NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY

Assignment#2
Submitted to: Ms. Sehrish Aslam

Submitted by: Palwasha Khan

NDU-F19-0271

BS-IR 1st A

Word count: 1,715

 Outline

I. Introduction

1. What is Gender Equality?

2. The Current Scenario: Domestic violence and sexual harassment

II. Problems Faced By Women

1. Education, health, and economic and political empowerment

III. Real-World Examples

1. World Forum Report on the United States of America

2. Scandinavian countries

IV. Main Goals to achieve Gender Equality

1. Recommendations for Women Emancipation

V. Conclusion

1. My personal opinion

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Gender Equality

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that “everyone is entitled to
all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, color, sex, language, religion … birth or other status.”

Gender Equality refers to having equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and

men and girls and boys, that the interests, needs, priorities of both women and men are taken

into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men.

While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment

under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between

girls and boys), women and girls still suffer discrimination and violence in around the world.

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a basic foundation for a peaceful,

prosperous and sustainable world. Unfortunately, in recent times, 1 in 5 women and girls

between the ages of 15-49 have reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate

partner or even an outsider within a 12-month period and 49 countries currently are not

practicing laws, protecting women from domestic violence. Progress is occurring regarding

brutal and life threatening practices such as child marriage and FGM (Female Genital

Mutilation), which has declined by 30% in the past decade, but there is a long way to go to

entirely eliminate such harsh practices.

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Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, adequate work, and

representation in political and economic decision-making processes will boost sustainable

economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. Implementing new legal frameworks

regarding female equality in the workplace and the eradication of harmful practices targeted at

women is crucial to ending the gender-based discrimination in many countries around the world.

“Gender equality is a human right, but our world faces a persistent gap in access to
opportunities and decision-making power for women and men.”

Generally, women have fewer opportunities for economic participation as compared to men, less

access to basic and higher education, greater health and safety risks, and less political

representation. Guaranteeing the rights of women and giving them opportunities to reach their

full potential and goals is critical as well arduous not only for attaining gender equality, but also

for meeting a wide range of development goals in the global context. Empowered women and

girls contribute to the health and productivity of their families, communities, and countries,

creating a contagion effect that benefits everyone. In addition to this, the word gender describes

the socially-constructed roles and responsibilities that societies consider appropriate for men and

women. Gender equality includes increasing a woman's sense of self-worth, her decision-making

power, her access to opportunities and resources, her power and control over her own life inside

and outside the home, and her ability to effect change. Yet gender issues are not focused on

women alone, but on the relationship between men and women in society. The actions and

attitudes of men and boys play an essential role in achieving gender equality.

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Education is a key area of focus. Although the world is making progress in achieving gender

parity in education, girls still make up a higher percentage of out-of-school children than boys.

Approximately one quarter of girls in the developing countries do not attend school. Typically,

families with limited means who cannot afford costs such as school fees, uniforms, and supplies

for all of their children will prioritize education for their sons. Families may also rely on girls'

labor for household chores, carrying water, and childcare, leaving limited time for schooling

(mainly in rural areas in most parts of the country). But if prioritized, girls' education will

provide perhaps the single highest return on investment in the developing world. An educated

girl is more likely to delay marriage, raise a smaller family, have healthier children, and send her

own children to school. She has more opportunities to earn an income and thus, become

financially independent to some extent and to participate in political processes, and she is less

likely to become infected with HIV.

Women's health and safety is another important area as well as a concern around the world.

HIV/AIDS is becoming an increasingly effective issue for women. This can be related to women

having fewer opportunities for health education, unequal power in sexual partnership, or as a

result of gender-based violence. Maternal health is also an issue of particular concern. In many

countries, women have limited or no access to prenatal and infant care, and are more likely to

experience complications during pregnancy and childbirth. This is a critical issue in countries

where girls marry and have children before they are ready; often well before the age of 18.

Quality maternal health care can provide an important gateway for information and services that

empower mothers as informed decision-makers concerning their own health and the health of

their children. Sadly, there is a lot of work to be done in this area and little or no satisfactory

maternal health care is being provided. Moreover, the importance of women having the right and

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possibility to have control over their body, reproduction decisions, and sexuality, and the need

for gender equality in order to achieve these goals. Sexual autonomy is denied to women in

many parts of the world, through practices such as forced sterilization, forced/coerced sexual

partnering (e.g. forced marriage, child marriage), criminalization of consensual sexual acts (sex

outside marriage), lack of criminalization of marital rape, violence in regard to the choice of

partner (honor killings as punishment for 'inappropriate' relations). The sexual health of women

is often poor in societies where a woman's right to control her sexuality is not taken into

consideration.

A final area of focus in obtaining gender equality is women's economic and political

empowerment. Though women constitute more than 50% of the world's population, they only

own 1% of the world's wealth. Throughout the world, women and girls perform prolong hours of

domestic work, usually unpaid. In some places, women still lack rights to own land or to inherit

property, obtain access to credit, earn income, or to move up in their workplace, free from job

discrimination. At all levels, including at home and in the public arena, women are widely

marginalized as decision-makers (the concept of patriarchy comes into play). In government

setups around the world, women are outnumbered 4 to 1, yet women's political participation is

crucial for achieving gender equality and genuine democracy.

The United States of America ranked as 19th in the world on its gender gap index, according to

The World Economic Forum report. However, the report identifies political empowerment as the

greatest gender equity issue for the United States. The U.S. ranked higher in economic

empowerment, but women's earning capability remains approximately 20% lower than men's.

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Women in the United States have a very high ranking of educational attainment, though, with

high levels of literacy and enrollment in primary, secondary, and university education.

Globally, no country has fully attained gender equality. Countries like Iceland, Norway, Finland,

and Sweden lead the world in their progress toward closing the gender gap. In these countries,

there is relatively equal distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for both

men and women. The greatest gender binaries are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa,

and South Asia.

Fortunately, there are some ways through which gender equality goal targets can be promoted

and achieved. These are: putting an end to all forms of discrimination against all women and

girls everywhere, and eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public

and private areas, including trafficking and other types of exploitation. This is a crucial task but

will definitely minimize the harsh effects of such inhumane practices, in which millions of

women suffer. Furthermore, eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced

marriage and female genital mutilation. Most importantly, the government should give recognize

unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social

protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the

family. Safeguarding of women’s fruitful and effective participation and equal opportunities for

leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life should be

focused on. And ensure global access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights

well as access to ownership and control over land and property, financial services, inheritance

and natural resources, in accordance with state laws. The government should enhance the use of

enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the

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empowerment of women. Not only this, adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable

legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at

all levels. Four contemporary social movements have helped to shape the global gender and

health landscape: online movements against violence, such as #MeToo and #NiUnaMenos;

intersectional feminism; the evolving recognition of men and masculinities; and the global

transgender rights movement. We are living through transformative and challenging times.

Although, gender gaps have narrowed in recent times, inequalities persist and challenges remain

in most critical areas such as health, education and employment. All in all, a lot of effort and

sweat is required to promote gender equality through useful and meaningful measures that not

only brings prosperity in a society but all around the world. Men too have a crucial role to play in

ensuring progress towards gender equality, including through equal sharing of responsibilities for

care of dependents. Respect and recognition both for human rights and respect for equality

between women and men will definitely bring a change, for the better.

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References
Global Issues: Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators/resources/global-issues-gender-equality-and-womens-

empowerment/

Gender equality and women's empowerment. (2015, January 7). Retrieved from

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

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