Biases against women have shown no signs of improvement in the past ten years, with deeply ingrained prejudices still prevalent in society despite global campaigns for women’s rights, including the #MeToo movement, says the recent UN report.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) analysed seven gender biases and found that nearly 90 per cent of both men and women worldwide hold at least one bias.
The report emphasises that these biases are deeply ingrained and affect both men and women to similar degrees, demonstrating the broad nature of the problem. The UNDP used data from the World Values Survey, an international programme that studies shifting values and beliefs around the world, to create the Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI), which incorporates metrics pertaining to politics, economy, education, and physical integrity.
Shockingly, the findings reveal that there has been no progress in combating biases against women over the past decade, despite significant global and local efforts to promote women’s rights, such as the MeToo movement.
For instance, 69 per cent of the global population still holds the belief that men are better suited for political leadership than women, while only 27 per cent consider it essential for democracy to grant women the same rights as men. Additionally, 46 per cent of people believe that men have more rights to job opportunities, and 43 per cent think men are better business leaders. Furthermore, 25 per cent find it justifiable for a man to physically harm his wife, and 28 per cent believe that a university education is more important for men.
As detailed in the research, the persistence of these biases causes enormous challenges for women and has resulted in the deterioration of women’s rights in various regions of the world. It emphasises that achieving gender equality or the Sustainable Development Goals would remain unattainable unless these deeply ingrained gender social norms are addressed.
The worrying lack of progress in fighting gender prejudices correlates with the UN’s frightening results of deteriorating human development indicators, aggravated particularly by the COVID-19 epidemic. According to Pedro Conceicao, head of the UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, social norms that limit women’s rights have a negative influence on society as a whole, impeding human development progress. He claims that ensuring women’s independence and agency benefits everyone.
In conclusion, the UN report sheds light on the persistent biases against women, which have remained unchanged not just in the past decade, but many years before that. These deeply embedded prejudices pose significant challenges to women’s progress and contribute to the rollback of women’s rights globally. Addressing these biases is crucial for achieving gender equality and advancing human development.