The Theme of Women’s Day this year is “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights” and it makes me wonder about our journey till now. How far have we come and how much longer we need to wait for this elusive equality? In fact, why and how to achieve gender equality?
Last year leading up to Women’s Day I had asked a lot of women what they wanted to change in their lives and most of what they said had the underlying theme of equality in it. More than anything women just want to be treated as equals, to have the rights they ought to have anyway. More than anything they need to not be treated as second-grade citizens or as afterthoughts.
Now, when we talk about equality, most of the time our genuine fight is brushed aside as “hormones” or “feminist nonsense”. But facts and figures don’t lie, do they? Today, let me start with some statistics from the UN Women website which will make the case for equality more eloquently than words could. Or, rather facts and figures which will make the case for the need for equality.
More than anything women just want to be treated as equals, to have the rights they ought to have anyway. More than anything they need to not be treated as second-grade citizens or as afterthoughts.
Why do we need equality?
Some gender equality facts.
Only 24.3 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of February 2019, a slow increase from 11.3 per cent in 1995.
It is estimated that gender gaps cost the economy some 15 per cent of GDP.
Globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. Of 189 economies assessed in 2018, 104 economies still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 economies have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and in 18 economies, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working.
The gender wage gap is estimated to be 23 per cent. This means that women earn 77 per cent of what men earn, though these figures understate the real extent of gender pay gaps, particularly in developing countries where informal self-employment is prevalent. Women also face the motherhood wage penalty, which increases as the number of children a woman has increases.
Women tend to spend around 2.5 times more time on unpaid care and domestic work than men. The amount of time devoted to unpaid care work is negatively correlated with female labour force participation.
It is estimated that if women’s unpaid work were assigned a monetary value, it would constitute between 10 per cent and 39 per cent of GDP.
While 65 per cent of men report having an account at a formal financial institution, only 58 per cent of women do worldwide.
Only 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Women.
Women around the world are subjected to one or the other mode of violence in the form of and is not limited to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner, human trafficking, child marriage resulting in early pregnancy and social isolation, interruption to schooling, female genital mutilation, forced sex, cyber-harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace.
So, as you can see, we are at a disadvantage in almost all spheres. And I haven’t even listed down all the studies done to make the case. Hence, can you blame us when we want to keep this conversation on equality going?
What is interesting is that we need to have conversations around realizing women’s rights? Have you ever wondered why men don’t have to be bothered about these? It is because they don’t need to fight for their rights. The simple things like safety, security or having a career do not come with addendums for them.
Think about it this way. A man can go out for a walk in the middle of the night wearing shorts and the chances of him coming back home without being raped, harassed or molested are way higher than women. In fact, how many women do you see moving around alone at night unless there is no option available? Also, travelling in a group or with a man is no guarantee that she is going to be safe. So, is it not natural that we fight for safety or this feeling of being equally safe as the opposite gender?
Have you ever heard of a conversation of a man having to balance his career when he becomes a dad or gets married? #GenderEquality Share on X
Look at women who are married or have children. They do most of the unpaid labour at home, getting things running. Yes, gradually in the cities, with education men are learning to step in and help but the onus to have the household running smoothly is still on women. A working woman has to balance her household and her career. She needs to balance taking care of her children and her career. In the bargain, something always gives or she keeps walking the tightrope, stressed and fatigued. Have you ever heard of a conversation of a man having to balance his career when he becomes a dad or gets married? The answer is a resounding NO. Equality? I think not.
These are just some instances of why the conversation around equality is very much relevant and required. But how to achieve gender equality?
It must be incorporated in everything you think and do, men and women alike. Not all of us can make policies or put them into effect. But we can make the changes into our own lives and slowly but steadily these bits will take us to a day when equality doesn’t seem too farfetched. Most importantly there are things we can do to ensure that the next generation is raised in a way that gender equality becomes a reality or a close enough reality.
How to achieve gender equality
Raise your kids as individuals who respect both genders. Teach feminism to both boys and girls.
Instil in your girls the belief that they can be anything they want to.
Make it known to your boys that they are not superior to or more entitled than girls.
Instil in your boys and girls the belief that they are equals.
Share the load at home whether it is the dishes or folding laundry. Share the load the way you want to but remember to share and balance.
Do not sacrifice your dreams and aspirations because you are a woman.
Teach your girls that the culmination of their being is not in a marriage or in finding a man. They are complete in themselves.
Fight gender stereotypes but also don’t become obsessive about debunking some of them. Let the kids grow up to be the way they want to be. For example, while it’s good that we don’t identify colours with gender but if you boy wants to go with blue and your girl with pink, let them.
Teach by example. Fathers show that men do cook and serve food too. Mothers show that they bring in the money and pay bills too.
Teach girls and boys to respect individual boundaries.
Teach empathy to kids. Boys and girls can both be emotional and strong at the same time. Human emotions are not distributed based on gender.
Respect your partner and spouse. Kids learn by example and this is probably the best way to teach them without actually teaching them.
Instil confidence in your girls. Do not project your insecurities about skin colour or height or looks to your girls. Make them realise they are beautiful the way they are.
Teach your girls to no suffer in silence.
Normalise conversations about divorce if a relationship isn’t working. There is no point in compromise while living with unhappiness. Divorce isn’t the end, just another chance at a beginning.
Vote for women you think are eligible. Don’t discount them just because they are women.
Employ capable women, give them opportunities instead of mentally deciding that they will eventually drop out so why bother.
Be equal parents. Raising kids is a shared responsibility.
These are just some of the things that come to mind when I think about how to overcome gender inequality, how we as individuals can work towards change. Imagine, if every household works towards this concept of equality, how easy and wonderfully deafening this fight will be.
So, this women’s day and every day, I urge you to make a conscious effort to make a better world for women, as cliched as it sounds. Let’s make realizing women’s rights much more than a slogan and ‘I am generation equality’ much more than a theme.
Agree, with your views