Gender gap, gender equality, women empowerment
Feminism,  Male Engagement (You Too)

Mind The Gender Gap!

Swagata Sen

When it comes to gender inequality, a lot of people fail to acknowledge the existence of a huge gender gap in the world. They perceive gender discrimination and inequalities as social and cultural norms and feel it is ideal to adhere to these traditions. But the reality is women don’t have equal access and opportunities for education, employment, healthcare, or political participation. Women experience oppression, gender-based violence, and several barriers to living a free and fulfilling life. Gender gap doesn’t only impact women, but also slows down the prosperity and peace of society. 

 

 

Can Gender Gap Really be Measured?

Yes, it can be measured. There are several international organizations that have published data and statistics based on gender dap. One such organization is World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for measuring gender disparities and tracking their progress over time. The Index is designed to measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries.

World Economic Forum ranks countries according to the calculated gender gap between women and men in four key areas: health, education, economic opportunities, and politics.

 

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, the gaps between women and men in economic participation and political empowerment in the 153 countries will take 257 and 95 years to close respectively! The gap in economic participation and opportunity is the widest at 42.2%. There are 72 countries where women are barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining credit. In the past 50 years, 85 states have had no female head of state. There is no country where men spend the same amount of time on unpaid work as women.

 

Read: Feminism and the Advocacy of Women’s Rights: Why Are these Relevant Today?

 

Mind The Gender Gap

Gender-based discrimination and oppression do not only affect women but also affect the economic and social growth of the entire community. Men must actively participate in dismantling the patriarchy. Without that, we will never see a gender-equal world.

Healthy, educated, and independent women are assets to the community. It is the responsibility of every person, irrespective of their gender, religion, ethnicity, or social and cultural background to think and act responsibly to reduce gender gaps and inequity.

 

 

 

What Can You Do To Make a difference?

1. Be Mindful of your unconscious biases

Before you start taking any action, it is very important to be mindful of your unconscious biases about the existing gender gap in your life and try to minimize it. It might need a lot of self-reflection and awareness to detect and eliminate signs of inequalities in your own life! Some of these might be parts of the regular dynamics of your life and would not appear ‘abnormal’ to you at the beginning.

 

It is probably much more difficult to change our own habits and unconscious biases than to fight against social evils!

 

But, the best way to influence others is by setting examples. Sexism and misogyny are more common than we think. However challenging the process of challenging these systemic issues might be, aim to set an example by the way you lead your life! That is probably the most effective way to start making any difference in the world!

 

 

2. Reflect on your own life and surroundings

Probably you were raised with the cultural belief that the purpose of every woman is to be a good wife and a good mother. As a result, you think women must stay at home, do the household chores, and raise the children. Even the thoughts of seeing your wife pursuing a job or career make you uncomfortable. Please question the validity and relevance of these cultural beliefs and ask yourself, why a woman can not be economically independent, or a man can not cook or look after his kids? How could it negatively affect any family or the community?

Look around yourself to identify whether-

    •   females are considered equally capable as males.
    •   girls and boys have similar rights, freedom, and access to all opportunities.
    •   women are allowed to live their lives on their own terms.
    •   women and men and boys and girls are treated equally by their families and societies.
    •   girls and women feel safe in public places, workplaces, and at home.
    •   women and men have the same inheritance and property laws and rights.
    •  there are discriminatory social customs, laws, and rules that apply only to women.
    •  amount of  domestic work done by women is the same as men 
 

3. Identify What You Want to Achieve

The next step could be to reflect on the socio-cultural issues that bother you the most and where you are genuinely passionate about creating differences in. Ask yourself, where and how could you be the most effective and most authentic in your fight against discrimination?

 

Pick up any issue, however small it might be, where you think you could make a real difference. It might not necessarily be a very big or rebellious step. For instance, It could be as small as making sure you are involving your son along with your daughter in cleaning and cooking or supporting your wife in pursuing her career.

 

As the next step, you can educate others about the importance of empowering women or bringing changes in your workplace by advocating for making more women-friendly workplaces or creating company policies for working mothers. You can also create campaigns to abolish discriminatory norms or systems.

 

These are just a few examples and definitely are not all-inclusive. If you are genuine and diligent about making changes in society, you already ARE a change maker!

 

4. Stand up For Women

The need is endless, and every small act of courage counts. Your courageous and exemplary act today could make the lives of many girls and women better tomorrow.

 

It is not possible for everyone to be a social reformer. But we can definitely bring small but significant changes in our outlook toward women’s rights and freedom.

 

Try to raise awareness and educate people about the negative socio-economic impact of gender discrimination. Help people come out of the bubble of cultural and religious values. Help them realize social customs like FGM, Dowry, child marriage, etc. violate fundamental human rights!

 

 

Be an advocate of the causes you sincerely care about. It’s always helpful to have proper knowledge about the issues you are working on. Thus try to spend some time every day reading and learning about gender-based issues. Furthermore, connect with like-minded people and groups working for women’s rights.

 

 

5. Don’t be Afraid To Be A Trailblazer

Making any changes means not following something which society or culture expects us to follow. Going against your culture or community might involve a lot of risks and backlashes.

 

People will often hate you for trying to change what is ‘normal’. The battle could be very lonely and frustrating at times. You would need a lot of perseverance and motivation to stick to your fights.

 

Furthermore, changing social norms require the engagement of community, religious, and political leaders and could be a very slow process. But if you feel there are some ways you can make a difference, don’t wait for the world to agree with you.

 

We acknowledge that dismantling social and cultural gender-based norms and discrimination needs a lot of effort, awareness, education, and active participation at every level of society. We have published a handbook for women’s rights and gender equality advocacy, You Voice Matters.This handbook was created to guide and support new and aspiring feminist and women’s rights advocates in building their advocacy journey. 

Download “Your Voice Matters.” 

 

 

Related reading:

A Step by Step Guide For Men To Fight Against Gender Discrimination

       Cost of Gender Inequality: Data and Reports

Additional resources:

Measuring the Global Gender Gap

 

(This post was first published in Oct, 2018 and updated again in 2020 with the latest data)

 
 
 
 
 

Author

  • Swagata Sen

    A clinical researcher by profession, I am an advocate of gender equality and women’s rights. I have created Rights of Equality to dismantle institutionalized gender discrimination and harmful social practices through systemic changes. Over the last few years, our contributors from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds were able to voice their concerns about a range of issues that are oppressive to women across the world. We are hopeful that our efforts will help promote awareness and contribute to changing mindsets and shifting cultures about gender roles and norms.

    View all posts

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