Gender Equality

Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, is the state of equal ease
of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender. It is
sometimes confused with gender equity, which entails equal outcome as
opposed to equal opportunities for men and women.

Gender equality is the goal, while gender neutrality and gender equity
are practices and ways of thinking that help in achieving the goal. Gender
equality is more than equal representation, it is strongly tied to women's
rights, and often requires policy changes.

On a global scale, achieving gender equality also requires eliminating

harmful practices against women and girls, including sex
trafficking, femicide, wartime sexual violence, and other oppression
tactics. Despite many international agreements affirming their human
rights, women are still much more likely than men to be poor and
illiterate. They have less access to property ownership, credit, training
and employment. They are far less likely than men to be politically active
and far more likely to be victims of domestic violence.
Ways To Achieve Inequality in our lifetimes

1. Talk to women and girls

A fundamental reason we have not yet achieved gender equality in every realm is that women
and girls voices are too often excluded from global and national decision-making. When
programmes and policies are designed without womens needs central to their foundation,
were setting ourselves up to fail. If grassroots women had been adequately consulted in
designing the MDGs, decision-makers would have been able to anticipate that girls would
still be held responsible for many home chores, caring for younger siblings and fetching
water, and have known that a major obstacle for girls education is that girls are at risk of
physical and sexual assaults when they have to walk long distances to school.

2. Let girls use mobile phones

The majority of girls in India dont have access to using basic technology such as phones and
computers because of infrastructure related challenges and economic reasons. Increasingly
we see bans on girls using mobile phones. The dialogue on girls access to Stem [science,
technology, engineering and maths] education and womens role in technology has not even
started to be acknowledged. Can girls and women access equal resources, opportunities and
rights without access to technology?

3. Stop child marriage and sexual harassment

In Bangladesh and elsewhere, child marriage is a major impediment to girls education. In

Bangladesh more than 50% of girls are married before the age of 18, and about 30% of girls
15 to 19 already have one child. If we want girls to be able to complete education we have to
end child marriage. We also have to seriously address sexual harassment of girls. Insecurity
is one of the reasons parents give for marrying their daughters. It is also a major barrier to
girls full participation in education.

4. Make education gender sensitive

There has been much progress in increasing access to education, but progress has been slow
in improving the gender sensitivity of the education system, including ensuring textbooks
promote positive stereotypes. This is critically important for girls to come out of schools as
citizens who can shape a more equal society. In some countries, there is a tendency to assume
that things are fine as long as there are equal number of girls in schools.

5. Raise aspirations of girls and their parents

One of the key strategies must be to change how girls, families and society imagine what
girls can be and can do. We need to give girls images and role models that expand their
dreams. I was at an International Womens Day event with Bangladesh Women in
Technology and they talked about needing to build girls and womens confidence that they
could be engineers or entrepreneurs. We also need parents to see that there really are
opportunities for their daughters, that their only security is not just to be good wives and
mothers.

6. Empower mothers

In Afghanistan, there have been great moves to increase number of girls going through
formal education through providing schools for girls in every district. We have learned that
through empowering women on the community level you will also enhance girls education.
When mothers are educated and empowered to make choices in their lives, they enable their
daughters to go to school.

7. Give proper value to womens work

The unpaid work women and girls do provide the foundation for the global economy. This
fact needs to be highlighted more in the media, with the private sector and in communities.
More research and data for messaging on this point could be useful in promoting the key role
and contributions women and girls make to the economy and the need for proper recognition
and compensation. We also need a concerted campaign for equal pay for equal work
worldwide. Legislation, economic incentives, and pledges like the UNs Womens
Empowerment Principles should be adapted and replicated everywhere.

8. Get women into power

A proven way to overcome many systemic barriers to a womans success has been increased
participation by women in local, regional and national legislation as empowered change
agents. In just 10 years, the number of women holding seats in houses of national parliament
in south Asia rose from 7% to 18%. But a global goal of equal representation is still a long
way off, with only one woman for every four men in parliamentary houses. A womans voice
and her ability to become a leader in her community is fundamental to empowering women.

9. Encourage women into non-traditional vocations

Supporting women in non-traditional jobs is crucial in not only making long-lasting change
in their lives but also help break social taboos. Brac is skilling women in professions such as
motorcycle fixing, driving, hospitality, mobile-phone fixing.

10. Work together

Alarmingly, gender gaps in sub-Saharan Africa have widened at higher levels of schooling.
This is a reverse of the global trend towards greater parity. Between 1999 and 2010, the ratio
of girls in secondary school fell from 83 to 82 girls for every 100 boys at the secondary level
and from 67 to 63 girls for every 100 boys at the tertiary level. This is stalled progress and a
reversion to the deep gender equalities that characterised previous eras. To address this gap,
our efforts cannot be done in silos, but must involve the people (girls in this case). Girls know
best what their challenges are in education and it is imperative to involve them in our
discussions to address the gap.
11. Stop the violence

Gender inequality allows for violence against women to continue unabated. The UN has
found that globally, one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime, with most
violence against women perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner. The World
Health Organisation, London School of Health and Tropical Medicine, and the World Bank
Group have done a lot to consolidate and expand on what we know about the prevalence of
violence against women, and effective prevention and response strategies., but there is still a
lot we do not know.

12. Beware the backlash

One of the realities that we need to remember and address is that, when women trespass in
spaces that were previously completely male-dominated there is often a penalty. In education
and in the workplace that backlash often takes the form of sexual harassment, humiliation,
violence. Looking at a local level or specific situation we can see how that slows the pace of
womens entry to that sector or opportunity.

Use Metrics to Set Goals And Inform Talent Mobility

Its difficult for an archer to aim for a target they cant see. Similarly, how can companies
know they are achieving equality when they dont know what equality looks like? Simply
put, use data. Measure inequality to set clear goals to determine how to close gender gaps.
For example, if management consists of more men, a goal should be to train talented female
employees for management. Look at measurements in recruitment, company culture, and
similar areas to see how the organization is impacting men and women and their careers.
Additionally, companies need to know what theyre considering when they give raises and
promotions. Create a framework of work-related aspects like performance, and use it to set
standards for evaluations that are to be used for all employees in the same way.

Consider Pay Transparency

The 2016 Glassdoor study found research showing that salary transparency can help
eliminate gender pay gaps and play an important role in helping achieve balance. The current
imbalance is even more apparent when women have children. A 2015 study
from Payscale found that the largest gap in pay occurs when women are married with
children. How are women supposed to perceive this idea of making even less money when
they become mothers? How can companies address this growing concern?

Offer Child Care Solutions

An April 2014 survey from the National Womens Law Center found that working mothers
make 69 percent of what working fathers earn. This can be mitigated by embracing a policy
that includes salary transparency and performing evaluations in the same way for everyone.
To ease some additional burden on working mothers, offer childcare on site, corporate
discounted daycare, or open a flexible spending account to help supplement parents
expenses. It shows respect for their effort and helps them achieve a better work-life balance.

Provide Mentorships To Strong Talent

Management should be finding good talent and providing mentors for them to help them
grow and advance within the company. Encourage women to engage in professional
development by pairing them with strong leaders who can assess their skills and goals.
Mentors can advise female employees on how to build their appeal for advancement
opportunities, like adding to their skill sets, continuing their education, and learning how to
network.

Educate Managers On How To Be Fair

Many managers dont realize they speak to women differently than men. Train your
management team to effectively lead and do so in a fair way. Offer every employee
consistent feedback, encourage their input, offer professional development, and coach
everyone equally. In a culture founded on transparency, employees feel motivated to take
ownership of their roles and are encouraged to address concerns with all levels of
management. So if women feel like they are being discriminated against, they are
comfortable in addressing this with leaders and working toward finding solutions.
Archievement of gender inequality in Malaysia

Women in employment
We had lauded the case of Noorfadilla, who was awarded damages for the discriminatory
revocation of her temporary teaching job as a result of pregnancy. We then found that her
damages of RM300,000 was reduced to a mere RM30,000, on the basis of the judges belief
that Noorfadilla was profit-seeking and dishonest in not disclosing her pregnancy. This has
seriously undermined the progressive nature of Noorfadillas original case, which was the first
time in Malaysia when a court ruling referred to Cedaw. Obviously, women still face
discrimination in employment.

Women and the family

From Deepa Subramaniams and Indira Gandhis cases, we saw that there has been little justice
for victims of unilateral conversion, which tend to be women. Our justice system has failed to
protect women from the conversion of and loss of custody to their children. It has also failed
to punish spouses who secretly convert their children in order to claim custody.In Deepas case,
despite her ex-husbands history of violence despite kidnapping their son, threatening to do
the same to their daughter, and converting the children without Deepas knowledge, which can
be seen as a form of domestic violence in itself he has been rewarded with the custody of
their son. In doing this, the judiciary has validated his abusive behaviour.

Girls and child marriage

Child marriage remains alarmingly rife with as many as 15,000 underage girl-brides in
Malaysia. As a result, these brides face a heightened risk of physical and emotional abuse, as
well as increased infant and maternal mortality rates.They are also often forced to leave school
thus limiting their opportunities and independence. And what about this trend of marrying
young girls off to their rapists as a solution to statutory rape? How can this be seen as a
solution?Nothing should be considered more important than the safety and health of these girls.
The government must acknowledge and respond to the 15,000 girls who remain affected by
the harmful practice.

Women, sexual violence and victim blaming

When the Selangor Islamic authority (JAIS) equated women who do not cover up to unlocked
homes ripe for the picking, we learnt two things.First, that rape is a consequence of womens
own inability to shield themselves. Forget about cases where women can be considered
covered up or the fact that 50 per cent of rape victims are under 16.And second, men are
natural predators who cannot be expected to curb their instinctual urges. This statement is an
insult to everyone.Any form of sexual violence is inexcusable no matter what the victims wear,
whether they are sober, whether it is perpetrated by a stranger, friend, or spouse. A person does
not need to put up a fight or struggle to indicate they do not consent, and do not need to prove
that they are exhausted to have the right to say no.Instead voluntary and informed consent
should be actively sought. We must shift the blame from victims to perpetrators, and strengthen
laws to ensure all forms of non-consensual sex are criminalised.
Women and moral policing

The policing of womens modesty has been another prominent feature of the past year. JPJs
refusal to serve a woman unless she covered her legs with a sarong, the RM2,000 fine or one
year jail time facing Muslim women in Pahang who wear dresses considered too short or tight,
criticisms of Farah Anns skin-tight gymnastics attire, and the sexualisation of a former child
star these are merely the tip of the iceberg.Womens modesty is of paramount importance.
Message received. Message deleted. Women are more than just their bodies. We are people,
and we are definitely not houses, unlocked or otherwise. When women are told they must cover
up to function in society, they are sexualised, and consequently punished for being sexualised.
This is ridiculous!Women should have the choice to dress however they want, without being
constrained by social pressure or fear. It seems almost too obvious to say, but if we seek gender
equality the first step is to treat women as humans and not objects.

Violence against transgender women

In the past year, we also witnessed the continued violence and discrimination against
transgender women. This includes the appalling assault on Nisha Ayub, and conviction of nine
transgender women for wearing womans attire or pos[ing] as a woman.Such treatment is a
violation of their right to freedom from torture and inhumane treatment, freedom of movement
and a host of other freedoms and rights. Most importantly, it egregiously denies their identity
as women and their right to express their gender identity.Awam believes that those who
identify as women must be recognised as such. We also believe that the law and its enforcers
must do all within its power to protect transgender people, and end discrimination against
them.All we ask for this International Womens Day, is a feminist world. Today, March 8th,
marks the International Womens Day. And we at Awam, have a wish we would like to
share.Women can and should be leaders, speakers, contributors, achievers, society-makers.
Women are. International Womens Day is a celebration of womens social, political and
economic accomplishments, but it is crucial to pay attention to the struggles that women
face.There are stereotypes, discrimination, and safety concerns in wearing what we want,
speaking our minds, taking up leadership positions or simply taking up space.
Disadvantages of Gender Equality