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Melbourne, Australia – When the longest lockdown in the world began in her hometown in March 2020, Shemsiya Waritu knew she would face challenges.
Her husband is overseas. Not only does she need to bear the burden of work and daily housework for her four children, she also needs to bear the responsibility of homeschooling.
An Oromo woman from Ethiopia, who has almost no education herself and almost no formal English literacy skills, told Al Jazeera that she was “actually nervous”.
“I don’t have the ability to teach them,” she said. “Even if I can support them, I cannot support them because I have to perform other duties.”
Shemsiya, who has lived in Melbourne since 1995, told Al Jazeera that she recalled her roots in a large family. The parents are busy and hardworking. In this family, every child has the responsibility to take care of younger siblings.
“So I just said to myself,’How do we survive as an African?’ “When we had to do our homework, what kind of help did we get? “I will make sure that each of them helps each other.”
She encourages her every child born in Australia to help her next youngest child complete school and homework.
“When we get home, we have to do this because it is our responsibility-this is how we support our parents. Because they will try to provide us with food there. So our responsibility [as children] Just take care of each other. There is no doubt that we must take care of each other. “
Although Shemsiya admitted that she was lucky to get help from the school, she also said that the experience of homeschooling without sufficient literacy and computer skills is shared by many people in the African-Australian community.
“When I felt panic, I thought of many families-especially newcomers-they don’t speak English, and even said yes to the teacher. I need help in these areas,” she told Al Jazeera.
Shemsiya Waritu used her experience growing up in Ethiopia to help her Australian-born child survive the long blockade in Melbourne [Supplied]She added that although she is married and fortunate to have her husband’s support when he returns, the challenges are more complicated for many single mothers in the immigrant community.
“I can’t imagine what many families have to go through.”
Gender gap exposed
Shemsiya is one of thousands of women in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, and they have been under tremendous pressure. series By the beginning of the lifting on October 26, the six blockades will be extended to 267 days in total.
These restrictions are one of the strictest in the world, including long-term school closures, a curfew at 9 pm and requiring people to be within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of their homes within 1 hour a day during which they can go out for exercise.
Except for grocery stores and other basic services, all businesses have been closed, and nursing facilities such as nurseries have also been closed.
This means that all homeschooling and preschool childcare must be done at home, in a strictly and strictly controlled social isolation environment.
Tanja Kovac, CEO of Victoria Gender Equality, told Al Jazeera that although the lockdown has affected all Victorians, “the impact has been fully gendered.”
She said that not only are mothers facing tremendous pressure, but industries with high female employment rates are also facing tremendous pressure-salons, childcare, hair salons and beauty salons and other women-led companies have been forced to close.
“this means [women have] Having lost their jobs, they have encountered financial challenges at home, and they need to rely on government subsidies and support,” Kovac said.
On the contrary, even if there is evidence that the transmission rate of COVID-19 is high, male-dominated industries such as construction remain basically open.The two-week closure and vaccine injunction imposed on builders last month resulted in Violent protest.
During the pandemic, the pressure on the “deeply feminized” labor force for basic services, such as nurses, elderly care and educators, as Kovac described was also amplified.
“COVID-19 has exposed a huge gender gap in society,” Kovac said. “One of the biggest ways it can do this is to make it clear that a large portion of our basic service workforce is made up of women, and that the salaries for most of these roles are clearly low.”
Police are stationed in public residential areas, which have stricter blockades than other parts of Melbourne.These apartments are homes for many people from immigrant and refugee backgrounds [File: Andy Brownbill/AP Photo]Kovac — whose organization recently released a report documenting the experiences of immigrant and refugee women — said women in these communities are under greater pressure.
“Many immigrant and refugee women are not eligible for government subsidies because they are excluded from this support for visas and other reasons,” Kovac told Al Jazeera. “Many of them are left behind and are in a very dangerous financial situation.”
There are also additional lock-in restrictions on public housing units, and some complexes have been blocked.
Certain residential areas are mainly homes for immigrants and refugees. These residential areas not only increase the pressure on the people living there, but are also seized by right-wing politicians in Australia. Pauline Hanson, who leads the One Nation Party, referred to the people living in the affected towers as “alcoholics” and “drug addicts” who should have learned to speak English before coming to Australia.
The need for diversity
The Victorian Ombudsman believes that the blockade violates human rights.
Debra Parkinson, manager of the Australian Department of Gender and Disasters, said her research on natural disasters, including bushfires in Australia, shows that such incidents often affect women more extremely than men.
This includes the increase in domestic violence, in which unemployment, increased unemployment, poverty, and drug and alcohol abuse have “sustained effects on violence against women.”
although Violence against women Parkinson said that during the pandemic, the global infection rate has increased, and the long-term lockdown in Melbourne means that women may be kept at home with the abuser and become more vulnerable.
She said: “The usual support they might get—such as extended family or neighbors, or even formal support—is really affected by COVID.”
However, the pandemic experience-considered a natural disaster-provides an opportunity to learn and change the response to future disasters.
“We need to have more different voices out there [including] Women and LGBTIQ people play these decision-making, visible roles,” Parkinson said.
“Actually involve these people in decision-making. I’m not just talking about women, but women with gender expertise.”
The Victorian Minister for Women and Domestic Violence, Gabrielle Williams, agreed that the impact of the pandemic has been gendered.
“It is clear that women all over the world are severely and disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Women have taken on more unpaid care responsibilities and have also been hit hardest by the economic impact of the pandemic,” she told Al Jazeera.
Victoria passed a gender equality bill in March to address structural inequality faced by women [File: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP Photo]Williams said that in response to the increase in domestic violence, the government has increased its response to domestic violence services, including increasing online and telephone assistance, and identifying domestic violence at checkpoints and medical services.
“We know that domestic violence can occur in every community, and getting culturally and linguistically appropriate support is crucial-this is why we invest in professional services, programs and support services,” she said.
In March of this year, Victoria became the first state in Australia to implement the Gender Equality Act, which aims to address the structural inequality experienced by women in the economy and society.
As the blockade is coming to an end, Shemsiya told Al Jazeera that although she is fortunate for the support of the children’s school and the success of her African family education project, she also hopes that the government can contact immigrant and refugee families and ask what can be done from them. Lessons learned from lock-in experience.
“I can hear a lot of struggles and complaints in many families,” she said. “It is very important to interview family members and understand what happened. The pressure is not only on the parents, but also on the children.”
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