A Statement from Québec Women’s Centres in Favour of a Feminist post-COVID Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone around the world since last spring. However, the crisis has not affected us all equally. Over the past few months, the inequality gap has grown wider and wider.

Those experiencing poverty, those who have been racialized, the elderly, and women have all been hit disproportionately.

The pandemic’s impact on the living conditions of Black (im)migrant women is a particularly stark example. That being so, we feel it is essential to put feminist issues at the centre of post-COVID economic recovery efforts.

Demands*

The Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) approach must be folded into all post-COVID economic recovery plans.

A feminist post-COVID recovery plan must :

1 Prioritize the health and well-being of women;

1.1 Invest in the social safety net by funding public and parapublic services,
1.2 Make institutional health services, social services and justice services safe and accessible for women.

2 Put women workers and their communities first;

2.1 Invest in healthcare, education and the community sector by raising the importance of women’s working conditions in these areas,
2.2 Fully recognize the value of the work performed by women particularly those who have been racialized; they are not angels but skilled workers with specific competencies,
2.3 Immediately raise the minimum hourly wage to $15 and ensure that everyone earns enough to meet their basic needs.

3 Build resilience to prevent future crises and their social fallout;

3.1 Increase global mission funding for women’s centres in Québec as well as for other autonomous community action organizations,
3.2 Implement an environmental transition plan in collaboration with Indigenous groups that supports social justice,
3.3 Ensure that women and all relevant stakeholders are equitably represented in all crisis-related decision-making,
3.4 Invest massively in social housing.

4 Strengthen solidarity and equity between communities.

4.1 Implement a guaranteed minimum income program without cutting into the social safety net,
4.2 Immediately grant permanent residency to migrant women, non-status women, and women who are temporary and domestic workers, as well as to their families,
4.3 Apply all measures recommended by the three recent inquiries on relations between Indigenous peoples and public services, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and genuine reconciliation,
4.4 Nationalize high-speed Internet access and deploy it across the entire province of Québec at a price that everyone can afford,
4.5 Incorporate notions of gender equality as well as equality between women within all teaching materials used in Québec’s education system.

*These demands are interrelated and cannot be split off from one another.

Download the short statement (without the « whereas ») and the statement with the « whereas ».

Related page : Women’s Centres Mobilize to Call for a Feminist Economic Relaunch, 02.22.2021