Giving Compass' Take:

• Claudia Williams urges funders to adopt a race and gender lens in their COVID-19 response to address the needs of people who are affected by systemic inequalities. 

• Are your current efforts supporting the most vulnerable groups? How can you better support women of color during this pandemic and beyond? 

• Learn more about people who are vulnerable to COVID-19. 

We are all in some way feeling the impact of COVID-19, no matter our race, nationality, gender, or ability. But cis and trans women and non-binary people of color—who experience deep-rooted inequities—are feeling the impact in very distinct ways. Responding with a gender and race lens underscores understanding the specific risks and vulnerabilities women and girls of color face, some of them include:

Women of color are overrepresented in low-wage occupations and are disproportionately affected by poverty

Almost 28 percent of Black women and 19 percent of Latinas in the District live below the poverty level, and in the DMV region, nearly two-thirds of all low-wage workers are women. Most of them immigrant (49 percent) or non-white (81 percent).

Women are most of frontline workers

In DC, more than half (52.3 percent) of physicians and surgeons, and almost three out of four (73 percent) professional nurses are women.

Increased risk of violence

Travel restrictions and mandatory lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 are escalating gender-based violence incidents in the District.

Women of color make up the largest share of women who experience homelessness

Unhoused women face unique challenges. They have difficulty accessing health care, menstruation products, or childcare.

Read the full article about a race and gender lens for COVID-19 response by Claudia Williams at Washington Area Women's Foundation.