Coronavirus is killing more men. But the lockdown is disastrous for women and their rights - CNN

"We think about this crisis in very narrow terms, only focusing on the health impacts, but we're missing the bigger picture," said Julia Smith, a researcher at the Simon Fraser University in Canada.

"Crises like this exacerbate already existing structural inequalities in society -- when it comes to women's rights, women's health, and women's economic status, this is exactly what we are seeing now," said Kristina Lunz, co-founder of The Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy.

Women's rights as an afterthought

Smith said that when marginalized groups are underrepresented at the decision-making table, their rights and needs are often forgotten.

"And unfortunately, women's rights are almost always an afterthought in any crisis situation," she said.

Marbán Castro said the lockdown has also hindered access to family planning, with health systems in many countries overwhelmed by coronavirus.

One example: 55% of the Americans who have lost their jobs in March and April were women, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

"A lot of the industries that are being most affected by the outbreak -- tourism and other service industries, care work sector -- those industries tend to be dominated by women," Smith said.

And while many countries have stepped in to provide help to people who lost their jobs, many women are likely slipping through the cracks.

According to the World Health Organization, 70% of the global health and social care workers are women.

Lunz said the crisis will likely affect women's careers in the long term, setting back the quest for equality.

"What we know from history, when women do not have access to resources and are not independent and cannot sustain themselves, they are dependent on someone else."

'Not thinking about anyone else'

The pandemic has also presented some world leaders with an opportunity to grab more power, sparking fears among women's rights activists and researchers.

"Autocratic leaders and toxic leaders are always the biggest threat to women's rights," Lunz said.