The COVID-19 pandemic caused crises that have affected different groups and communities in different ways. In the best of times, inequalities between men and women are a major concern, and 2021 has seen related challenges grow, with new ones emerging. These challenges are seen through many lenses (politics, family, education, employment), including a lens of faith. That means narratives that religious communities, in all their diversity, use to describe the phenomena of women’s leadership, burdens of care, challenges to girls’ education, and rising domestic violence. Faith communities worldwide have responded in many cases with energy and compassion to immediate needs, but more thought and action are needed in the months ahead.
This event drew on the Religious Responses to COVID-19 project, which has catalogued and analyzed faith responses to the COVID-19 emergencies. Throughout, the strengths and vulnerabilities of women and girls cried out for attention and action. Looking ahead, this event addressed how religious beliefs have colored and shaped gendered experiences during the crisis, what challenges emerge for interpersonal relationships, and explored what “rebuilding better and fairer” means in practice.
JLI’s CEO, Kirsten Laursen Muth, speaks on faith and gender.
Co-sponsored by the Joint Learning Initiative, World Faiths Development Dialogue, and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.