European Union initiatives The European Union has taken significant steps to institutionalize gender equality efforts. In 2010, the
European Union opened the
European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in
Vilnius,
Lithuania to promote gender equality and to fight
sex discrimination. Building on its gender equality agenda, the EU in 2015 adopted a comprehensive Gender Action Plan for 2016–2020. This was followed by a third Gender Action Plan covering 2020–2025 (GAP III), introduced in late 2020 with the aim of accelerating progress on empowering women and girls and safeguarding the gains made in gender equality.
National education and policy initiatives Gender equality is part of the national curriculum in Great Britain and many other European countries with other subjects like
Personal, social, health and economic education,
religious studies and
language acquisition addressing gender issues as serious topics for discussion and societal analysis. In Central Asia, the Republic of Kazakhstan undertook a decade-long Strategy for Gender Equality 2006–2016 by presidential decree to advance women's status and opportunities . Following that period, Kazakhstan introduced a new "Concept for Family and Gender Policy until 2030" in 2017 as a national roadmap to further gender equality goalsebrd.com. This updated strategy, supported by government and international partners, continues Kazakhstan's efforts to enhance women's rights and participation in all sectors of society.
Legal reforms for women's rights In the Philippines, a landmark law known as the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710) was signed on August 14, 2009, by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This comprehensive law affirms women's rights as human rights and seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. The Magna Carta of Women compiles and strengthens existing human rights provisions for women, mandates equal opportunities for women in all spheres, and aligns with international conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It also requires that women be able to participate in policy formulation, planning, and decision-making processes for programs and services, thereby ensuring that women have a voice in governance and development.
Gender equality, health, and development programs A large and growing body of research has shown that gender inequality negatively impacts health outcomes and hinders social and economic development. In response, international organizations emphasize comprehensive empowerment strategies for women and girls. The
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that advancing women's empowerment and gender equality requires strategic interventions at all levels of programming and policy-making, including in reproductive health, economic opportunity, education, and political participation. In other words, improving gender equality involves multisector efforts; from ensuring access to healthcare and family planning, to expanding women's economic resources and decision-making power, to boosting girls' educational attainment and leadership roles.
UNFPA says that "research has also demonstrated how working with men and boys as well as women and girls to promote gender equality contributes to achieving health and development outcomes." These findings have informed programs worldwide that involve men as partners in challenging gender norms—such as initiatives encouraging fathers' involvement in maternal health, or boys' education programs about equality and respect—as a means to create more sustainable and inclusive progress toward gender equity. Overall, the health and development sectors increasingly recognize gender equality not only as a fundamental human right but also as a prerequisite for broader societal well-being.
Gender-responsive policies and agriculture In the past decade, many countries have made improvements in integrating gender considerations into national policy frameworks, though progress is uneven across sectors. Governments in regions like East Africa and Latin America have increasingly acknowledged structural gender gaps - such as unequal access to land, agricultural inputs, finance, and technology for women and have begun crafting policies and budgets to produce more gender-responsive outcomes. However, the degree to which such policies explicitly prioritize gender equality and women's empowerment varies widely. Most countries acknowledge women's contributions to agriculture, but far fewer translate that recognition into concrete goals or inclusive decision-making structures for women.
Global acceleration initiatives In recent years, global partnerships and action plans have been launched to accelerate progress toward gender parity. Notably, in 2021 the Generation Equality Forum convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France became a major international effort to catalyze gender equality efforts. The Forum culminated in Paris in July 2021 with the announcement of a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality and nearly US$40 billion in pledged investments to advance women's rights. This five-year action plan (running through 2026) mobilizes governments, civil society, and the private sector to tackle critical barriers to gender equality, from gender-based violence to economic and educational disparities. The timing of this initiative was significant: it arrived as the world was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected women and girls (through increased caregiving burdens, job losses, and gender-based violence during lockdowns). The Generation Equality commitments thus also emphasized gender-responsive recovery measures so that women and girls are not left behind in post-pandemic rebuilding.
Health and safety Effect of gender inequality on health Social constructs of
gender (that is, cultural ideals of socially acceptable
masculinity and
femininity) often have a negative effect on health. The World Health Organization cites the example of women not being allowed to travel alone outside the home (to go to the hospital), and women being prevented by cultural norms to ask their husbands to use a condom, in cultures which simultaneously encourage male promiscuity, as social norms that harm
women's health. Teenage boys suffering accidents due to social expectations of impressing their peers through
risk taking, and men dying at much higher rate from
lung cancer due to
smoking, in cultures which link smoking to masculinity, are cited by the WHO as examples of gender norms negatively affecting
men's health. The World Health Organization has also stated that there is a strong connection between gender socialization and transmission and lack of adequate management of
HIV/AIDS. Certain cultural practices, such as
female genital mutilation (FGM), negatively affect women's health. Female genital mutilation is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. It is rooted in inequality between the sexes, and constitutes a form of discrimination against women. Asia, Middle East, and Indonesia, and in Europe among immigrant communities from countries in which FGM is common. UNICEF estimated in 2016 that 200 million women have undergone the procedure. (2022–2023), referring to the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime, according to the
Population Reference Bureau. According to the World Health Organization, gender equality can improve men's health. The study shows that traditional notions of masculinity have a big impact on men's health. Among European men,
non-communicable diseases, such as
cancer,
cardiovascular diseases,
respiratory illnesses, and
diabetes, account for the vast majority of deaths of men aged 30–59 in Europe which are often linked to unhealthy diets, stress,
substance abuse, and other habits, which the report connects to behaviors often stereotypically seen as masculine behaviors like heavy drinking and smoking. Traditional gender
stereotypes that keep men in the role of
breadwinner and
systematic discrimination preventing women from equally contributing to their households and participating in the workforce can put additional stress on men, increasing their risk of health issues, and men bolstered by
cultural norms tend to take more risks and engage in
interpersonal violence more often than women, which could result in fatal injuries.
Violence against women road sign, Bakau, Gambia, 2005 was practiced for centuries in China.
Violence against women (VAW) is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. This type of violence is gender-based, meaning that the acts of violence are committed against women expressly
because they are women, or as a result of patriarchal gender constructs. Violence and mistreatment of women in marriage has come to international attention during the past decades. This includes both violence committed inside marriage (
domestic violence) as well as violence related to marriage customs and traditions (such as
dowry,
bride price,
forced marriage and
child marriage). According to some theories, violence against women is often caused by the acceptance of violence by various cultural groups as a means of conflict resolution within intimate relationships. Studies on
Intimate partner violence victimization among ethnic minorities in the United Studies have consistently revealed that immigrants are a high-risk group for intimate violence. In countries where gang murders, armed kidnappings, civil unrest, and other similar acts are rare, the vast majority of murdered women are killed by partners/ex-partners. By contrast, in countries with a high level of organized criminal activity and gang violence, murders of women are more likely to occur in a public sphere, often in a general climate of indifference and impunity. This is also the position of the Istanbul Convention which reads:"Article 3 – Definitions, For the purpose of this Convention: a "violence against women" is understood as a violation of human rights and
a form of discrimination against women [...]".|group=lower-roman}} In some cultures, acts of violence against women are seen as crimes against the male 'owners' of the woman, such as husband, father or male relatives, rather the woman herself. This leads to practices where men inflict violence upon women in order to get revenge on male members of the women's family. Such practices include
payback rape, a form of rape specific to certain cultures, particularly the
Pacific Islands, which consists of the rape of a female, usually by a group of several males, as revenge for acts committed by members of her family, such as her father or brothers, with the rape being meant to humiliate the father or brothers, as punishment for their prior behavior towards the perpetrators.
Richard A. Posner writes that "Traditionally, rape was the offense of depriving a father or husband of a valuable asset — his wife's chastity or his daughter's virginity". Historically, rape was seen in many cultures (and is still seen today in some societies) as a crime against the
honor of the family, rather than against the self-determination of the woman. As a result, victims of rape may face violence, in extreme cases even honor killings, at the hands of their family members.
Catharine MacKinnon argues that in male dominated societies, sexual intercourse is imposed on women in a coercive and unequal way, creating a continuum of victimization, where women have few positive sexual experiences. Socialization within rigid gender constructs often creates an environment where sexual violence is common. One of the challenges of dealing with sexual violence is that in many societies women are perceived as being readily available for sex, and men are seen as entitled to their bodies, until and unless women object.
Types of VAW Violence against women may be classified according to different approaches. • '''WHO's life cycle typology''': The
World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a typology of violence against women based on their cultural life cycles. Significant progress towards the protection of women from violence has been made on international level as a product of collective effort of lobbying by many women's rights movements; international organizations to civil society groups. As a result, worldwide governments and international as well as civil society organizations actively work to combat violence against women through a variety of programs. Among the major achievements of the women's rights movements against violence on girls and women, the landmark accomplishments are the "
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women" that implies "political will towards addressing VAW " and the legal binding agreement, "the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (
CEDAW)". In addition, the UN General Assembly resolution also designated 25 November as
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. •
The Lancets over time typology': A typology similar to the WHO's from an article on violence against women published in the academic journal
The Lancet shows the different types of violence perpetrated against women according to what time period in a women's life the violence takes place. However, it also classifies the types of violence according to the perpetrator. One important point to note is that more of the types of violence inflicted on women are perpetrated by someone the woman knows, either a family member or intimate partner, rather than a stranger. • '''Council of Europe's nine forms of violence''': The Gender Equality Commission of the
Council of Europe identifies nine forms of violence against women based on subject and context rather than life cycle or time period: • 'Violence within the family or domestic violence' • 'Rape and sexual violence' • 'Sexual harassment' • 'Violence in institutional environments' • 'Female genital mutilation' • 'Forced marriages' • 'Violence in conflict and post-conflict situations' • 'Killings in the name of honour' • 'Failure to respect freedom of choice with regard to reproduction'
Violence against trans women Killings of
transgender individuals, especially transgender women, continue to rise yearly. 2020 saw a record 350 transgender individuals murdered, with means including suffocation and burning alive. In 2009, United States data showed that transgender people are likely to experience a broad range of violence in the entirety of their lifetime. Violence against trans women in Puerto Rico started to make headlines after being treated as "An Invisible Problem" decades before. It was reported at the 58th Convention of the Puerto Rican Association that many transgender women face institutional, emotional, and structural obstacles. Most trans women do not have access to health care for
STD prevention and are not educated on violence prevention, mental health, and social services that could benefit them.
Trans women in the United States have been the subject of anti-trans stigma, which includes criminalization, dehumanization, and violence against those who identify as transgender. From a societal standpoint, a trans person can be victim to the stigma due to lack of family support, issues with health care and social services,
police brutality, discrimination in the work place, cultural marginalisation, poverty, sexual assault, assault, bullying, and mental trauma. The
Human Rights Campaign tracked over 128 cases that ended in fatality against transgender people in the US from 2013 to 2018, of which eighty percent included a trans woman of color. In the US, high rates of
Intimate Partner violence impact trans women differently because they are facing discrimination from police and health providers, and alienation from family. In 2018, it was reported that 77 percent of transgender people who were linked to sex work and 72 percent of transgender people who were homeless, were victims of intimate partner violence.
Reproductive and sexual health and rights launched free healthcare for pregnant and breastfeeding women The importance of women having the right and possibility to have control over their body, reproduction decisions, and sexuality, and the need for gender equality in order to achieve these goals are recognized as crucial by the
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the UN
International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that promotion of gender equality is crucial in the fight against
HIV/AIDS.
Maternal mortality is a major problem in many parts of the world.
UNFPA states that countries have an obligation to protect women's
right to health, but many countries do not do that. Maternal mortality is considered today not just an issue of development but also an issue of
human rights. The right to reproductive and sexual autonomy is denied to women in many parts of the world, through practices such as
forced sterilization, forced/coerced sexual partnering (e.g.
forced marriage,
child marriage), criminalization of consensual sexual acts (such as
sex outside marriage), lack of criminalization of
marital rape, violence in regard to the choice of partner (
honor killings as punishment for 'inappropriate' relations). The sexual health of women is often poor in societies where a woman's right to control her sexuality is not recognized.
Adolescent girls have the highest risk of sexual coercion, sexual ill health, and negative reproductive outcomes. The risks they face are higher than those of boys and men; this increased risk is partly due to gender inequity (different socialization of boys and girls, gender based violence, child marriage) and partly due to biological factors.
Family planning and abortion ren and
infants (
Ethiopia)
Family planning is the practice of freely deciding the number of children one has and the intervals between their births, particularly by means of contraception or voluntary sterilization. Abortion is the induced termination of pregnancy.
Abortion laws vary significantly by country. The availability of contraception, sterilization and abortion is dependent on laws, as well as social, cultural and religious norms. Some countries have liberal laws regarding these issues, but in practice it is very difficult to access such services due to doctors, pharmacists and other social and medical workers being
conscientious objectors. Family planning is particularly important from a women's rights perspective, as having very many pregnancies, especially in areas where malnutrition is present, can seriously endanger women's health. UNFA writes that "Family planning is central to gender equality and women's empowerment, and it is a key factor in reducing poverty". Family planning is often opposed by governments who have strong
natalist policies. During the 20th century, such examples have included the aggressive natalist policies from
communist Romania and
communist Albania. State mandated
forced marriage was also practiced by some authoritarian governments as a way to meet population targets: the
Khmer Rouge regime in
Cambodia systematically forced people into marriages, in order to increase the population and continue the revolution. By contrast, the
one-child policy of China (1979–2015) included punishments for families with more than one child and
forced abortions. The fine is so-called "social maintenance fee" and it is the punishment for the families who have more than one child. According to the policy, the families who violate the law may bring the burden to the whole society. Therefore, the social maintenance fee will be used for the operation of the basic government. Some governments have sought to prevent certain ethnic or social groups from reproduction. Such policies were carried out against ethnic minorities in Europe and North America in the 20th century, and more recently in Latin America against the Indigenous population in the 1990s; in
Peru, President
Alberto Fujimori (in office from 1990 to 2000) has been accused of
genocide and
crimes against humanity as a result of a sterilization program put in place by his administration targeting indigenous people (mainly the
Quechuas and the
Aymaras).
Investigation and prosecution of crimes against women and girls Human rights organizations have expressed concern about the legal
impunity of perpetrators of crimes against women, with such crimes being often ignored by authorities. This is especially the case with murders of women in
Latin America. In particular, there is impunity in regard to
domestic violence. Women are often, in law or in practice, unable to access legal institutions. UN Women has said that: "Too often, justice institutions, including the police and the courts, deny women justice". Often, women are denied legal recourse because the state institutions themselves are structured and operate in ways incompatible with genuine justice for women who experience violence.
Harmful traditional practices , India ). "Harmful traditional practices" refer to forms of violence which are committed in certain communities often enough to become cultural practice, and accepted for that reason. Young women are the main victims of such acts, although men can also be affected. They occur in an environment where women and girls have unequal rights and opportunities. These practices include, according to the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: In a 2014 survey, 27% of Indians admitted to practicing untouchability. Traditional customs regarding birth sometimes endanger the mothers. Births in parts of Africa are often attended by traditional birth attendants (TBAs), who sometimes perform rituals that are dangerous to the health of the mother. In many societies, a difficult labour is believed to be a divine punishment for marital infidelity, and such women face abuse and are pressured to "confess" to the infidelity. Other harmful traditional practices include
marriage by abduction, ritualized
sexual slavery (
Devadasi,
Trokosi),
breast ironing and
widow inheritance.
Female genital mutilation ,
Uganda, 2004
UNFPA and
UNICEF regard the practice of
female genital mutilation as "a manifestation of deeply entrenched gender inequality. It persists for many reasons. In some societies, for example, it is considered a rite of passage. In others, it is seen as a prerequisite for marriage. In some communities – whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim – the practice may even be attributed to religious beliefs." An estimated 125 million women and girls living today have undergone FGM in the 29 countries where data exist. Of these, about half live in Egypt and Ethiopia. It is most commonly carried out on girls between infancy and 15 years old. The 2013 UN Resolution on Child, Early and Forced Marriage calls for an end to the practice, and states that "Recognizing that child, early and forced marriage is a harmful practice that violates abuses, or impairs human rights and is linked to and perpetuates other harmful practices and human rights violations, that these violations have a disproportionately negative impact on women and girls [...]". Despite a near-universal commitment by governments to end child marriage, "one in three girls in developing countries (excluding China) will probably be married before they are 18."
UNFPA states that, "over 67 million women 20–24 year old in 2010 had been married as girls. Half were in Asia, one-fifth in Africa. In the next decade 14.2 million girls under 18 will be married every year; this translates into 39,000 girls married each day. This will rise to an average of 15.1 million girls a year, starting in 2021 until 2030, if present trends continue." The custom of bride price has been criticized as contributing to the mistreatment of women in marriage, and preventing them from leaving abusive marriages.
UN Women recommended its abolition, and stated that: "Legislation should ... State that divorce shall not be contingent upon the return of bride price but such provisions shall not be interpreted to limit women's right to divorce; State that a perpetrator of
domestic violence, including marital rape, cannot use the fact that he paid bride price as a defence to a domestic violence charge."
Economy and public policy Economic empowerment of women Promoting gender equality is seen as an encouragement to greater
economic prosperity. Managers' gender can also shape implementation of workplace equality policies: in one study, women managers reportedly limited a flexible‑work policy more often than men, even when they supported gender equality, because such policies undermined their relationship‑based managerial roles Gender biases also exist in product and service provision. The term "Women's Tax", also known as "
Pink Tax", refers to gendered pricing in which products or services marketed to women are more expensive than similar products marketed to men.
Gender-based price discrimination involves companies selling almost identical units of the same product or service at comparatively different prices, as determined by the target market. Studies have found that women pay about $1,400 a year more than men due to gendered discriminatory pricing. Although the "pink tax" of different goods and services is not uniform, overall women pay more for commodities that result in visual evidence of feminine body image. In addition, gender wage gap is a phenomenon of gender biases. That means women do the same job or work with their male counterpart, but they could not receive the same salary or opportunity at workforce. Increasing women's equality in banking and the workplace might boost the global economy by up to $28 trillion by 2025. Funding is becoming more available for this, for example with the European Investment Bank establishing the SheInvest program in 2020 with the goal of raising €1 billion in investments to assist women in obtaining loans and running enterprises across Africa. The European Investment Bank funded an additional €2 billion in gender-lens investment in Africa, Asia, and Latin America at the
Finance in Common Summit at the end of 2022.
Gendered arrangements of work and care Since the 1950s, social scientists as well as feminists have increasingly criticized gendered arrangements of work and care and the male breadwinner role. Policies are increasingly targeting men as fathers as a tool of changing gender relations.
Shared earning/shared parenting marriage, that is, a relationship where the partners collaborate at sharing their responsibilities inside and outside of the home, is often encouraged in Western countries. Western countries with a strong emphasis on women fulfilling the role of homemakers, rather than a professional role, include parts of German speaking Europe (i.e. parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland); as well as the Netherlands and Ireland. In the computer technology world of
Silicon Valley in the United States,
New York Times reporter
Nellie Bowles has covered harassment and bias against women as well as a backlash against female equality. Females are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at all levels of society. Fewer females are completing STEM school subjects, graduating with STEM degrees, being employed as STEM professionals, and holding senior leadership and academic positions in STEM. This problem is exacerbated by the gender pay gap; family role expectations; lack of visible role models or mentors; discrimination and harassment; and bias in hiring and promotion practices. A key issue towards insuring gender equality in the workplace is the respecting of
maternity rights and
reproductive rights of women. Different countries have different rules regarding
maternity leave, paternity leave and
parental leave. Another important issue is ensuring that employed women are not
de jure or
de facto prevented from having a child. In some countries, employers ask women to sign formal or informal documents stipulating that they will not get pregnant or face legal punishment. Women often face severe violations of their reproductive rights at the hands of their employers; and the
International Labour Organization classifies
forced abortion coerced by the employer as
labour exploitation. Other abuses include routine
virginity tests of unmarried employed women.
Conscription Military and conscription has been historically generally gender inequal. While women can voluntarily join the military service in many countries, currently only a few countries in the world, for example Norway and Sweden, have gender-equal rules for mandatory conscription.
Gender Equality Indices have been criticized for neglecting conscription as a source of formal gender inequality.
Freedom of movement wearing
burqas. Some clothes that women are required to wear, by law or custom, can restrict their movements. The degree to which women can participate (in law and in practice) in public life varies by culture and socioeconomic characteristics.
Seclusion of women within the home was a common practice among the
upper classes of many societies, and this still remains the case today in some societies. Before the 20th century it was also common in parts of Southern Europe, such as much of Spain. Women's
freedom of movement continues to be legally restricted in some parts of the world. This restriction is often due to
marriage laws. In some countries, women must legally be accompanied by their male guardians (such as the husband or male relative) when they leave home. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) states at Article 15 (4) that: In addition to laws, women's freedom of movement is also restricted by social and religious norms. Restrictions on freedom of movement also exist due to traditional practices such as
baad,
swara, or
vani.
Girls' access to education In many parts of the world, girls' access to education is very restricted. In developing parts of the world women are often denied opportunities for education as girls and women face many obstacles. These include: early and forced marriages; early pregnancy; prejudice based on gender stereotypes at home, at school and in the community; violence on the way to school, or in and around schools; long distances to schools; vulnerability to the HIV epidemic; school fees, which often lead to parents sending only their sons to school; lack of gender sensitive approaches and materials in classrooms. According to
OHCHR, there have been multiple attacks on schools worldwide during the period 2009–2014 with "a number of these attacks being specifically directed at girls, parents and teachers advocating for gender equality in education". The
United Nations Population Fund says: According to
UNESCO, extreme exclusion still characterizes some countries, and pockets of exclusion remain in others. In Afghanistan, where girls have been banned again from secondary schools, there had been rapid progress in completion rates. For example, girls' primary completion increased from 8% in 2000 to 56% in 2020, although the gender gap remained at 20 percentage points. In some provinces, such as Uruzgan, just 1% of girls completed primary in 2015. A 20 percentage point gender gap in access to upper secondary education is also observed in sub-Saharan African countries, including Chad and Guinea.
Political participation of women as heads of state, but excluding monarchs): Three former sovereign states (
East Germany,
Tannu Tuva, and
Yugoslavia) have also had a female Head of State or Head of Government Women are underrepresented in most countries' National Parliaments. The 2011 UN General Assembly resolution on women's political participation called for female participation in politics, and expressed concern about the fact that "women in every part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from the political sphere". Only 22 percent of parliamentarians globally are women and therefore, men continue to occupy most positions of political and legal authority. In some Western countries women have only recently
obtained the right to vote. In 2015, 61.3% of
Rwanda's
Lower House of Parliament were women, the highest proportion anywhere in the world, but worldwide that was one of only two such bodies where women were in the majority, the other being
Bolivia's Lower House of Parliament. (See also
Gender equality in Rwanda).
Marriage, divorce and property laws and regulations Equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, and property/land ownership and inheritance are essential for gender equality. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has called for the end of discriminatory
family laws. In 2013, UN Women stated that "While at least 115 countries recognize equal land rights for women and men, effective implementation remains a major challenge". The legal and social treatment of married women has been often discussed as a political issue from the 19th century onwards. Until the 1970s, legal subordination of married women was common across European countries, through
marriage laws giving legal authority to the husband, as well as through
marriage bars. In 1978, the
Council of Europe passed the
Resolution (78) 37 on equality of spouses in civil law.
Switzerland was one of the last countries in Europe to establish gender equality in marriage, in this country married women's rights were severely restricted until 1988, when legal reforms providing for gender equality in marriage, abolishing the legal authority of the husband, come into force (these reforms had been approved in 1985 by voters in a
referendum, who narrowly voted in favor with 54.7% of voters approving). In the
United States, a wife's legal subordination to her husband was fully ended by the case of
Kirchberg v. Feenstra, , a
United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held a
Louisiana Head and Master law, which gave sole control of marital property to the husband, unconstitutional. There have been and sometimes continue to be unequal treatment of married women in various aspects of everyday life. For example, in
Australia, until 1983 a husband had to authorize an application for an
Australian passport for a married woman. Other practices have included, and in many countries continue to include, a requirement for a husband's consent for an application for bank loans and credit cards by a married woman, as well as restrictions on the wife's
reproductive rights, such as a requirement that the husband consents to the wife's acquiring
contraception or having an
abortion. In some places, although the law itself no longer requires the consent of the husband for various actions taken by the wife, the practice continues
de facto, with the authorization of the husband being asked in practice. Although
dowry is today mainly associated with
South Asia, the practice has been common until the mid-20th century in parts of
Southeast Europe. Laws regulating marriage and divorce continue to discriminate against women in many countries. In
Iraq husbands have a legal right to "punish" their wives, with paragraph 41 of the criminal code stating that there is no crime if an act is committed while exercising a legal right. In the 1990s and the 21st century there has been progress in many countries in Africa: for instance in Namibia the
marital power of the husband was abolished in 1996 by the
Married Persons Equality Act; in Botswana it was abolished in 2004 by the
Abolition of Marital Power Act; and in Lesotho it was abolished in 2006 by the
Married Persons Equality Act. Violence against a wife continues to be seen as legally acceptable in some countries; for instance in 2010, the
United Arab Emirates Supreme Court ruled that a man has the right to physically discipline his wife and children as long as he does not leave physical marks. The criminalization of
adultery has been criticized as being a prohibition, which, in law or in practice, is used primarily against women; and incites violence against women (
crimes of passion, honor killings).
Social and ideological Political gender equality Two recent movements in countries with large Kurdish populations have implemented political gender equality. One has been the Kurdish movement in southeastern Turkey led by the
Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and the
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), from 2006 or before. The mayorships of 2 metropolitan areas and 97 towns are led jointly by a man and a woman, both called co-mayors. Party offices are also led by a man and a woman. Local councils were formed, which also had to be co-presided over by a man and a woman together. However, in November 2016 the Turkish government cracked down on the HDP, jailing ten of its members of Parliament, including the party's male and female co-leaders. There have been continued arrests since then. A movement in northern Syria, also Kurdish, has been led by the
Democratic Union Party (PYD). In northern Syria all villages, towns and cities governed by the PYD were co-governed by a man and a woman. Local councils were formed where each sex had to have 40% representation, and minorities also had to be represented. Their male counterparts are seen as being "assertive" or "ambitious" as men are usually seen in the workplace or as the primary breadwinner for his family. Due to these views and expectations, women often face discrimination in the public sphere, such as the workplace. A
gender role is a set of societal
norms dictating the types of behaviors which are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of
femininity and
masculinity, although there are
exceptions and
variations.
Portrayal of women in the media The way women are represented in the media has been criticized as perpetuating negative gender stereotypes. The
exploitation of women in mass media refers to the criticisms that are levied against the use or objectification of women in the
mass media, when such use or portrayal aims at increasing the appeal of media or a product, to the detriment of, or without regard to, the interests of the women portrayed, or women in general. Concerns include the fact that all forms of media have the power to shape the population's perceptions and portray images of unrealistic stereotypical perceptions by portraying women either as submissive housewives or as sex objects. The media emphasizes traditional domestic or sexual roles that normalize violence against women. The vast array of studies that have been conducted on the issue of the portrayal of women in the media have shown that women are often portrayed as irrational, fragile, not intelligent, submissive and subservient to men. Research has shown that stereotyped images such as these have been shown to negatively impact on the mental health of many female viewers who feel bound by these roles, causing amongst other problems, self-esteem issues, depression and anxiety.
Statistics on women's representation in the media • Women have won only a quarter of
Pulitzer prizes for foreign reporting and only 17 per cent of awards of the
Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. In 2015 the
African Development Bank began sponsoring a category for
Women's Rights in Africa, designed to promote gender equality through the media, as one of the prizes awarded annually by
One World Media. • Created in 1997, the
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is an annual award that honors a person, organization or institution that has made a notable contribution to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world. Nine out of 20 winners have been women. • The
Poynter Institute since 2014 has been running a Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media, expressly focused on the skills and knowledge needed to achieve success in the digital media environment. • The
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), which represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and more than 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, leads the Women in the News (WIN) campaign together with UNESCO as part of their Gender and Media Freedom Strategy. In their 2016 handbook, WINning Strategies: Creating Stronger Media Organizations by Increasing Gender Diversity, they highlight a range of positive action strategies undertaken by a number of their member organizations from
Germany to
Jordan to
Colombia, with the intention of providing blueprints for others to follow.
Informing women of their rights While in many countries, the problem lies in the lack of adequate legislation, in others the principal problem is not as much the lack of a legal framework, but the fact that most women do not know their legal rights. This is especially the case as many of the laws dealing with women's rights are of recent date. This lack of knowledge enables to abusers to lead the victims (explicitly or implicitly) to believe that their abuse is within their rights. This may apply to a wide range of abuses, ranging from domestic violence to employment discrimination. The United Nations Development Programme states that, in order to advance gender justice, "Women must know their rights and be able to access legal systems". The 1993 UN
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women states at Art. 4 (d) [...] "States should also inform women of their rights in seeking redress through such mechanisms". Enacting protective legislation against violence has little effect, if women do not know how to use it: for example a study of Bedouin women in Israel found that 60% did not know what a
restraining order was; or if they do not know what acts are illegal: a report by Amnesty International showed in Hungary, in a public opinion poll of nearly 1,200 people in 2006, a total of 62% did not know that marital rape was an illegal (it was outlawed in 1997) and therefore the crime was rarely reported. Ensuring women have a minimum understanding of health issues is also important: lack of access to reliable medical information and available medical procedures to which they are entitled hurts
women's health.
Gender mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming is described as the
public policy of assessing the different implications for women and men of any planned
policy action, including
legislation and
programmes, in all areas and levels, with the aim of achieving gender equality. The concept of gender mainstreaming was first proposed at the 1985 Third World Conference on Women in
Nairobi,
Kenya. The idea has been developed in the
United Nations development community. Gender mainstreaming "involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities". According to the Council of Europe definition: "Gender mainstreaming is the (re)organization, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies at all levels and at all stages, by the actors normally involved in policy-making." For example, "in Azerbaijan,
UNFPA conducted a study on gender equality by comparing the text of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women with some widely recognized Islamic references and resources. The results reflect the parallels between the Convention and many tenets of Islamic scripture and practice. The study showcased specific issues, including VAW, child marriage, respect for the dignity of women, and equality in the economic and political participation of women. The study was later used to produce training materials geared towards sensitizing religious leaders." == Gender biases ==