Gender Discrimination: Inequality Starts in Childhood
Every child deserves to reach her or his full potential, but gender inequalities in their lives and in the
lives of those who care for them hinder this reality.
Every day, in every country in the world, women are confronted by discrimination and inequality. They
face violence, abuse and unequal treatment at home, at work and in their wider communities – and are
denied opportunities to learn, to earn and to lead.
Women form the majority of those living in poverty. They have fewer resources, less power and less
influence compared to men, and can experience further inequality because of their class, ethnicity and
age, as well as religious and other fundamentalism.
Gender inequality is a fundamental denial of women's rights.
Every girl and boy deserves an equal chance to survive and thrive. gender discrimination, starting in
childhood, continues to rob children of their childhoods and limit their chances – disproportionately
affecting the world’s girls. A girl is far more likely to be denied her rights, kept from school, forced to
marry and subjected to violence – her voice undervalued, if it’s heard at all. This assault on childhood
also deprives nations of the energy and talent they need to progress.
What is gender discrimination?
Gender discrimination is any unequal treatment, including privilege and priority, on the basis of gender.
What is gender inequality?
Gender inequality is discrimination on the basis of sex or gender causing one sex or gender to be
routinely privileged or prioritized over another.
Gender equality is a fundamental human right and that right is violated by gender based discrimination.
Gender disparity starts in childhood and are right now limiting the lifelong potential of children around
the world – disproportionately affecting girls.We should build a world in which all people – girls, boys,
women and men – have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities, regardless of gender norms,
identities or expressions. A world where everyone is equally recognized, respected and valued.
What are the causes of gender inequality?
Gender prejudice and resulting gender discrimination begin in childhood. From the moment they’re
born, girls and boys face unequal gender norms regarding expectations and access to resources and
opportunities, with lifelong consequences – in their homes, schools and communities.
For example, the world’s boys are often encouraged to go to school and get an education to prepare for
work, while girls carry heavy household responsibilities that keep them from school, increasing the odds
of child marriage and pregnancy.
Gender Inequality Examples:
Gender inequality in girls education. Conflict, poverty and other forms of social disadvantage also
magnify gender inequality in education.
Child marriage. Child marriage is a form of gender-based violence and a result and driver of gender
inequality and gender discrimination.
Gender-based violence. Gender-basd violence occurs everywhere aroud the world across all economic
and social groups. While both boys and girls are negatively impacted, girls are particularly at risk. Types
of violence may include: prenatal sex selection, female infanticide, neglect, female genital mutilation,
rape, child marriage, forced prostitution, honor killing and dowry killing.
Child labor. Child labor makes it difficult for children to attend school or limits their attendance, putting
them at risk of falling behind their peers. Boys and girls are affected differently by child labor and
parents’ decisions are often influenced by wider social norms about the different roles that they should
play in the home and in society. Girls are much more likely to shoulder the responsibility for household
chores while boys are more likely to engage in harmful work such as construction. Girls are usually
pulled out of school earlier than boys and are more likely to face sexual exploitation and slavery.
What is the importance of gender equality?
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful,
prosperous and sustainable future. Eradicating gender issues means a world where women and men,
girls and boys all enjoy equal rights, resources, opportunities and protections.
Empowering girls from the start is proven to have lasting and compounding benefits over the course of
their lives. When girls are supported to be active in civic and political spaces, in particular, they are
empowered with the tools and skills they need to be drivers of positive change in their families and
communities. Girls are the experts of their own experiences, priorities and needs, and are powerful
catalysts for a a world where gender equality flourishes.
What are the effects of gender equality on society?
When girls are empowered to lead their lives, speak their minds and determine their futures, everyone
benefits. History suggests that when we fight gender oppression, societies are more stable, safe and
prosperous, with happier, better educated citizens.
Conclusion
Gender equality is a basic right for all people, including both girls and boys.
A focus on gender equality is essential to close inequality gaps and ensure that it reachs every last child,
including those who are most vulnerable. Gender inequalities intersect with and exacerbate other
factors contributing to vulnerability, including age, race, socio-economic class, gender identity,
geography, health status and ability.
To build a more equal, inclusive future, free from gender discrimination, we need to start in childhood.
Factors Responsible for Gender Inequality in India
Preference for Sons: From time immemorial, a girl child has been considered as an unwanted entity and
a burden whom the parents would not mind doing away with.
Discrimination against women begins even before their birth.
The gruesome evils of female feticide and infanticide prove how brutal the world could be to women.
Role of Cultural Institutions: Cultural institutions in India, particularly those of patrilineality (inheritance
through male descendants) and patrilocality (married couples living with or near the husband’s parents),
play a central role in perpetuating gender inequality.
Assumed Role of Women: It is believed in the Indian Society the primary responsibility of taking care of
the family and bringing up the child is still on the women.
Many women due to family pressures have to retreat from the workforce.
Pink-Collarisation of Jobs: The women are mostly deemed fit for “pink-collar jobs'' only, such as
teachers, nurses, receptionists, babysitter, lecturers, etc. which have been stereotyped for women. This
denies them opportunities in other fields.
Discrimination at Work: Companies are'nt interested in hiring more young women because it has been
generally seen that the work and the family environment, marriage, and maternity generally forces a
married woman to resign.
Women receive a lower amount of wages compared to men for the same work.
Gender inequality, or in other words, gender discrimination refers to unfair rights between male and
female based on different gender roles which leads to unequal treatment in life. The concept: gender
inequality has been widely known in human history but not until the beginning the 20th century has the
transformation of gender relations become “one of the most rapid, profound social changes”
However, as a matter of fact, gender discrimination has made a big argument in society about whether
the equality among genders should be encouraged or not.
2.1. What is gender inequality?
Gender inequality is a threatening problem which causes unfair treatment in society between different
genders. These dissimilarities are distinguished from biological and anatomic factors, especially from
differing reproductive roles in life. This misperception comes originally from the wrong understanding
about the position of each gender in life.. And from every angle of life we all see the paradox that makes
women suffer adversities and put women into unpleasant situation. However, the method of gender
discrimination in one place differs from that in others. For example, in workplace gender inequality is
demonstrated through the differences between genders and the amount of money paid. In general men
are prone to have more chances to do things like schooling. Young women seem to have fewer
opportunities for higher education than young men.
Men were thought to have a duty of continuing the ancestral line. In that society, not having a son
meant to be disrespectful towards the ancestor. Going on with this wrong conception, women are more
likely to lose the role in community.
2.2. How gender inequality affects our lives?
Gender inequality has effects on the scale of population. To some people, the hope to have a son loses
the balance between two genders. Unfortunately, this situation has occurred for such a long time, so the
impacts of it in the population are rather big.
Secondly, the discrimination of genders leads to some consequences in education. Education is a
important tool, is the key to the growth of human. And no matter what gender a person is, he has right
to expose to education like others. “there are many empirical evidences that, increase in female
education improves human development outcomes such as child survival, health and schooling”.
However, “lower female education had a negative impact on economic growth as it lowered the average
level of human capital” . In poverty, girls are more likely to be influenced to approach education.
Finally, economy is the field that is consequently affected, because there is a link between education
and economy. The impact of gender inequality on economy is found through the number of male and
female students in primary and secondary school which is negative . And they claimed that “a large gap
in male and female schooling may signify backwardness and may therefore be associated with lower
economic growth”, the wages of women is much lower than men’s despite the same level of position,
the chances to get a job of women are smaller and there is more likelihood of being refused on applying
for jobs.
2.3. What do people think of this situation?
There have been a lot of changes made in terms of changing attitudes of people about the inequality of
genders. Nowadays we are living in a developed world which is contributed by both men and female so
why female have to suffer such that inequality which they don’t deserve to?
Generally speaking, this kind of inequality has existed for a long time and in every area of the world, no
matter where it is. Now it’s time for the world together make this out-of-date conception fade away.
In the relationship between economy and education, people cannot underestimate the importance of
education. To flourish the economy system, people have to make an effort on schooling. Regarding to
the solutions to this, setting up gender-sensitive schools is a crucial step in making a nice environment
for learning and teaching. Helping female feel more confident in studying, improving a gender-sensitive
curriculum which reflects national policy on gender equality to instruct is also necessary.
Fortunately, recently there are many positive responses toward gender equality which make people
optimistic about a fair world in the future.
Conclusion
From all the discussing above, gender inequality is obviously an urgent problem in the world. Despite
the fact that its volume much decreases, it still exists and make a lot of people suffer its consequences
every day. And there are many reasons leading to gender discrimination which cannot be solved easily.
However, with education and progressive thoughts of people, there are also reasons to trust in the
future of gender inequality being stopped. Then, hopefully, people can live in fairness no matter what
gender they are.
Achieving gender justice is not only a matter of basic rights. It’s also a key means of achieving fairer
societies and overcoming poverty. And we all have an equal part to play in making it happen.
