GENDER INEQUALITY

Gender inequality has been a social issue in India for centuries. That in many parts of India, the birth of a girl child is not welcomed is a known fact. It is a known fact too, that discrimination starts from even before the girl child is born and sometimes she is killed as a foetus, and if she manages to see the light of day, she is killed as an infant, which makes up the highly skewed child sex ratio where for every 1000 boys in India, there are only 908 girls. In such a scenario, it is but obvious that for myriad reasons, many girls across the country are forced to drop out of school.

Globally, women have fewer opportunities for economic participation than men, less access to basic and higher education, greater health and safety risks, and less political representation.

The word gender describes the socially-constructed roles and responsibilities that societies consider appropriate for men and women. Gender equality means that men and women have equal power and equal opportunities for financial independence, education, and personal development. Women’s empowerment is a critical aspect of achieving gender equality. It 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.

Women’s health and safety is another important area. HIV/AIDS is becoming an increasingly impactful 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.

5 Causes of Gender Inequality

1. Uneven access to education

Around the world, women still have less access to education than men. ¼ of young women between 15–24 have not finished primary school. That group makes up 58% of the people not completing that basic education. Of all the illiterate people in the world, ⅔ are women. When girls are not educated on the same level as boys, it has a huge effect on their future and the kinds of opportunities they’ll get.

2. Lack of employment equality

Only few countries in the world give women the same legal work rights as men. In fact, most economies give women only ¾ the rights of men. Studies show that if employment became a more even playing field, it has a positive domino effect on other areas prone to gender inequality.

3. Job segregation

One of the causes for gender inequality within employment is the division of jobs. In most societies, there’s an inherent belief that men are simply better equipped to handle certain jobs. Most of the time, those are the jobs that pay the best. This discrimination results in lower income for women.

4. Lack of political representation

Women are still grossly underrepresented in government and the political process. This means that certain issues that female politicians tend to bring up such as parental leave and childcare, pensions, gender equality laws and gender-based violence are often neglected.

5. Societal mindsets

The overall mindset of a society has a significant impact on gender inequality. How society determines the differences and value of men vs. women plays a starring role in every arena, whether it’s employment or the legal system or healthcare. Beliefs about gender run deep and even though progress can be made through laws and structural changes, there’s often a push back following times of major change. It’s also common for everyone (men and women) to ignore other areas of gender inequality when there’s progress, such as better representation for women in leadership

In India, discriminatory attitudes towards either sex have existed for generations and affect the lives of both sexes. Although the constitution of India grants men and women equal rights, gender disparities remain.

Research shows gender discrimination mostly in favor of men in many places including the workplace. Discrimination affects many aspects in the lives of women from career development and progress to mental health disorders. While Indian laws on rape, dowry and adultery have women’s safety at heart, these highly discriminatory practices are still taking place at an alarming rate, affecting the lives of many today.

Efforts to bring about a change in this situation include:

• Education that helps create attitudinal shifts towards gender bias and activities to spread awareness

• Continuous efforts towards breaking myths and stereotypes around gender

• Ensuring State accountability to implement various schemes, policies, laws, constitutional guarantees and international commitments

• Institutionalizing gender sensitive processes within various systems such as law and programmes

• Encouraging community ownership in preventing violations based on gender discrimination

The need of the hour is to make a change in the mindset of the society and destroy the prejudices that damage the future of the child .

What is required is a concerted effort to sensitize the society in eradicating this issue of gender inequality. It is high time that every child is treated equally and given every opportunity required to grow to his/her full potential.