On March 5, 2020, According to the 1st edition of ‘Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2020’, released by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), about 90 % or 9 in 10 of the world’s population has some bias against women.
This index studied 75 countries covering over 80 % of the world’s population & measures social beliefs that obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education.
Key findings:
i.According to the data presented in the index, nearly half of the people who were included opinion believed that men are the best political leaders while more than 40 % thought that men make are better business leaders.
ii.It also stated that 28 % think it is justified for a man to beat his partner & they think that men have more right to a job when jobs are scarce.
iii.The UNDP set an example that men and women vote the same way, but women are elected to only 24 % of parliamentary seats worldwide. Also, the index noted that out of 193 countries worldwide, only 10 countries have women as chairpersons of governments & they are paid less than men to do the same job around the world.
iv.The most important report of the survey is that there is no perfect gender equality country.Less than 6% of CEOs in S&P 500 companies are women; while women work more hours than men, this work is more likely to be unpaid care work.
v.The analysis also highlighted a bias shift in some 30 countries, revealing that while some show improvements, attitudes in others see to have worsened in recent years.
Top 3 Countries with the highest bias against women:
[su_table]
| Rank | Country Name | Share of people with at least 1 bias |
| 1 | Pakistan | 99.81 % |
| 2 | Qatar and Nigeria | 99.73 % |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 99.56% |
[/su_table]
The highest number of bias against women was in Pakistan, where 99.81 % of the people supported similar bias. This was followed by Qatar and Nigeria, where 99.73 % of the people supported bias.
The countries with the least bias towards women are Andorra, where only 27.01 %, Sweden with 30.01 % and the Netherlands with 39.75 % believe that women are less than men.
In France, Britain and the United States(US), it reported 56 %, 54.6 % and 57.31 % in gender discrimination.
vi.As per the UNDP ,despite the decades of progress the number shows that women are facing invisible barriers to equality.
vii.Way forward: The UNDP has urged all governments and institutions to take advantage of new policies to change discriminatory beliefs and traditions for women and for this, resort to raising the level of education and awareness.
Points to be noted:
i.This year (2020) marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25), the key visionary agenda on women’s empowerment to date.
ii.Internation women’s day (8 March)
iii.Some of the important women’s rights are: “#MeToo, #NiUnaMenos, #TimesUp. #UnVioladorEnTuCamino.
About United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
Headquarters– New York City
Administrator– Head Achim Steiner
