Closing the gender gap for Women and Girls
Gender-who
The World Health Organization delineates the word ‘gender’ to be referring to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. These characteristics include norms, behaviors and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. Therefore, as a social construct, gender can vary from society to society and can change over time.
According to the organization Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and economic inequalities often leading to gender-based discrimination.
Gender-based discrimination and Gender Inequality
Save The Children, an international organization working towards ending the suffering of children across war-torn Europe, delineates gender-based discrimination as any exclusion or restriction made on the basis of gender that creates barriers for girls, boys, women and/ or men in recognizing, enjoying or exercising their full and equal human rights. Gender inequality is delineated as discrimination on the basis of sex or gender causing one sex or gender to be routinely privileged or prioritized over another.
Gender equality is a fundamental human right and that right is violated by gender-based discrimination.
10 Causes of Gender Inequality
According to Human Rights Careers (HRC), the 10 leading causes of Gender Inequality in the world are
1. Uneven access to education- Around the world, women still have less access to education than men. ¼ of young women between 15-24 will not finish primary school.
2. Lack of employment equality- Only 6 countries in the world give women the same legal work rights as men.
3. Job segregation- inherent beliefs in certain societies that men are simply better equipped to handle certain jobs.
4. Lack of legal protections-according to research from the World Bank, over one billion women don’t have legal protection against domestic sexual violence or domestic economic violence
5. Lack of bodily autonomy-according to the World Health Organization, over 200 million women who don’t want to get pregnant are not using contraception
6. Poor medical care-in addition to limited access to contraception, women overall receive lower-quality medical care than men.
7. Lack of religious freedom- According to the World Economic Forum, when extremist ideologies (such as ISIS) come into a community and restrict religious freedom, gender inequality gets worse
8. lack of political representation-of all national parliaments at the beginning of 2019, only 24.3% of seats were filled by women.
9. Racism-it would be impossible to talk about gender inequality without talking about racism. It affects what jobs women of color are able to get and how much they’re paid, as well as how they are viewed by legal and healthcare systems
10. Societal mindsets - overall mindset of a society do have a significant impact on gender inequality.
Addressing Gender-disparities effectively
Accordingly Gender inequality and the climate crisis are two of the most urgent challenges of the world today. Therefore it is vital to understand and make the critical connections between gender and social equity and take action towards effective solutions.
UN women lists down 5 of the most effective ways to build Gender euality and sustainability
1. Empower women smallholders- The organization reports that over the last few decades, 55% of the improvement in food security in developing countries has been driven by programmes promoting women’s empowerment. The Food and Agriculture Organization projects that if women farmers had equal access to productive resources, their farm yields would increase by 20-30%.
2. Invest in care - The global economy depends on the unpaid and underpaid care work primarily carried out by women. Therefore, governments should treat care work like a collective good, expanding its availability and providing adequate support to those who do it. 3. Support women’s leadership- At both the national and the community level, women’s representation and leadership appear to drive better social and environmental outcomes. In general, women are more likely to consider their families and communities in decision-making processes –– which is crucial to producing the kind of holistic solutions that make for sustainable ventures. Indigenous women in particular possess unique knowledge about agriculture, conservation and natural resource management that make their voices indispensable in any decisionmaking processes.
4. Fund women’s organizations- Strong civil society organizations are a critical counterbalance to powerful state and corporate actors. They bring the voices of those who best understand their own experiences and needs into decision-making processes and help to keep governments accountable to the people they are meant to serve. Government collaboration with women’s organizations can help ensure that policies meet the specific needs of women and girls, and that such policies are effectively implemented.
5. Protect women’s health -Evidence suggests that women are more likely to die in disasters, due in part to their limited access to resources and services. Research also indicates that climate change crises will have negative sexual and reproductive health impacts: higher temperatures are increasing the spread of diseases like malaria, dengue fever and Zika virus, which are linked to negative pregnancy and birth outcomes, and extreme heat itself appears to increase the incidence of stillbirth. As with other crises and disasters, climate change also increases vulnerability to gender-based violence. Therefore it is critical that women’s health services are strengthened and expanded to help keep women healthy and safe.