Who is affected by gender inequality

Poverty elimination can only be achieved by addressing the disproportionate burden of poverty, lack of access to education and health services, and lack of productive opportunities borne by women. Gender inequality represents a huge loss of human potential, with costs for men as well as for women. Gender equality is therefore integral to democracy, development and a human rights system to which all people are entitled.

Read more: Interactions Empowerment of Women and Girls. Rigid norms related to gender and power differentials between groups of men, mean that many men are vulnerable to violence the leading cause of death for young men worldwide and are less likely to seek health services when needed as compared to women.

Programme interventions at the local level have shown tremendous success in engaging men and boys in promoting their own health and well-being and that of women and girls. Want to learn about ways that men and boys are working to challenge patriarchy, and create new avenues for gender equality?

There are many great organisations working on these issues. A few include:. However, the World Economic Forum estimates it will take another century before true gender equality becomes a reality. What drives the gap between genders? Here are 10 causes of gender inequality:.

Around the world, women still have less access to education than men. Only 6 countries in the world give women the same legal work rights as men. Studies show that if employment became a more even playing field, it has a positive domino effect on other areas prone to gender inequality. One of the causes for gender inequality within employment is the division of jobs. Most of the time, those are the jobs that pay the best. This discrimination results in lower income for women.

Women also take on the primary responsibility for unpaid labor, so even as they participate in the paid workforce, they have extra work that never gets recognized financially. These places become unsafe and without protection, women frequently have to make decisions that compromise and limit their goals. Many women around the world do not have authority over their own bodies or when they become parents. Accessing birth control is frequently very difficult.

These are gender issues, and we need to have more conversations. Think about the gender makeup of students in gender studies, or of attendees of events about gender equality. While the HeForShe movement worked to a degree to engage men and boys in gender conversations, there is still a long way to go. What does it take for men and boys to be more engaged in the conversations? Blum believes that gender conversations should not be solely focused on women and girls. Then, men and boys can be more engaged, and they need to be engaged early on.

He is also actively encouraging more young men participating in courses and research on gender. As the world works towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Dr. Blum argues in his other report that the current indicators ignore men and boys.

The report proposes that a more inclusive approach to measurement is required to ensure that gender equality can be attained by , alongside other proposals in the report.