap, the political will was not translated into the government’s response to the pandemic.

This came despite the continuous demands of national institutions and civil society institutions that these parties participate in the planning mechanisms to respond to the pandemic.

A poll conducted by the committee and the International Labor Organization (ILO) to assess the use of electronic wallets to deliver salaries to workers in the private sector showed that 58 percent of males and 57 percent of females were unable to create financial accounts in electronic wallets, and according to these results, the majority of workers in the private sector reported difficulty in registering for e-wallets.

The position paper warned that the pandemic affected workers’ day-to-day work and unorganized work, especially women workers in the agricultural sector, where they were subjected to clear discrimination and flagrant violations represented by depriving them of social insurance included in the Social Security Law and the Labor Law, as a result of the judicial approach and shortcomings in interpreting the text of the legislation.

Additionally, the position paper discussed the effects on the education sector, and indicated that the committee addressed the government several times about the danger of continuing to close schools and its impact on deepening the gap in access to quality education, and isolating girls, especially in marginalized areas that do not have internet access, and/or families do not have enough smart devices to get their sons and daughters the required education.

They noted that the annual report of the Chief Justice Department for the year 2020 showed that the marriage rate of those under the age of eighteen rose from 11.1 percent in 2019 to 11.8 percent in 2020.

The paper added that it is the responsibility of the concerned institutions to limit gender-based violence, and to respond quickly to all cases of violence against women and children by taking all necessary measures to provide protection and safety for women and children who face the risk of societal violence under these difficult circumstances.

The paper explained that the spread of the virus indicates that many people suffering from COVID-19 will need care at home, which will increase the overall burden on women, and also put them at greater risk of infection.

The paper concluded with a number of recommendations, most notably: the need to target women and children in all efforts aimed at addressing social and economic impacts, setting their priorities in designing plans, policies and programs to address the pandemic, expanding the rights of women and their participation in public affairs, and the need to pay greater attention to the issue of protecting women from violence and facilitating its access to justice (care in all fields and recovery), in addition to the establishment of a fund to support the most marginalized groups through finances supported by facilities or establishment who capitalized due to the pandemic i.e. communication networks and medical laboratories.