The Right to Gender Equality in Tourism in the Context of Pandemic COVID-19 in the Canton Riobamba, Ecuador

Headnote

Abstract:

The main objective of this research is to analyze the right to gender equality in tourism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the canton of Riobamba, Ecuador. A methodology was used within the multi-layered modality. The study design was DEXPLIS, based on grounded theory and the inductive-deductive and analytical - synthetic methods were implemented by means of a descriptive analysis. A checklist was applied for data collection survey of a sample of women workers in the tourism sector and it was determined that in the context of the pandemic that humanity is going through, women as a vulnerable group will not only have significant impacts that compromise their empowerment but also that in addition, Ecuador does not have sustainable legal measures to address the sensitive realities that have led to the health crisis.

Keywords: tourism; gender; equality; non-discrimination; companies.

JEL Classification: Z00; R11; Z32.

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)

Introduction

In a first aspect, in order to frame this study in the tourist context and in turn in the transversal discipline of gender, it is necessary to make some initial considerations, the first being the definition of gender equality. In this sense, authors like Ferrajoli (2020) indicate that equality refers to the existence in a State of the concrete conditions for all individuals to have the same possibilities despite their substantial differences. Specifically, gender may refer to different criteria for some groups that are considered vulnerable, but for the purposes of the following research women will be considered as a specific group.

In law, the principle of equality is studied hand in hand with forms of discrimination. In this regard, discrimination should be understood as the cultivation of a behaviour that is socially widespread and that is transformed into contempt towards a person or a group of people whose vulnerabilities or specific features are different or stand out from other being's humans (Navarro 2017). In this sense, authors like Orbegoso (2016) indicate that then these precepts suppose "the conquest of material equality (...) of a State that had to change to face the new demands of a society that conceives itself as plural" (p.1). The realization of equality policies is therefore merely a reflection in the practical sphere of society of...