Situation with Gender Equality from Political, Economic and Cultural Aspects

Nearly 30 years ago, Swiss women held their first nationwide demonstration for women’s rights. Thirty years later, on June 14, 2019, hundreds of thousands of women again struck for equal wages and rights (Henley, 2019). It seems to show that whether not gender equality has been improved in the 21st century is still debatable. Gender equality is that for different genders, in the political, economic and cultural fields, they have equal access to resources, and can equally evaluate behaviour and events. This essay will discuss the improvement and stagnation of gender equality by arguing that on the one hand there are less and less barriers to women’s political activities, on the other hand in the economic field the gender gap does not seem to have improved, but with respect to culture, the gender discrimination has been alleviated in recent years.

Firstly, barriers to women’s political activities are being eliminated these years. It is known that the political arena is still dominated by men even in the 21st century, but increasing women are participating in it. According to Un Women (2019), in 2019, female parliamentarians account for only 24.3% in the world’s parliaments, and there are merely 11 and 12 women heads of state and government, respectively. What is more, in respect to the whole world, as of February 2019, there were less than 10% of female parliamentarians in the 27 country parliaments, and three of which were entirely arranged by men (Un Women, 2019). This suggests that gender differences are still evident in political participation. However, there are actually extraordinary progress achieved as in many countries female political participation is increasing. For example, in 2013, The proportion of women elected to Parliament in Italy rose from 20% to 30%, including the female president of the Italian Camera while it was the lowest in the world before the former election. (Aimar, S.2013) In addition, In April, 2013, the Prime Minister of Italy created history by appointing the most Women Parliamentarians the history of the Italian government, accounting for 30%, which was significant progress(Aimar, S.2013). Moreover, a major decree protecting women free from violence, known as the Anti-Female Killing Act, was proved by the Italian government, in which citizens were entitled to report violence against women anonymously(Aimar, S.2013). In this way, the safety of women could be more effectively guaranteed. Therefore, it can be concluded that, though, there is still many problems to be solved as to the political gender equality, the huge progress has been achieved.

However, with regard to wages and access to higher positions, the gender gap does not seem to have improved in the economic field. Kate Jenkins, an Australian Gender Discrimination Commissioner, conducted a social survey and found that leadership and gender economic security are two essential areas where there is a great lack of equality(Davey, 2019). This idea is further supported by The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2018), which reports that the average income of women was still 21.3% lower than that of men. Specifically, as for different industries, the gender wage gap is very large as well. For example, in the financial and insurance services sector, the gap is 30.3%, and in the construction sector it is 29.4%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the previous year (The Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2018). Meanwhile, in some areas, the disadvantaged position of men is clear as well. In the social assistance and health insurance industries, for example, women earned 16.1% more than men in 2017-2018, up 1.4 percentage points from 2015-2016 (The Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2018). In addition, as far as job acquisition is concerned, Jenkins pointed out that due to parental leave and care responsibilities, women are less likely to be promoted, as the promotion is largely based on the number of papers produced by individuals (Davey, 2019). In addition, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2018) stated that the increase in the number of women holding positions on boards and governing bodies was slow. For example, in 2017-2018, the proportion of female directors and chairwomen was only 25.8% and 13.7% respectively, much lower than that of men, and there was no significant increase compared with the previous year (The Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2018). Therefore, it can be seen that women in the economic field have not been fully respected in terms of income and promotion. In some areas, men’s income is also unsatisfactory.

Nevertheless, as to culture, the pace of reducing gender discrimination seems to have never stopped. It is known that many backward social customs in the world involve gender discrimination, such as Female genital mutilation (FGM) and violence against women. According to a survey in 30 countries, at least 2 million individuals alive have suffered from FGM and thus are physically and mentally injured(WHO, 2019). This is indeed an abhorrent abuse of women, as it can cause great suffering to women. However, it has made efforts by relevant governments and organizations to improve the situation. For example, Section 3 of 2003 Act states that all persons in the UK who provide citizens with FGM are subject to legal sanctions and that the maximum penalty for that is increased from five to fourteen years(Weston, J. 2017). Meanwhile, the Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders were also included in the UK Act 2015(Weston, J. 2017). In this way, female genital organ damage can be effectively reduced. In addition, gender discrimination in other cultures has also improved. For example, after the adoption of an amendment to the Indian Succession Law, the number of women who died abnormally decreased, and for women who could inherit property, their risk of domestic violence decreased by 17%(Amaral, S. 2015). Therefore, it can be argued that, though, women are still being treated unfairly due to their gender and some corrupt customs, their situation is improving with the efforts of relevant governments and organizations.

In conclusion, this essay has discussed the situation of gender equality from political, economic and cultural aspects. On the one hand,