One year into the pandemic, its effects are disproportionately impacting the lives of women and girls: their health, education and access to opportunity around the world.

There is a projected increase in female poverty; a “shadow pandemic” looms, with a marked rise in girls and women facing domestic and gender-based violence; more than 20 million girls may drop out and never return to school; and there will be an expected spike in child marriages.

Teenagers are also contending with missed or delayed milestones such as graduation or college; struggles with mental health; and isolation.

These trends and data points paint a bleak picture for what girls lives look like right now. But I wanted to know:

What does life look like for teenage girls around the world, beyond these headlines? How are they spending their days, and how do shifted paths, changing opportunities and these challenges play out in their day-to-day? 

A similar question led me to write a series for The Lily in 2018, about the lives of teenage girls around the world. That series led to “Girlhood,” a book featuring 30 girls from 27 countries.

Here, I revisit the question in the pandemic with five girls from different countries (including two who are featured in the book), asking them to share what their daily lives look like.

• • •

Gomti Rawat

19, India

Gomti is a 12th grader living in Lucknow, India. She left home and moved to the city when she was 11, and she now lives with her grandmother, brothers and sister. Since she moved to Lucknow, Gomti has also worked as a house helper to help pay her school fees and cover expenses. When the pandemic started, work stopped. 

Gomti was one of 740 million women around the world who work in the informal economy whose income fell in the first week of the pandemic. Globally, 72 percent of domestic workers lost work because of the coronavirus, according to a U.N. report. 

As school went online, Gomti’s lost work and wages meant she couldn’t afford to buy Internet on her phone to attend Zoom classes or pay school fees, and she fell a few months behind. 

“There was a break in my studies because we had to be able to pay for data on my phone. … I didn’t have money," she said.

Now, since lockdown and restrictions have lifted, Gomti’s days are returning to normal as she balances work and studies. School reopened in November and she’s also working at two houses. 

• • •

Chanleakna Chuong

18, Cambodia and Australia

Chanleakna is in her first year of university and lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She was attending high school on a scholarship in Australia and is currently enrolled in university there, but now attends classes virtually from home.

When the pandemic hit Australia, her school shut down.

“I was pretty lonely, I cried to myself a lot,” she said. She says she also faced racism from Australian classmates. 

“Me and my other Asian friends, we had been bullied by some racist local students at our school,” she said. “We were having lunch at the canteen and they threw bottles of water, paper at us.”

Chanleakna and her friends’ experiences weren’t isolated — there was a surge in anti-Asian racism in Australia last year. After her final year of high school and many long months of isolation and homesickness, Chanleakna chose to return home to Cambodia about two months ago.

Join us 

Sign up for a virtual ‘Girlhood’ event

Watch “Girlhood” author Masuma Ahuja, left, and Lily editor Neema Roshania Patel, right, in conversation during a virtual event on March 17 at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Sign up here to join the Politics & Prose event. 

ICYMI

Three need-to-know stories

01.

Nearly a year into the pandemic, a peer-reviewed article examined the psychology behind Zoom fatigue. Professor Jeremy Bailenson, the founding director of the Stanford University Virtual Human Interaction Lab, likened our sudden relationship with videoconference tools to spending our entire workdays with a mirror in our hand. 

02.

On Sunday, CBS aired an interview between Meghan and Harry, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and Oprah Winfrey. Meghan was candid about many things: motherhood, the “concerns and conversations” around the skin color of her son, Archie, before he was born, and the suicidal thoughts she experienced due to brutal loneliness and intense scrutiny. 

03.

Today marks International Women’s Day — a celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. To learn more about well-known women leaders as well as discover new ones, visit The Washington Post’s special section for Women’s History Month. 

Regram

A share from @thelilynews

Good news

A story to make you smile

It was early January and Emily Johnson was in a panic. Johnson, 68, who lives in Austin, was scheduled to have open-heart surgery in late February, and her cardiologist strongly advised she get vaccinated before flying to Cleveland for the procedure. But the slow vaccine rollout in Texas made it seemingly impossible for Johnson to get inoculated — even though she’s over 65 and has a serious health condition, writes Sydney Page in The Washington Post. 

Desperate, she posted on the neighborhood networking site Nextdoor looking for advice. The next morning, a private message suddenly appeared in her inbox. It was an offer from a total stranger. “I am scheduled for the vaccine this morning at 10:45am,” wrote Christy Lewis. “You need this much more than I do. If you can make this appointment, it’s yours. Please call me to arrange.” The pair ran into a number of logistical issues, but eventually the plan worked, and Johnson was able to schedule her shot. Lewis was able to reschedule her vaccine for February. 

Callout

Are you a woman who’s left the workforce during the pandemic?

The Lily and The Post are reporting on the record number of women leaving the workforce during the pandemic. We’re interested in hearing from women about how they’re navigating employment and the pandemic. Tell us more about your experience here. 

Until next time

But before we part, some recs

Caroline Kitchener

Staff reporter, The Lily 

What I’m doing to wind down:

I take a bath almost every day around 6 p.m. Working from home, it helps me to separate my work time from my down time: I step into a steamy tub, breathe deep — and sink into the relaxing part of the day.

What I’m drinking:

Two or more cups of Yorkshire Tea every day. I go through it so quickly that I purchased a 480-bag catering package at the start of the pandemic. It was gone by November. 

How I’m keeping track of time:

My days were feeling too similar, so I’ve been trying to make each one a little different. Maybe I’ll take a late-night walk, instead of watching TV. On my Notes app, I’ve started keeping a record of each day — and one “out of the ordinary” thing I did. 

🖤

Thanks for reading.