Coronavirus fallout worse for women: Shabnam Zafar

Former vice president of the FPCCI and founder President of the Khairpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shabnam Zafar, has said that the coronavirus fallout is worse for women than for men, therefore the vulnerable women should get special attention of the government.

Shabnam said that many women are low-wage and part-time workers who are facing gender pay gap while those who are running their businesses depend on exhibitions and middlemen as a majority of them cannot afford to have shops.

She said that financial security is shrinking for the businesswomen, and the government should announce a bailout package for them immediately. She said that women have been facing income loss. Beauty parlors and boutiques

have been closed, millions of maids have been laid off, and hundreds of thousands of teachers have been sent on forced leave. Shabnam Zafar noted that the economy needs women, and women need equity and protection, therefore the State Bank of Pakistan should reschedule loan repayments, announce interest-free loans for women entrepreneurs and take all other steps needed to empower them amid the crisis.