22. Gender equality in different countries

[Assignment- First Two Year Batch-MEd. 2015-17

- Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram]

Gender equality in different  countries

Cultural traditions can dictate different interpretations of the code, but common gender-based discrimination includes stipulations that women cannot pass citizenship to their children, spousal rape is not illegal, two women are equal to one man in court and women cannot divorce their husbands.

http://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-03-10/the-10-worst-countries-for-gender-equality-ranked-by-perception

Gender defines and differentiates the roles, rights, responsibilities and obligation of women and men. The innate biological differences between females and males from the basis of social norms that define appropriate behaviours for women and men and determine the differential social, economic and political power between the sexes.

The specific nature and degree of these differing norms vary across societies and across time, at the beginning of the 21^st century they still typically favour men and boys, giving them more access than women and girls to the capabilities, resources and opportunities that are important for the enjoyment of social, economic and political power and well being.

Examples of Gender Inequalities in the World

1. Lack of Mobility

2. Freedom of Marriage.

3. Discriminatory Divorce Rights

4. Citizenship

5. Frontline Combat

6. Custody Rights

7. Violence

8. Professional Obstacles

9. Restricted Land Ownership

10. Access to Education

Solutions and Suggestions

Gender inequality is a problem that has a solution. Education alone is insufficient to eliminate the wide range of gender inequalities found in many countries. Education may be an important precondition to women’s empowerment, but it does not guarantee that empowerment. For this to occur, women must also enjoy equal rights with men, equal economic opportunities, use of productive assets, freedom from drudgery, equal representation in decision making bodies, and freedom from the threat of violence and coercion.

*Post primary education has far stronger positive effects on women’s own outcomes than primary education. Therefore, investments must be made simultaneously in secondary education while meeting global commitments for universal primary education.

*Making schooling more affordable by reducing cost and offering targeted scholarships, building secondary schools close to girl’s homes and making schools safe and girl –friendly.

*Female education can reduce violence against girls and women and enhance their control over their own bodies

*Education of girls and mothers leads to sustained increases in educational attainment from one generation to the next. Improving educational opportunities for girls is essential to improving the next generation’s educational outcomes

*Guarantee sexual and reproductive health and rights.

*Invest in infrastructure to reduce women’s and girls’ time burdens.

*Guarantee women’s and girls’ property and inheritance rights.

*Eliminate gender inequality in employment by decreasing women’s reliance on informal employment, closing gender gaps in earnings, and reducing occupational segregation.

*Increase women’s share of seats in national parliaments and local government bodies.

*Combat violence against girls and women

*Support to literacy programs for adult women can be an important complement to interventions to increase access and retention rates of children in school.

References

http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/Gender-chapters1-3.pdf

http://www.borgenmagazine.com/10-examples-gender-inequality-world/

Submitted by Ms. Anju VR.