United Nations Project: Beyond the Virus: Examining the Gender and Social Dimensions of Ebola
Lilly Young, Ariana Lemus Cevantes, and Destiny Maland
College of Southern Nevada (Henderson Campus)
4002 - Sociology 101
Dr. Flora Rudacille
December 07, 2025
Examining the Gender and Social Dimensions of Ebola
Ebola disease remains one of the most serious viral threats in global health because of its rapid spread, high fatality rate, and its ability to severely disrupt communities. While the disease is known for its medical severity, recent outbreaks have shown that Ebola is shaped by many social and environmental factors that influence who becomes exposed, who receives care, and who recovers. During the 2022 Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda, transmission spread across several districts and affected both healthcare workers and community members, reflecting weaknesses in early detection and infection control (Kiggundu, 2022). Gender roles and social responsibilities also play a major part in exposure, as caregiving, household duties, and burial practices can place women and men at different levels of risk (Kabami et al., 2024). Long after the initial illness ends, many survivors continue to struggle with physical symptoms, stigma, and practical challenges that affect their daily lives and ability to work (Tozay et al., 2020). To fully understand the impact of Ebola, it is important to view it not only as a medical condition but also as a biosocial issue influenced by gender and community roles. The rest of this paper will explore these patterns, beginning with an overview of the disease and its clinical features.
Ebola disease is caused by several viruses within the Orthoebolavirus genus, including the Ebola virus, Sudan virus, and Bundibugyo virus (World Health Organization, 2025). Early symptoms usually begin suddenly and include fever, intense fatigue, muscle aches, headache, and sore throat. As the illness progresses, patients often develop vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and signs of kidney or liver involvement. Although Ebola is often thought of as a hemorrhagic disease, bleeding does not occur in all cases and usually appears later in the illness (World Health Organization, 2025). These early symptoms can look similar to malaria or typhoid, which can delay diagnosis and contribute to continued spread. This was seen during the 2022 outbreak in Uganda, where some initial cases had non-specific symptoms like fever and stomach pain that made early identification difficult (Kiggundu, 2022). Understanding these signs and symptoms provides essential context for examining how Ebola impacts different groups and how communities respond.
The Ebola epidemic revealed obvious gender disparities in its impact. Women have been shown to be more susceptible to the virus than men are. Over half of those who become ill are women, and over half of the mortality rates from the virus are also women (Onyeneho et al., 2023). Women’s increased exposure can be attributed to the fact that they take on more caretaking responsibilities in the house, while men usually have more outdoor responsibilities and are home less often. Although there is no evidence of biological differences between females or males that increase the vulnerability to the Ebola virus, there are definitely different levels of exposure between the two. It is also important to take into consideration that vulnerability to the Ebola virus is more based upon gender and gender roles, and not a person's sex. For example, women are more inclined to nurse children and care for their sick family members, and it becomes a responsibility as well as part of their gender role (Nkangu et al., 2017). In the 1976 outbreak, the mortality rate was 56% among women and 44% among men. Similarly, with the 1995 outbreak, 53% were in women, while 44% were in men. Even in the most recent outbreak in 2014, there were many more cases recorded among women than men. In many outbreaks, the transmission rate is higher within households than in hospitals, meaning the main caretaker for the household is the most at risk for the virus (Nkangu et al., 2017). Therefore, it is proven that women are at a higher risk of exposure due to their gender roles.
Studies show that women report more self protective behaviors and lower Ebola virus disease vaccine acceptance, while men reported more formal care-seeking as well as a higher Ebola virus disease vaccine acceptance. Men have also reported higher Ebola knowledge and a lower belief in rumors about Ebola. This helps to explain why women continue to get the virus more often and have higher mortality rates than men (Pham et al., 2022). During the seventh Ebola outbreak in the DRC, 74% of the deceased were women. This is an alarmingly high percentage given that there were only 69 patients, 36 being women, and 33 being men. This shows that even if there are similar amounts of men and women being affected, women still have higher mortality rates. Not only does the Ebola virus disease cause a higher mortality rate in women, but it can also affect women’s basic health. It has caused many women to lose confidence in the healthcare system. During outbreaks of the virus, reproductive healthcare services dropped by 30% in some countries. Maternal health and child reproduction also decreased during Ebola outbreaks (Onyeneho et al., 2023). Effects in maternal and reproductive care in areas where outbreaks are common can cause health issues for generations to come, which is something that should be focused on more often when looking at the virus (Schmidt-Sane et al., 2021). The Ebola virus disease affects women in many different ways that people may not expect, and epidemic responses should address the intersection between the Ebola virus and gender to see improvements and lessen cases in women.
Biosocial aspects of the Ebola virus are often disregarded; these aspects of the disease affect people’s lives in contracting and surviving Ebola. These aspects can be economic, political, communal, and familial. Taking a look at the economic and political factors of this disease, Sierra Leone is a great example. The country was originally a reparation country for former slaves in 1787 and gained independence from Britain in 1961. 1991 to 2002 Sierra Leone Civil War, and the Kono District was one of the major theaters during the war (Richardson et al., 2016). The Civil War caused 70,000 deaths and displaced 2.6 million, many of whom were across the borders of Guinea and Liberia (Richardson et al., 2016). When Ebola started to break out, many of the displaced people in the Kono district contracted the disease, and then were transported to the Kenema hospital. One of the biggest problems with the disease in Sierra Leone is the fact that there is a lack of medical care and services; the government institutions are generally impoverished (Richardson et al., 2016). The politics in this country is ruled under patrimonial powers, where politicians control through systems of personal relationships that bring policies and favors in exchange for political support. This leads to counterproductive economic development as money often goes to the elite (Richardson et al., 2016). The irresponsibility in Sierra Leone’s funds is reflected in their healthcare system, as patrimonial powers lead to the underfunding of community health, which results in serious disease outbreaks.
Communal and familial aspects affect individuals with both contracting the disease and surviving the disease. The familial aspect often falls into how many individuals contract Ebola. In Sierra Leone, many people would take care of the sick in their household; they’d wash sick relatives' soiled clothes and bedsheets, prepare, serve, and feed them food and drinks, and wipe sweat off their bodies (Jalloh, 2024). Although the nation publicized the dangers of taking care of ill relatives. Many disregarded the message due to the common sociocultural practice of taking care of ill relatives. Many people also feared that if the health authorities were to take their sick family member to a treatment center that they would die there and wouldn’t get the deceased family member's body back (Jalloh, 2024). The sociocultural values and fear of the health authorities enhance the transmission of Ebola among family members.
There is great fear in contracting Ebola, but even after surviving, the fear of Ebola still lingers. In Liberia, there is a great stigmatization of Ebola, which has resulted in many survivors not disclosing their status. People often suffer from social isolation from their families and communities, physical violence, and job loss. The Liberian Ministry of Health described those who survived Ebola as those who “‘tested positive for the Ebola virus disease and after receiving care and treatment, recovered and tested negative’” (Mayrhuber et al., 2017). Although Liberia has this definition of an Ebola survivor, there has been poor record keeping in many facilities, which makes it difficult to obtain a certificate of survival. Survivors have also stated having long-term physical and psychological effects. Some physical effects include: blindness, hearing impairments, pain in joints, muscles, or back, abdominal pain, changes in the immune system, uncontrollable erections in men, and failure to conceive in women. (Mayrhuber et al., 2017). Many individuals who have survived Ebola have been evicted, lost their jobs, and prohibited from using the community wells. Even some marketers refuse to allow Ebola survivors to buy food because they refuse to accept their money (Mayrhuber et al., 2017). Survivors of Ebola do not just face the sickness of the disease, but the long term physical effects and the stigmatization from their own community.
The impact of Ebola should not only be seen as a horrid medical condition, but should also be acknowledged for its biosocial issue affecting women and communities. Ebola is a serious viral disease that rapidly spreads through close contact with individuals who have contracted the disease. Gender and social roles play a major part in the contraction of Ebola, mainly affecting women. Women have more contact with the disease due to their caretaking responsibilities. Even after surviving the disease, the social stigma of Ebola affects survivors' daily lives physically, psychologically, and socially. The effects of Ebola do not just harm individuals while sick, but even after illness, they still live their day-to-day lives, taunted by the disease.
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