Women were undoubtedly the hardest hit by the pandemic, as evidenced by national employment statistics. Women lost work as a result of either closure in industries where women were overrepresented in the workforce (such as low-wage hospitality, retail, or caregiving industries) or were forced to make the difficult decision of leaving the workforce to care for families; becoming teachers to remote-learning children and caregivers to ill or elderly family members.

This reality created a severe ripple effect, triggering increased stress, financial insecurity, and domestic violence.