Gender and race on the frontline: experiences of health workers in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic

Health emergencies differentially affect people across societies, yet one key group which has been disproportionately overlooked are women health workers. Whilst the literature has shown the impact of COVID-19 on women and on healthcare workers, little research has considered the gendered effects of the health workforce. This paper analyses the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers and working conditions in Brazil’s public healthcare system, through consideration of gendered and racialized understandings of care and work. Data was taken from an online survey with 1,263 health workers, understaken between September and October 2020, disaggregated by sex and by race in order to understand health workers’ experiences of the pandemic in one of the countries most significantly affected by the crisis.