Women in 2016 - Far away from Equality and Equity
“You can do whatever you want to do with your life”, “You should make use of the opportunities. When I was your age, we were far from having the same chances as men”, “You have the same prospects as every man”.
The majority of my female friends have heard these or similar sentences. True, we might have increased opportunities than previous generations, whether it be the opportunity to be able to go on to further education, or the freedom to decide, if we want to focus on a career, opt for just having children or aim at doing both. However, many women and girls do not have such an outlook, particularly in developing countries.
I would also argue, equal opportunities are still far off and everyday sexism remains, acting as a barrier to fully equal rights and chances.
All of the following examples, and facts highlight only some facts and general situations. Every single one of them would be worth writing a specific article on. However, for now, a glimpse in the sad broad variety of examples of inequality:
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) concentrates on three dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. Comparable to the Human Development Index, it provides information on differences – in this case the disparities between males and females. The higher the value, the greater the disparities between the genders, and consequently the greater the loss to human development. While the majority of Europe has very low values, the US along with Russia are in the middle category, sharing similar values with Saudi Arabia and China.
Let’s look at the economic situation. I as a young German woman in 2016 have easier access to education and the job market than my mother’s generation. I do not need my father’s or husband’s permission to take up employment, nor do I have to justify (at least most of the time) my urge to learn, work and support myself independently . However, it is highly likely, that I will be paid less all my life for the work I am doing compared to my male colleagues.
Data by the European Commission shows, the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) is still a very present reality in all of the European Union’s member states. The Commission finds “in 2014, women's gross hourly earnings were on average 16.1% below those of men in the European Union”. The GPG in Germany for instance in 2014 was 13% in the public and 24.3% in the private sector. Only Portugal has a higher GPG in the private sector with 27.3% among the EU members. The numbers have not changed significantly in recent findings. On average, women in Germany still earn 22% less (gross) than men. These numbers can be explained that some women voluntarily take less-paid jobs, often take longer maternity or parental leave, or work only part-time. However, the gap remains even in situations where women and men are qualified exactly the same – 7% less for women. Yet 75% of surveyed Germans are convinced that men and women are equally paid for the same work.
There remain many situations where women have less rights and are seen as anything but being equally worth to men. Recently, Global Citizen published a list with a selection of 10 sexist laws that still exist and which prevent equality amongst women and men. Some are well known and have often been criticised such as the prohibition to drive in Saudi Arabia. But did you know that in Jordan and Lebanon a mother cannot pass her nationality on to her own child, if she is married to a foreigner? Or in Nigeria, a man has the legal right to beat his wife – as long as he does not cause grievous bodily harm? Or that in the United Kingdom discriminatory laws still favour men in inheritance situations?
The PACT recently reported on the huge outcry and mass protests following attempts by the Polish government to tighten the already strong law on abortion, making abortion illegal and punishable. It is conceivable that different opinions and stances on abortion exist – but when Polish TV debates with all-male panels discuss the topic mainly affecting the body and mind of a female, then something is most definitely wrong. How is it 2016, and yet in the middle of Europe we still have white old men thinking they are entitled to make decisions for women?
While the fact that Hillary Clinton is a woman seems to be more important to some men when judging, if she was suitable to run for office, rather than judging her work performance, skills, and experience, shows clearly the narrowmindedness of many men in the 21st century.
Another example shows the validation of questioning not only women’s ability to perform in the workforce but also their efforts to have achieved the position they are serving in by prioritising religious values of men:
In September, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Forces issued new directives on gender-mixed units – to make life easier for men, who based on their religious beliefs refuse to serve with women, and apparently at the same time to ensure safety of women –why the latter was necessary was not specified. Orthodox Jews now also have to serve in the Israeli forces, and many refused to serve in gender-mixed units, so the forces saw need to adjust their directives. According to the new directives, both women and men can so refuse to be on guard duty with the opposite sex. Furthermore, orthodox male soldiers can refuse to attend memorial services, in case female singers are attending, as orthodox Jews are not allowed to be in contact with females that are not part of their family. Along the same line of argument, another of the new rules allows male soldiers to ignore an order by a female superior – questioning the basics of the hierarchy of military forces, or by extension, the basics of any hierarchy to be found in companies, governmental institutions, and other organisations. Without going into more details of the transformation of the state of Israel as well as the role of secularity, these developments mirror one thing in particular: Accommodating religious beliefs is perceived as being more important than equality. Positions of authority – and the efforts to achieve this position – are being completely disregarded.
But also other nation’s armed forces show examples of discrimination based on gender:
While sexual assault within the US armed forces has been acknowledged to affect both female and male soldiers with it being “12 times more likely to be retaliated against if they report the crime than the perpetrator is to see justice” and “only one in 20 sexual assaults reported to military authorities lead to jail time for the perpetrator”, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is seen as affecting solely male soldiers. Many attack female soldiers, who claim to suffer from PTSD, that only war veterans with ‘a real cause for trauma’ are eligible to have PTSD. Furthermore, categorising and cultural stereotypes often mislead to misdiagnosis and wrong treatment. Rather than being treated for PTSD, women are believed to suffer borderline personality disorder or postpartum depression. It is harder for female veterans to re-enter society after deployment and finishing their service – even the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Labor and Housing and Urban Development acknowledge that “America’s nearly 300,000 women veterans are put at risk by a system designed for and dominated by male veterans.” Almost all research (and treatment) on PTSD is aimed at military men. This is despite the fact that female veterans are more likely to be unemployed, and at least twice as likely to be homeless.
Probably the majority of women reading this article have been in situations, where “old white men” in power disrespected them and their position. A hand on a shoulder or an inappropriate hug at a conference here, disregarding requests there because it is just “this young girl”. No respect to her position, her efforts to get an education, and then this job, her work, let alone her personal space – I am convinced that a man of her age and of her position would have been treated and seen differently.
It should not be such a surprise that a) women can be interested in fields that for a long time were only ascribed to be “typical male”, and that b) women can even be opinionated and knowledgeable.
Society has made progress – however, in 2016, there is a long way until women will have complete equality and equity.
Photo Credit: George Hodan
