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A terrifying study causes a sensation: Worldwide, a quarter of all men AND women think that it is justified for men to beat their wives and almost 90% of all people are prejudiced against women.
One would think that nowadays gender equality continues to advance and that women experience more and more justice and equal opportunities. But the new Gender Social Norms Index published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) paints a much more shocking picture.
It sheds light on why huge disparities and “power gaps” persist between men and women when real progress has been made in addressing inequalities in education and health. But the analyzes suggest that inequality affects all aspects of women's lives - and that ubiquitous prejudices and prejudices against women are held by both men and women around the world.
The index measures how opinions hinder gender equality in areas such as politics, work and education, and includes data from 75 countries covering over 80 percent of the world's population.
And, according to him, around half of men and women worldwide believe that men would be better political leaders, and over 40 percent believe that men would be better leaders in business and that if jobs were scarce, men would be more entitled to a job. A shocking 28 percent even consider it justified for a man to hit his wife.
Almost 90% of all men AND women worldwide are prejudiced against women
The analysis also shows that despite decades of efforts, almost 90 percent of all men and women still have prejudice against women, providing new evidence of the "invisible" obstacles women stand in the way of achieving equality.
While there have been improvements in these unfair biases in a few countries, attitudes appear to have deteriorated in others in recent years, indicating that progress cannot be taken for granted.
"We have come a long way in the past few decades to ensure that women have the same opportunities in life as men. We have achieved equality in school enrollment since 1990 and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent. In other areas are." however, the gender differences are all too evident, especially in those that challenge the balance of power and have the greatest impact on actual equality. Today. The battle for gender equality is a story of bias and prejudice. " said Pedro Conceição, Head of the UNDP Human Development Reporting Office.
For example, while men and women vote equally, only 24 percent of seats in parliament worldwide are held by women, and there are only 10 women among 193 heads of government. Women in the labor market are paid less than men and there are far fewer women in managerial positions. And while women work more hours than men, this work tends to be unpaid care work.
The UNDP researchers are therefore calling on governments and institutions to implement new strategies to change these discriminatory opinions and practices through education, awareness-raising and changing incentives. For example, by using taxes as an incentive for a fair sharing of childcare responsibilities or by encouraging women and girls to pursue professional development in sectors traditionally dominated by men.
