As part of a recent study conducted by the University of Manchester, it was revealed that people would still consider protesting in large crowds even during a coronavirus outbreak.
In the study, the research team surveyed Argentinean and Ukrainian participants as part of the MOBILISE project.
According to the findings, at least 45 percent of Argentinean participants answered that they would still protest despite a nationwide lockdown and outbreak of coronavirus cases.
Among Ukrainian participants, 33 percent stated that they would protest, with no fear of contagion.
“Our findings suggest that we shouldn’t be surprised if we continue to see protests, and we shouldn’t assume that these are younger people who are less likely to fear contracting the virus,” said Ola Onuch, co-author of the study.
“More importantly, governments must not think that they have a free pass because of crisis. Not only do governments have to weigh the trade-offs between public health and the economy they also need to consider how to respect their citizens’ right to protest, even during a pandemic,” Onuch concluded.
The MOBILISE project is funded in association with the Open Research Area Scheme and is supported by organizations in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
