CFP: Edited Volume - How COVID-19 Has Impacted Women and Girls Around the World

Edited Volume

Hidden Toll: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of How COVID-19 Has Impacted Women and Girls Around the World

Background

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a recently discovered coronavirus. The coronavirus was first confirmed in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December 2019, and later declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in early March 2020. To date, hundreds of millions of cases have been confirmed in countries across the globe, and more than six million people have died due to COVID-19 worldwide. Unfortunately, the deadly continues to spread, with severe and far-reaching consequences. Although much coverage has been dedicated to exploring the different impacts of the crisis (such as its social, political, and economic consequences), comparatively little attention has been directed to examining the particular impact of the pandemic on women and girls. Past crises and outbreaks have powerfully demonstrated that men and women are differently affected, while preexisting inequalities and challenges for women and girls are often exacerbated. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, a considerable amount of data and emerging reports have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, have intensified. Moreover, in some countries, resources and efforts have been diverted from national responses to violence against women to immediate COVID-19 relief. This edited volume aims to critically interrogate and broaden our understanding of how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted women and girls around the world.

In particular, we seek contributions addressing the following potential topics and questions, among others:

• In what ways has COVID-19 affected women and girls specifically or differently?
• How may (or does) the global crisis threaten many of hard-fought gains achieved by women and girls over recent years and decades?
• How have women and girls been on the frontlines of the recovery or the response (at home, in public, within institutions, etc.)?
• How has COVID-19 affected extreme poverty, education, employment, health, unpaid care, and violence against women and girls?
• In what ways has the pandemic exposed, exploited, or exacerbated pre-existing inequalities faced by women and girls?
• What have been the progressive and effective steps taken to understand and address COVID-19's impact on women and girls?
• Initiatives and programs supporting girls and women
• Beyond the above, other possible topics or themes may include:
  • Emerging challenges and new inequalities for women and girls
  • Sexual and reproductive health and rights during the pandemic
  • Solidarity, resilience, and adaptation
  • How civil society organizations can play a role in connecting legal and personal safety specialists to women in at-risk groups or communities
  • New or innovative ways of delivering gender-based violence support services or information during the pandemic
  • Women’s political leadership in addressing or responding to COVID-19
  • Women and girls in the home during lockdowns (education, care of dependents, mothering, etc.)
  • Online and ICT-facilitated violence against women and girls
  • The emotional and psychological impacts on women and girls
  • Particular challenges or issues faced by women and girls from minority, indigenous, marginalized, and vulnerable groups
  • COVID-19 through the voice or perspective of women and girls
  • Media coverage or portrayals of women and girls during the pandemic
  • Insecurity or precariousness (employment, food, housing, etc.)
  • Priority measures and targeted protections
  • Why (or how) women and women’s rights must be at the fundamental core of the crisis response and recovery

Submissions

Interested authors are invited to submit abstracts (approximately 250-500 words) outlining their proposed chapters. All abstracts should be emailed as attachments in either Microsoft Word or PDF format. Submissions should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. We encourage contributions from different fields, disciplines, and regions of the world, and proposed chapters may be based on any research method or approach (theoretical, empirical, quantitative, qualitative, reviews, extended essays, etc.).

Timeline and Process*

• The deadline for submission of abstracts: 15 August 2022 
• Editors will closely review all abstracts and invite submission of full manuscripts by 15 September 2022. All manuscripts will be expected to adhere to specific formatting guidelines (which will be sent to invited authors at a later date).
• Length of chapters is flexible, although approximately 10,000 words is recommended. All contributions are to be in English.
• Deadline for the submission of manuscript first draft: 20 December 2021
• Following initial review, draft manuscripts will be returned to authors by mid-Feb 2023
• Deadline for final draft of manuscript: 15 April 2023
• This edited volume is scheduled to be published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2023. We aim to have this in print approximately six months from the submission of the final, agreed manuscript. All contributors will be requested to sign a contributor agreement.

*Please note that while all efforts will be to remain consistent with the above timeline during the publication process, it may be subject to slight modifications or small changes.

About the Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP) “is an independent academic publisher, committed to providing a forward-thinking publishing service that champions original thinking, whilst ensuring we put our authors at the heart of everything we do.” Founded in 2001 by former lecturers and researchers from the University of Cambridge, CSP publishes original academic work across a wide range of subjects in four key areas: Humanities and Social Sciences; Health Sciences; Physical Sciences; and Life Sciences. Publications by CSP are marketed worldwide and sold through international booksellers and distributors including Amazon, Blackwell, Baker & Taylor, YBP and Ingram, and are purchased by academic libraries across the world. In addition, CSP has distribution partnerships in key geographical territories such as the USA, China, India and the Middle East. Learn more at: www.cambridgescholars.com