{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0242451967063129, 'fraction_numerical': 0.006404391582799634, 'mean_word_length': 4.910810810810811, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
COVID 19 AND GENDER ROLE: UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON WOMEN IN INDIA AND RUSSIA

The Covid-19 pandemic has devasted the world’s peace by creating terror and brought the world to a protracted crisis of health, economy, education, and livelihood. The dreaded pandemic has continued to wreak havoc on the routine life of humans, especially bringing staggering consequences for women worldwide. Due to the lockdowns and temporary shutdowns, the pandemic has aggravated the existing gender inequality with ample workload on women in the domestic spheres. This paper has done a comparative analysis of the status of women during covid-19 in Indian and Russian society. Gender inequality has increased during the Covid-19 that women from the workforce disappeared; women lost their job as domestic helpers in the cities, and there is massive job loss for women as it is difficult for them to re-enter the workforce in post-lockdowns. In India, women are culturally bound by the social and family expectations that they take time off for kids or family. Ultimately, they face the problem of job loss. In Russia, where the percentage of women is more in the workforce, they abide by the traditional values of family roles and have no time for their productive work. Domestic violence against women is a common issue and deeply rooted in societies of both countries, which have become doubled in India and increased two and half times in Russia during the pandemic. The paper critically explores how the Covid-19 pandemic has provided social, economic, and psychological hardships for women in both countries. Secondly, it asserts how the increased workload in lockdown and the job loss in the pandemic affect the women in India and Russia. Thirdly, it studies the increasing domestic violence cases as a significant physical and emotional damage to women during the pandemic. The paper further examines the state’s response to the women’s issues during the covid-19 pandemic. The study is analytical, descriptive, and primarily based on secondary data from India and Russia.
KEYWORDS: Pandemic, Covid-19, Gender role, Women, Domestic violence, Gender equality, India, and Russia.