We are not being deliberately deceitful when we profess women and men are equal in the 3G era, we are purely oblivious to the enormity of gender bias. When it becomes absolutely essential to face the fact we find comfort in the thought that such evils are typical of minority groups, underdeveloped/ developing economies or regressive cultures.
We just don’t realize the magnitude of gender disparity a woman faces whichever part of the world she belongs to.
We just don’t realize the magnitude of gender disparity a woman faces whichever part of the world she belongs to.
The fact remains, even though women make up for nearly half the humanity inhabiting our planet; nonetheless they are not only deprived of similar prospects as men but are till date treated as lesser mortals.
They are taught to sacrifice, to accommodate and make compromises from an early age. Their duties are reinforced upon them time and again but no one talks about their rights other than the activists.
They have to fight against explicit or implicit bias and preconceptions every other day. The laws that have been framed to empower women around the world have done little to change their plight.
There is no denying the fact that gender discrimination is still a source of concern for millions of women across the globe, the extent may vary. For those who have already raised an eye brow in protest and want to talk about the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth, Angela Merkel, Georgina Rinehart and our very own Indira Ghandhi, Sonia Ghandhi, Pratibha Patil, Indra K. Nooyi, Kalpan Chawla etc.
Here are some callous facts:-
They are taught to sacrifice, to accommodate and make compromises from an early age. Their duties are reinforced upon them time and again but no one talks about their rights other than the activists.
They have to fight against explicit or implicit bias and preconceptions every other day. The laws that have been framed to empower women around the world have done little to change their plight.
There is no denying the fact that gender discrimination is still a source of concern for millions of women across the globe, the extent may vary. For those who have already raised an eye brow in protest and want to talk about the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth, Angela Merkel, Georgina Rinehart and our very own Indira Ghandhi, Sonia Ghandhi, Pratibha Patil, Indra K. Nooyi, Kalpan Chawla etc.
Here are some callous facts:-
- More than 60 million women are "missing" from the world today as a result of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide. The current sex ratio in India is 914:1000 in the age group of 0 to 6. Not only is the ratio skewed but it’s steadily falling since independence in 1947.
- Over one-third of women suffer from violence from their husbands and in-laws, according to the third National Family & Health Survey in 2005-06. There is one dowry death every four hours in India.
- Each year across the UK 3 million women experience violence, and there are many more living with the legacies of abuse experienced in the past and according to the Department of Health two women are killed each week by a violent male partner or ex-partner. This constitutes nearly 40% of all female homicide victims.
- Globally at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime. Approximately 80,000 women suffer rape and attempted rape every year. Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, motor accidents, war and malaria, according to World Bank data.
- While numbers vary, UNICEF estimates that over 130 million women in African countries alone have been subjected to female genital mutilation. According to a report by WHO there are around 180 million living victims in the world. FGM historically occurs or has occurred in many countries, including the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, Australia, France, England and the United States.
- In 2009 only 11% of CEOs at 240 India Inc. firms were women, surprisingly the situation is more alarming in fortune 500 firms in the United States only 3% females made it to the top, even though they comprise of almost 50% of workforce. A woman earns only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for the same job.
- There is only one female on Forbes list of top ten richest people of the world, that too on 10th rank. (Christy Walton inherited her husband John Walton's fortune when he passed away in 2005. John Walton's father was Walmart founder Sam Walton)
Shocked? Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg!
The only explanation to these trends is male dominance resulting in gender inequality and an ethnicity that believes the transgression against women is a normal, individualized problem.
In-spite of its pervasiveness, discrimination against women is usually considered as isolated incident, a trivial trouble, something the woman should be able to solve at her personal level.
What’s worse is when one of us is targeted the society quickly shifts the blame on the victim. Instead of empathy she is held responsible for instigating the crime because of some negligence on her part. Her attire, her location, her attitude, her choice of partner and her lifestyle everything comes under microscopic scrutiny. Who has not heard the comments like, she asked for it, why was she dressed proactively; what business she had to be there at such an hour so on and so forth.
What gives any one any right to outrage a woman modesty or sit in judgment? Is crime against woman really her personal problem? Or does this say something about our deeply flawed mindsets, which are somewhere responsible for the prejudice we face.
What do these statements imply anyways? Do they mean the girls who dress up conservatively and don’t step out of their houses on odd hours are safe? How about innocent infants and kid girls who don’t know a thing about the ways of the world, are they not targeted? How are they responsible for being harmed?
Outrageously, most of the crimes against women happen in the illusive safety of their own homes and are perpetuated by their own parents, partners, relatives, neighbours or family friends, in short by those who should be responsible for their safety.
They are killed in the womb, soon after birth or are dumped unceremoniously in the hospitals, public toilets, roads and dustbins, left to die a horrific death by the same people who should have nurtured them. If they are lucky enough to survive, it’s only a small victory, there are numerous demons they need to fight throughout their lives.
They are subjected to domestic violence, sexual violence, neglect; genital mutilation, trafficking, harassment and even murder at times in the name of family honour.
They are under nourished and are denied the right to education.
They are married off early to a partner chosen by their parents irrespective of their desires; are maltreated for not bringing enough dowries or for not bearing a male heir for the family. They are denied the right to inheritance and ownership.
When they are working they are expected to carry the double yoke, they are supposed to work the second shift as well and that too without little help from their other half in most cases.
In East on average a woman spends 6.1 hours daily on chore around the home, fetching essentials and looking after the kids and the elderly while men spent just 1.1 hours.
They are not paid equal salaries as their male counterparts; face sexual harassment at work and are often talked about in denigrating manner.
They have tough time convincing the hiring manager that they are serious about their career when they are of marriageable or child bearing age, they have to prove themselves doubly hard to get much deserved promotion.
They are judged more on their looks and dressing style, their intellectual capabilities are often belittled. If they some - how still manage to make it big their moral fibre is questioned!
They are killed in the womb, soon after birth or are dumped unceremoniously in the hospitals, public toilets, roads and dustbins, left to die a horrific death by the same people who should have nurtured them. If they are lucky enough to survive, it’s only a small victory, there are numerous demons they need to fight throughout their lives.
They are subjected to domestic violence, sexual violence, neglect; genital mutilation, trafficking, harassment and even murder at times in the name of family honour.
They are under nourished and are denied the right to education.
They are married off early to a partner chosen by their parents irrespective of their desires; are maltreated for not bringing enough dowries or for not bearing a male heir for the family. They are denied the right to inheritance and ownership.
When they are working they are expected to carry the double yoke, they are supposed to work the second shift as well and that too without little help from their other half in most cases.
In East on average a woman spends 6.1 hours daily on chore around the home, fetching essentials and looking after the kids and the elderly while men spent just 1.1 hours.
They are not paid equal salaries as their male counterparts; face sexual harassment at work and are often talked about in denigrating manner.
They have tough time convincing the hiring manager that they are serious about their career when they are of marriageable or child bearing age, they have to prove themselves doubly hard to get much deserved promotion.
They are judged more on their looks and dressing style, their intellectual capabilities are often belittled. If they some - how still manage to make it big their moral fibre is questioned!
Some bias might be specific to a culture or a region but the stark reality is the woman from all the societies and economies face similar predicament across the globe, they are all equally vulnerable. The inequality has its deep roots in various cultures and religions. In-spite of emancipation of women in the west there has not been a single women president in US; women in the west are still fighting to break the glass ceiling. On the other hand women in the Arab, Asian and African countries have plethora of discriminatory practices affecting all the aspects of their lives and restricting their growth.
There is still a long way to go before we claim gender parity!
There is still a long way to go before we claim gender parity!
BY PUJA MALIK.
