Covid-19: Inequality and Disproportionality

of the recently documented calamitous efects of the standardising algorithm employed in the U.K. – arbitrarily downgrading results and depriving thousands of students of university places. Education Minister Norma Foley assured students that the Irish system was diferent in that teacher estimations are most heavily weighted in the generating of any grade. Still, the “standardisation” process is a yet-unproven practice. A detail that has not been widely publicised is that there is no means of appealing a grade this year, merely the paper trail underpinning it. Billy Ryle, a guidance counsellor, has commented that this represents a fundamental denial of a candidate’s right to due process. So how are we to ensure that Irish students do not fall victim to a grade-calculating algorithm and sufer the same distress as U.K. students? Tere is still time to act. In view of the empirical evidence from the U.K., it seems the Department would be wise to abandon the process of statistical standardisation and instead base grades entirely on teacher assessments. It has been suggested that it would be easier to cope with the resultant infated grades than the public consternation of denying Irish students a place at third level. With the improvised system not set to debut until 7 September, the signifcance of Covid-19 and calculated grades on the 2020 Leaving Certifcate candidates remains to be seen.

Demilade Adeniran SF Law Editor’s Note: This article contains references to racism and domestic abuse, which some readers may find distressing

Death. Hand sanitiser. Face masks. Lockdown. Online lectures. Space on the bus.

Tis line summarizes what many would associate with the Covid-19 pandemic. Although people may difer on what keywords they would choose, most agree that the pandemic has had a decidedly negative efect on all. However, it must be noted that COVID-19 has disproportionately afected specifc groups of people whom this piece seeks to highlight. One group disproportionately afected by Covid-19 are those living in Direct Provision centres. People living in these centres face infringement to their human right to health as a result of Covid-19 and consequential massive overcrowding issues. Te very nature of these facilities makes it difcult for diferent families to social distance and therefore puts these already-vulnerable residents at an even higher risk. Te Ombudsman has made strong comments relating to crowd control in these centres in its annual report, noting that “... the highly contagious nature of the virus, brings into sharp relief just how unsuitable and unsustainable it is to have three or more people in the same room as is the case in many Direct Provision centres, particularly those being used on an emergency basis...” Currently, up to ten residents may share one room and one kitchen. Most reading this article struggle to relate to such a reality. Te morality of these centers is questionable, yet seemingly hidden from front page news. If people are denied their human rights, they are being treated as less than human; human rights are just that, rights, not privileges. If the legislature is treating the right to human health as a privilege, by afording varying levels of this right to those in Direct Provision, we call into question whether we respect rights as a country. And if we do not respect rights as a country, what precedent do we set for seemingly smaller rights violations locally? Another disproportionality focuses on race. Black people and people of colour face prejudice at the hands of the legislature, which was of course relied heavily upon during the Covid-19 pandemic. Notably, people of colour

are disproportionately afected by the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19), henceforth “the Health Act.” Under these regulations, the Gardaí may arrest without warrant, and non-compliance with Gardaí instructions without a lawful excuse is now a criminal ofence. Any ofence is punishable by a fne of up to €2,500, up to six months imprisonment, or a combination of both. Te implications of this will now be explored.

Te afermath of this law as implemented during Covid-19 may lead to an increased fear of the police if they abuse their wider powers of arrest to unfairly target Black people. When widening the powers of any authority, in this case, the police with their widening powers of arrest, we must look at the views of those whose powers are widened. We, for example, do not allow the legislature to make their laws and implement them too because they may make more favourable outcomes for themselves. Growing police powers may lead to furthering an agenda of institutionalised racism or leave room for prejudice in regards to Black people. Evidence of the institutionalised racism in the police force in Ireland can be found from research such as the “Afrophobia in Ireland” study, which details how the police fail to respond promptly to the calls for help from those from African descent: “Too terrifed to do anything about it. Probably feels the Garda won’t investigate properly. And he is probably right.” “I rang police. Tey didn’t turn up.” Te report goes further to detail how Black people feel that they sufer from disproportionate policing and that they arrested “without just cause.” A group disproportionately have been threatened to be Tis way in which the people when police’s powers affected by COVID-19 law disadvantages Black of arrest are widened will surely continue far into the are those living in future. It is however, even more important that we do not allow the law to so disproportionately afect people Direct Provision centres. during a pandemic as it may result in in a reduction people are reporting crime, People living in these centres in the levels to which Black or lead to Black people refraining from lawfully ex- necessary purchases for fear face infringement to their ercising or going out for of being unfairly treated. Tis legislation has the po- human right to health. tential to breed a culture of fear amongst this group. Te police may try to justify their actions in a similar manner to the MET police force, who, according to The Guardian, say that youths from an “African-Caribbean heritage” were more likely than whites to be knife-attackers than victims, and that stopping them more than white people was a crucial way to catch criminals and keep young people safe. Tis statement does not take into account the racial bias that leads police to investigate Black people before white people, which means that they will fnd Black people “causing trouble” in a proportionally higher number of cases. Police may assume that white children out of their homes are out for a justifable reason, while those who are black may have a higher chance of being questioned. Tis idea follows on from the fact that Black people are more likely to be considered perpetrators of crime rather than victims. Although this legislation may bring comfort to some people, those from minority groups may well be brought unease by it. Lastly, another group of people disproportionately afected by the pandemic is women. Tis was revealed when the initial lockdown occurred and children were studying from home. Women reported that the vast majority of home-schooling and household duties fell onto them, even if they were working full-time. Research conducted by University of Arkansas professor Gema Zamarro highlighted this - as many as one third of working mothers in two-parent households reported they were the only ones providing care for their children. Being expected to perform the majority of the childcare duties in the home can afect the ability of women to their jobs to the highest standard or may add undeserved stress to their working environment. A panel of women,on the topic of how Covid-19 disproportionately afects women, which included academics such as Kathleen Lynch and Ebun Joseph, spoke on the disproportionate efect that women in higher education endured as a result of the virus. Tey discussed that in terms of furloughs and redundancies, women employed in higher education are more likely to hold the junior positions, meaning that they are less protected than those with senior positions. Another way in which