Across the globe, women earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, and are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. They are more vulnerable to economic shocks wrought by crises such as the coronavirus pandemic. They are more likely to lose their jobs than men as in many countries, women’s participation in the labour market are often temporary, lacking in social protection, health insurance, paid sick and maternity leave, pensions and unemployment benefits. Moreover, female-dominated service sectors such as food, hospitality and tourism are among those expected to feel the harshest economic effect of containment measures. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBQI+) community historically face discrimination in accessing employment, resulting in high representation of members of the community in precarious and informal sectors. With the COVID-19 Pandemic and resulting containment measures, members of the community face greater risk of slipping into food and shelter insecurity, poverty, and homelessness. Possible stigma and discrimination against the LGBQI+ community could impact access to social and economic packages and relief from the government. Results of the GIA led by UNFPA provide evidence-based and local data on the economic impact of the crisis on women, especially those facing multiple vulnerabilities. The results showed that the pandemic led to overwhelming loss of employment and significantly reduced income.35 It also heightened existing vulnerabilities as in the case of an internally displaced senior citizen woman in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) who said ‘We can’t earn a living. Which is why we find it hard to find food to eat. It was better during the Marawi Siege when we could at least go out to find a way to earn money.’36 This increased economic vulnerability has also been observed to lead to negative coping mechanisms such as resort to prostitution/sex work, mendicancy, or suicidal ideation. In the GIA, one urban poor woman from NCR stated ‘Is there any way you can help women like me? Any way we can earn so we don’t have to rely on our husbands’ income or resort to selling our bodies to make money… just so we can buy food from day to day?’37 Another woman with disability who was homeless and a survivor of GBV admitted to walking along Mandaluyong bridge at night, contemplating of ending her own life. 38 Sectoral monitoring by the Commission with women with disability in NCR, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro and with urban poor women in Navotas and Brgy, Holy Spirit, Quezon City further reveal the economic impact of the pandemic. At the onset of the ECQ, women with disabilities in NCR, including blind masseurs bewailed immediately loss of income. Rural women, including women farmers and fisherfolks also reported loss of income. In a webinar titled “Kwentuhan Tayo: #PagkainFrontliners Share Real Stories from the Field in a COVID-19 Reality,”39 fisherfolks shared the difficulties they faced during the lockdown including food scarcity and food insecurity; loss of income and productivity brought about by limited mobility, closure of markets, prohibition on fishing, closure of iceplants and long check point queues resulting in fish spoilage. In continuing to leave their homes to fish, to find markets or areas to barter their catch, fisherfolks run the risk not only of infection but also of arrest. One of the speakers of the webinar, Cathryn Leonaga, is a woman 35 Silayan, see note 19 Silayan, see note 19 37 Silayan, see note 19 38 Women with Disabilities Peer Monitoring by CHR-GEWHRC, 17 March-17 April 2020 39 Novio,Eunice. Webinar Report: Farmers, fisherfolk lament limited aid, logistical challenges brought by COVID19. 19 May 2020. Greenpeace. https://www.greenpeace.org/philippines/story/9589/webinar-report-farmersfisherfolk-limited-aid-logistical-challenges-covid19/ 36 8