Study shows that groups with higher rates of social vulnerability will suffer due to lack of access to basic rights
According to a report by the United Nations (UN), the groups most affected by the new coronavirus crisis in Latin America are women, indigenous people and the Afro-descendant population, as well as informal workers and migrants. The analysis comes from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). For the organization, inequality in access to water, sanitation, health and housing for these groups can lead to a higher rate of infection and death.
The report says that social inequalities “accumulate, enhance and interact with each other, causing multiple forms of discrimination”. On the issue of women, the body pointed out that they “are in a particularly vulnerable situation” because they are more exposed to the risk of unemployment and are victims of more precarious working conditions and higher rates of informality.
According to the agency, 11.4% of employed women in Latin America are domestic workers, mainly migrant, indigenous or of African descent. They are in a state of vulnerability because they have limited access to social security rights. ECLAC points out that “the burden of unpaid domestic work borne by women, adolescents and girls, as well as cases of violence against them, increase significantly” during the crisis.