In this unit we will look at how significant the gender inequalities are in terms of culture, status, education, birth ratios, health, employment, empowerment, life expectancy, family size, migration, legal rights and land tenure.
The Global Gender Gap Index
Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women:
Goal 3 of the UN’s development goals is to promote gender equality and empower women.
The aim is to Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.
The indicators used to assess progress being made towards this goal are;
1) The ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education (UNESCO)
2) The ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old (UNESCO)
3) The share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (ILO)
4) The proportion of seats held by women in national parliament (IPU)
What progress is being made. The pdf below reports on the progress being made.
Read it and make notes on the current situation and the projects that have resulted in a reduction in the Gender Gap.
Use the link below and other internet and written sources to find examples of the inequality between men and women.
You should look for examples of equlity and inequality under the following headings;
- Culture and Status
- Birth Ratios
- Family Size
- Health and Life Expectancy
- Legal Rights and Land Tenure
As well as looking for examples of equality and inequality, you should also look for examples of what is being done to reduce the inequality.
Start off by listening to this podcast on gender equality. and making notes.
|Mala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls rights to education. Click on the image to listen to her speech to the UN.|
Legal Rights and Land Tenure
In many countries across Africa, the right of the firstborn male, or closest male relative, to inherit family property – is still standard practice. Women are denied the right to inherit the family estate purely because of their gender, a custom that is upheld by some traditional leaders.
A woman in rural Ivory Coast has been called to a meeting under the shaded veranda of the local chief’s house to defend her right to inherit her husband’s property.
Culture and Status
El Salvador has one of the toughest anti-abortion laws in the world. A side-effect is that women who suffer miscarriages or stillbirths are sometimes suspected of inducing an abortion – and can even be jailed for murder.
In China – as in many countries – more women than men are entering university. But are there jobs for the girls out in the real world?
Almost half of all American women (40%) with children under the age of 18 are the primary or sole source of income in their families, according to a major Pew survey released this year. Back in 1960, the share was just 11%. It is a huge social shift.
Health and Life Expectancy
Female Genital Mutilation
According to the latest (2008) WHO and UNAIDS global estimates, women comprise 50% of people living with HIV. In sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute 60% of people living with HIV.
Exam Style question:
“Gender inequality exists to some extent, in most areas of society, in all countries of the world.” Geographically examine this statement. 15 Marks