Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
The Strongest Discriminations
Do you know which discrimination involves the largest number of people? It may seem strange, but it’s not about wealth, religion, or skin color. It’s gender inequality. This expression refers to the unequal rights between men and women, a phenomenon prevalent worldwide, albeit to varying degrees and in different ways in different countries. It can manifest as a lack of the right to education and private property, but also as wage disparities and disparities in career advancement.
But be aware that it’s not a problem that only concerns women.
When gender inequality is very pronounced, it becomes an obstacle to a country’s economic growth, the fight against poverty, and the attainment of a high level of well-being for the entire society. Therefore, it’s everyone’s problem. In some countries, women are subject to the will of their fathers, which means that a girl cannot freely decide her own future. Often, she must accept an arranged marriage, where the family decides who her husband will be, and in some cases, she may even get married when she’s still a child. Once married, she must obey her husband, and if she becomes a widow, she might still be under the authority of her male child.
Since it is believed in these societies that their primary role is that of wives and mothers, and therefore they do not need a comprehensive education, girls often stop going to school much earlier than their male peers.
In some countries, women do not have the right to own land or even have their own bank accounts. Through dowry, the property that belongs to them goes directly from their fathers to their husbands. Even a woman’s testimony in court may be considered less valuable than that of a man.
However, women also face discrimination in countries commonly considered socially advanced, like those in central-northern Europe. Here too, it is mainly women who take care of food, the household, children, and the elderly. If a choice needs to be made, it is almost always the wife who gives up her job outside the home. Perhaps your family is different, but remember that, in that case, it is still an exception.
Women’s salaries are lower than men’s, even in the workplace. This happens worldwide: only one country, Iceland, has created a law that obligates companies to pay all employees, both male and female, equally.It is also more difficult for women to become leaders of a large company. They are said to encounter a “glass ceiling,” meaning that even the most capable women often cannot break through an invisible boundary that hinders their career simply because they are women.
They are also less numerous than men in government positions and politics. That’s why, in some countries, they have decided to establish “gender quotas,” which reserve a minimum percentage of positions for female candidates.
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