‘We are all equal.’ This quote holds so much power. If only there existed a way that everyone could concede with this.
Sadly, many people still think that gender discrimination is definitely coming to an end. But, is it really ? I don’t think so. Surely, women have been more empowered than in previous circumstances, but are we convinced that gender equality is accomplished , or is about to be?
“Being A Woman Should Be Your Supreme Achievement And Not Your Deepest Fear. Celebrate Womanhood, Fuel Yourself With Self-Confidence And Let That Fuel Empower You To Soar Towards Your Dreams” ~ Mani Mukhija”
Women and their chances to pursue their passion 👩⚖️
Even in the 2000s, the public has persisted in refusing in giving them a chance in pandemic-related leadership roles. A study shows that:
- 25% of women are in National Parliaments, compared to the men occupations this is significantly a flagrant way of showing bias towards women.
- A mere 36% are in the Local Government as of 2020.
- Women represent only 39% of the workforce.
- And, 27% managerial positions.
- Moreover, women always bear extra household work, they spend three times as many hours in unpaid care work as men.
“Gender Equality is the unfinished business of the 21st century” — Elizabeth Broderick”
Domestic Violence 💥
The lockdowns have further added to the problem, in other words, the pandemic has physically and emotionally traumatized some women. Cases of domestic violence such as physical , sexual , and physiological have increased by 30% in some countries.
But, even before the pandemic, violence towards women was way too common (than it should be at least). According to a survey that was conducted between 2005 and 2017 in 106 countries, 18% of partnered women and girls between ages 15 to 49 experienced such brutality by a current or past close partner, 12 months preceding the survey.
Adding to this issue, we have to keep in mind that less than 40% of women who experience violence report this crime or seek assistance. Being at home with a brutal partner, and, in some countries, needing access to mobile phones or the internet, is making it even more challenging for women to securely reach out for help.
Looking at data from 66 countries over the period 2016 to 2018 , mobile phone access among women was 6.8 percentage points lower than for men, on average.
“Domestic violence is the front line of the war against women” – Pearl Cleage”
Child Marriage 👰
In many countries, child marriage is happening commonly. Marrying under the age of 18 is a human violation, mostly affecting girls, and this can lead to a lifetime of limitation and loss. One in five women (20.2%) between the ages of 20 and 24 are married before the age of 18 around 2019 , compared with about one in four (23.8%) 10 years earlier. Southern Asia has seen the greatest decline over this period.
“Educating girls is one of the most powerful tools to prevent child marriage.” In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is the highest risk of child marriage, where, more than one in three women (34.5%) between the ages of 20 and 24 were married before the age of 18. School closures and increasing poverty as a consequence of the pandemic could put more girls at risk. 
FGM, also known as Female genital mutilation is a blatant breaking of human rights. At least, 200,000,000 girls and women have been patients of FGM in 31 countries. Half of these countries are in Western Africa. Thankfully, the practice of FGM is declining, but it is still universal. At least, 9 in 10 girls and women aged 15 to 49 years have been cut. COVID-19 is interrupting programs to end FGM, which could threaten progress.
Wait… hold on, how can we stop this? 💜
Now we need your help to stop this. Using everyone’s participation in this cause, soon enough we will be able to end Gender Inequality and solve SDG goal #5 and save millions of women and girls around the world.
- Share household chores and childcare equally 👨👩👧👦
Mothers AND fathers should support women in doing household chores. Just because women give birth doesn’t mean they are responsible for everything. The workload should be 50/50.
- Support mothers 👩👧👦
We should give power to women all around the world and spread awareness for the work that mothers do.
- Reject chauvinist and racist attitudes ❌
If you see anyone that is showing any signs of neglect to women, silence them, and teach them about equality.
- Help women gain power 🙋♀️
Help women also rise to the top by voting and electing women to higher-standard jobs.
- Pay the same salary 💲
Pay the same salary! There is NO reason that men should have a higher wage than women.
- Sexual, physical, and mental harassment = Zero tolerance 🩸
Say NO to harassment! Please stand up for what is right. Men wouldn’t want this happening to them. Would they?
- Provide anti-bias training 🚺
Help people understand what gender equality is, and how it can benefit the future in many ways, and how inequality doesn’t help.
- Listen and reflect 🌐
Listen and try to understand how women are suffering, and then reflect on how YOU can help.
“We want to empower women to do exactly what they want, to be true to themselves, to have the opportunities to develop. Women should fee l free. There is no typical feminist, there is nothing anywhere that says you have to meet a certain [set of] criteria. – Emma Watson”
To learn more visit these links, I hope you now understand what women are going through and will do your part in the process of making this world a better place for women, girls, and newer generations to come. We all matter!
- https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
- https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/gender-equality/
- https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality
- https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-5-gender-equality.html
- https://www.globalgoals.org/5-gender-equality
- https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-5-gender-equality
- https://jointsdgfund.org/sustainable-development-goals/goal-5-gender-equality
Thank you for reading! 👫
I originally published this article on Medium in Feb 2021 (at the age of 11). Reposting here for my readers of “The Literary Vault”.
