Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
University Libraries, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
PLoS One. 2024 Nov 18;19(11):e0313838. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313838. eCollection 2024.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a global outlier both for its low female labor force participation and investment in early childhood development services, and consistently ranks lowest on global rankings of gender parity. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global gender inequity has been acknowledged, specific challenges faced by partnered-women in MENA are underexplored. Additionally, with over half of the region affected by conflict and displacement, exploring these impacts sheds light on understudied gender disparities in humanitarian contexts during the pandemic. This scoping review aims to examine intra-household gender disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding to a more comprehensive understanding of this particular public health emergency's worldwide ramifications. The hypothesis is that the pandemic has exacerbated women's pre-existing constraints in the MENA region, worsening gender inequities in economic empowerment, healthcare access, and general well-being.
This review will explore intra-household gender disparities in decision-making, household labor division, economic independence, health, and access to resources and services during the COVID-19 pandemic that have been reported to have been affected by COVID-19 globally. Following PRISMA guidelines for Scoping Reviews, a comprehensive search will be conducted in APA PsycINFO, Arab World Research Source: Al Masdar, EconLit, Global Health, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection, in consultation with an information specialist. Studies in English, French and Arabic from January 2020 to August 2024 will be included. Four independent reviewers will screen studies, and data will be charted, coded, and narratively synthesized.
This review is expected to shed light on gender disparities in healthcare accessibility, mobility, and decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic across low- and middle-income countries in the MENA region, adding to the global literature.
中东和北非（MENA）地区在女性劳动力参与率和对儿童早期发展服务的投资方面均处于全球较低水平，且在性别均等全球排名中始终垫底，是一个明显的例外。虽然人们已经认识到 COVID-19 大流行对全球性别不平等的影响，但 MENA 地区已婚女性所面临的具体挑战仍未得到充分探讨。此外，由于该地区有一半以上的国家受到冲突和流离失所的影响，因此研究这些影响有助于了解大流行期间人道主义背景下性别不平等问题。本范围综述旨在研究 COVID-19 大流行期间的家庭内性别差距，从而更全面地了解这一特定公共卫生紧急事件在全球范围内的影响。研究假设是，大流行加剧了 MENA 地区女性先前存在的限制，使经济赋权、获得医疗保健以及整体福祉方面的性别不平等现象更加恶化。
本综述将探讨 COVID-19 大流行期间在决策、家庭劳动分工、经济独立、健康以及获取资源和服务方面报告的全球范围内受到 COVID-19 影响的家庭内性别差距。本综述将遵循 PRISMA 指南进行范围综述，与信息专家协商后，在 APA PsycINFO、阿拉伯世界研究源：Al Masdar、EconLit、全球健康、MEDLINE、Scopus 和 Web of Science 核心合集数据库中全面检索 2020 年 1 月至 2024 年 8 月间发表的英语、法语和阿拉伯语文献。将纳入来自中低收入国家的研究。四位独立审查员将筛选研究，对数据进行图表制作、编码和叙述性综合。
本综述有望揭示 MENA 地区中低收入国家在 COVID-19 大流行期间医疗保健可及性、流动性和决策方面的性别差距，为全球文献增砖添瓦。
