Better gender equality means better economies
COUNTRIES around the world are making progress on gender equality, but legal discrimination and social norms are hampering advances, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said yesterday.
In a report marking International Women’s Day, the 36-member organization of mainly wealthy states, said countries with higher gender equality benefited economically.
The level of discrimination reduces world income by $6 trillion (R87 trillion), the organisation said in its 2019 Social Institutions and Gender Index.
The report ranked 120 countries by their level of gender discrimination, which it found was on average lowest in Europe and highest in Africa.
The best-performing country was Switzerland, graded 8% on a scale of zero to 100 from least to most discrimination. War-torn Yemen had the worst result at 64%.
Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa were not ranked, and neither was China.
Meanwhile, in Russia, an army recruitment office ordered a photoshoot to celebrate Women’s Day. Instead, the photos showed ballerinas in floaty white dresses posing with active servicemen in combat gear and machine guns.
“The men’s power lies in women’s tenderness and love!” read a congratulatory note from the army office, based in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg.
While the day is marked in many countries with calls for gender equality, in Russia it is still a holiday largely focused on celebrating traditional gender roles.
Women in Russia may hold prominent positions in the government, but traditional gender roles still hold sway, and efforts to address problems like the gender pay gap, domestic violence and sexual harassment have hardly scratched the surface.
In a video address yesterday, President Vladimir Putin gave his annual speech praising women.
“In this day and age, you have attained the heights of practically all professions… and at the same time you remain beautiful, charismatic, charming, the centre of gravity for the whole family, uniting it with your love, with your capacity to inspire and support, to give warmth and comfort,” he said.