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Gender equality in the present time
Effects of gender inequality
Effects of gender inequality
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Recommended: Gender equality in the present time
Dissimilar Definitions of Gender Equality Throughout the World
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight on gender equality. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (United Nations [UN], 2012). Gender equality is most certainly an unqualified basic human right; however, despite this absolute, today “gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society” (UN, 2012). Women throughout the world are greatly affected by gender inequalities as they struggle to gain access to safety, health care, education and other basic human rights (United Nations Women [UN W], 2012). Figure 1 (p. 2) generated my interest in further exploring the gender inequalities that women face. This photo depicts women cheering and calling for gender equality; it was a reminder to me of how privileged I am to be a Canadian citizen residing in Canada as this country recognizes the importance of human rights and gender equality. Within this paper I will discuss my biggest learning from the Global Health class by analyzing gender equality and women’s challenges in different countries including Afghanistan, India and sub-Saharan Africa. I will depict the daily obstacles that women encounter, including poverty, inadequate access to health care, safety, and education. I will then discuss the learning that occurred, and explain how it will impact my future nursing career.
Women’s Equity & Equality
The term gender equality is defined differently throughout the world. A suggestion to improve gender equality is to have men more involved in promoting new initiatives that foster gender equality and women’s empowerment (United Nations Population Fund, 2013). It is important...
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...ve identified several themes throughout this paper such as women’s equality and equity, ending gender based violence, education for girls and women, empowering women, and access to adequate health care. The international development goals that I have chosen for gender equality are the “Girl Up” project, “United Nations Women” and the “Millennium Development Goals,” which all aim at empowering women, improving gender equality, and lastly, improving women’s overall health and wellbeing. These goals cannot be reached without closing the gaps between men and women; therefore, we must empower women by providing them with education, safety, accessibility to reproductive health, and making them equal to men (WHO, 2014). The world has had numerous achievements thus far; however, gender equality still “remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century” (Karni, 2014).
Women’s participation in school or the workplace are negatively affected because of the fear of violence, and many long-term health consequences arise from physical and sexual abuse. Heartbreakingly, a woman in South Africa has a “greater chance of being raped than she has of learning to read” (Tracy 6). In the patriarchal society of China, infants or fetuses face death simply for being born female (Tracy 18). After reading the reported incidences of violence against women, it is nothing but frustrating to hear women not supporting feminism. They do not need feminism because they represent a victory for this movement with the freedom to work alongside men, attend school, and choose their life partners. However, as shown in International Violence Against Women, there are many women and girls begging for a change. This population is the next victory for
The fight for gender equality along with women’s rights has been a battle for centuries. Over time many, women activists and organizations have step forward to help in advancing women’s progress in the world today. One organization that has made a tremendous contribution and has been extremely influential for women is the National Organization for Women (NOW). The organization has been around since 1966 and has more than 500,000 members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (National Organization for Women, 2012). NOW’s organization claims that there is a social problem of gender inequality and women’s rights and their goal is to “take action” by bringing about equality for all women. The National Organization for Women has six priority issues and they include: constitutional equality amendment, reproductive rights, racism, lesbian rights, violence against women and economic justice(National Organization for Women, 2012). The organization has been quite successful in raising awareness and creating social change over the years. By using the Social Problems Process to analyze the organization it would then become evident as to why NOW has been so successful, where they still need to improve and where they are heading.
As you can see, there are many changes being brought about in the 1990’s to reform the way women are treated and looked upon in a sexist world society ruled by men. Although these groups and individuals have not yet reached their final goal of equality for all, they have got the message out that this is unacceptable. Nothing happens overnight, there are many steps to reform and these groups are on the right path. They are starting to get societies to see that women are human too and they should be treated as equal.
The narrow view of the world that we often experience prevents us from even engaging for or against ideals that we would take on, given the chance. We often become deaf to opportunity, however. While it may seem we are complicit in many of the injustices that our society perpetuates, often times we are not even aware of the issue. An uninformed decision will be as bad as no decision. Many problems exude from the state of our social values. The role that women play in society is slowly changing from that of a ‘nurturer’ to any role a woman strives for. Progress has come through much pain and the hope is one day there will be real equality in the results of our societies spoken and unspoken laws.
It is often challenging to have health care services that meet the needs of Canada’s diverse population and the needs of both men and women. Gender influences access to care and women in particular are at risk for face difficulties to care (Ontario Women`s Health Equity Report, 2010 p.1). Women are more likely to be poor and have greater caregiver responsibilities in contrast to men. These both factors are barriers to accessing health services. The way the health care system is organized creates barriers to accessing effective care for women because it has failed to take into account that men and women use the health care system very differently. Canada’s health care system reinforces gender inequity rather than eliminating it. For instance, drug research bias favour males and epistemological bias assume that women’s health is only about reproductive health. As a result of these biases, women are often excluded and their health needs are not fully addressed. The Romanow Report (2002) and the Accord on Health Care Renewal (2003) has made a strong commitment to understanding the importance of the non-medical determinants of health, such as income and social status; employment; education; social environments; physical environments; healthy child development; personal health practices and coping skills; health services; social support networks; gender; and culture (Health Canada, 2001). They have also committed to gender based analysis and women’s health but, this is not visible in its work to date on Canada’s health care reform. This paper will address how the Romanow Report, the Accord on Health Care Renewal and current health policies have failed to address the health needs of women in regards to support for family ...
The constitution of the World Health Organization states that “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition” (Koh and Nowinski 2010 pp 949). One would hope that this sentiment would also include the low income women of our society, however it has become a harsh reality amongst poverty stricken women that fair and affordable health care is difficult to provide for themselves and for their families. Women with an income below the federal poverty level are at a higher risk of being uninsured or under insured than the general population (Legerski, 2012). The inability to acquire adequate health insurance both privately offered and state funded, in particular can be a serious barrier to low income women's ability to seek health care (Magge, 2013). Furthermore poverty can cause some women to engage in dangerous “street involvement” causing health care providers to act with unjust prejudice in regard to their health care (Bungay, 2013). This paper will attempt to further address and justify these broad statements regarding low income women and their relationship to health care. It makes the argument that if we must see the highest attainable standard of health care as a fundamental human right than by not safeguarding our society’s impoverished women from these trials and tribulations are we not, as a country making a concession that low income women are less worthy or these rights?
Over the past hundred years, there have been many movements for gender equality. But despite everything that was done so that women could be treated equivalent to men, there is still inequality. According to Hughes, Krahn
In this essay, I will be discussing the statement “Gender Inequalities exist and removing them is fundamental to development”. I will focus on how continents compare in their overall rankings taking in consideration health & survival, education, economic participation and political empowerment, with including a case study for an LEDC and MEDC country.
The perception the public has had on the role of men and women is outdated and has been for some time, but public attitudes change slowly even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Gender plays a big part in life, it is supposed to give a purpose in life, but why? Explaining the severity of knowing why men and women are equal is one step to rebuilding society and the future. The second step is to actually make these changes happen. Gender Equality is something that every human being should strive for, as well understanding gender roles and how these two really affect our developed and developing countries. Each gender has the power to make a change for oneself and their rights, but coming together we can make an effective change for future
Each country has different aspects that they focus on depending on their culture and beliefs. However, the most common theme around the world was the wage gap and domestic violence for women. According to the “Violence against Women” article 1 and 3 women experience violence by intimate partners worldwide (Violence against Women, 2016, pg. 1). Unfortunately, this has increased the global rate of intimate partners who have committed murders of women to 38% (Violence against Women, 2016, pg. 1). These are significate numbers, yet worldwide women are being treated worse than men are treated. The same goes for the wage gap. In the United States it is hard for a women to get a job as a CEO or high ranking yet 56.3% of women 15 years or older were working according to the Gender Inequality Index in 2013. This relates directly to a global wage gap and glass ceiling placed on women worldwide because the Gender Inequality Index states that worldwide 50.3% of women 15 and older were working in the work force. However, they were being paid less and were less likely to get promotions when compared to men. The fact that women in other countries are married at younger ages and having children also puts them at a disadvantage because they are mothers meaning they will be paid less for having children. Gender stratification is not just an Untied States problem, but a worldwide problem that needs to be
...ntries women are restricted in where they can and cannot work. Most commonly, they seem to be restricted from jobs in which physically taxing tasks are the norm. This is no doubt due to the stereotype that women are fragile and weak and must be protected (a stereotype that can hold true, but that is not always true). This also seems to be consistent across culture. However, despite the fact that these restrictions were enacted to protect women, they place heavy limitations on women’s opportunities. Furthermore, these are not the only injustices many women across the world face. However, the only way to fight these injustices is to increase women’s participation in politics, as discussed in the UN report from 2008. It is absolutely vital that women be able to actively participate in politics without letting gender discrimination and stereotypes get in the way.
...action with others… especially men. This supplies final substantiation of the authors' argument, that women continue to be oppressed by their male-dominated societies. It is a bold undertaking for women to ally and promote a world movement to abandon sexist traditions. Although I have never lived in a third world or non-Westernized country, I have studied the conditions women suffer as "inferior" to men. In National Geographic and various courses I have taken, these terrible conditions are depicted in full color. Gender inequality is a terrible trait of our global society, and unfortunately, a trait that might not be ready to change. In America we see gender bias towards women in voters' unwillingness to elect more females into high office, and while this is not nearly as severe as the rest of the world, it indicates the lingering practice of gender inequality.
Despite progress in recent years girls still suffer a lot of disadvantage in education systems. While gender equality in education remains a crucial issue for many countries women still account for two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population. Estimated thirty one million girls of primary school age and thirty four million girls of lower secondary school age were not enrolled in school in 2011. (http://www.UNICEF.org/education/bege-61657.html) Girls’ education is both an intrinsic right and a critical lever to reaching other development objectives says UNICEF. Girls’ education is important to the achievement of quality learning. Girls who have been educated are likely to marry later and to have smaller and healthier families. Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and know how to seek it for themselves and their children. Education helps girls and women to know their rights and to gain confidence to claim them. However, women’s literacy rates are significantly lower than men’s in most developing countries. UNICEF recognizes the opportunities provided through girls’ education and it supports governments in the reduction of gender discrimination through interventions at national, local and community levels aimed to empower girls. As we look towards 2015 and beyond, UNICEF continues to take a more transformative approach to girls’ educ...
An important area for the development of a country is definitely the health sector, but in countries like Nepal where the Human Development Index(WHO, 2012) is only 0.463, a lot of people do not even receive any health provisions. The ethnic groups such as Dalit and Janajati in Nepal, are much affected by the unequal access and use of state- provided public health resources, facilities and services. In many cases, even among all these, it is the women and children (especially girls) who suffer the most as they are discriminated based on gender, caste and ethnicity. That being said, through this research I will be focusing on the health issues among the women in Nepal and how various factors such as the gender inequality, caste system, and traditional beliefs contribute to affect their health.
In the contemporary society, education is a foundational human right. It is essentially an enabling right that creates various avenues for the exercise of other basic human rights. Once it is guaranteed, it facilitates the fulfillment of other freedoms and rights more particularly attached to children. Equally, lack of education provision endangers all fundamental rights associate with the welfare of human beings. Consequently, the role of education and in particular girl child education as a promoter of nation states welfare cannot be overemphasized. As various scholars asserts, the challenges and problems faced by the African girl child, to enjoy her right to education are multifaceted. Such difficulties include sexual abuse, child labor, discrimination, early pregnancies, violence and poverty, culture and religious practices (Julia 219). Across the developing world, millions of young girls lack proper access to basic education. In the contemporary society, this crisis, which is particularly critical in remote and poor region of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia have fascinated increased public attention. However, almost all global nation states have assured their commitment in addressing various girl child challenges and allowed a declaration to enable each young girl and boy receive education by the year 2015 (Herz and Sperling 17). This target was firmly established and approved in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. However, this study will focus on girls’ education in Africa and its impacts to their livelihood.