Ending Gender Inequality

While the world tries to get itself back on track towards the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, gender inequality continues to loom large. Across the globe, women and girls face higher burdens of domestic work and greater threats to their physical and mental wellbeing, including disproportionately high rates of sexual violence, malnutrition, and disease. The gap in wealth between men and women remains wide — as does the disparity in representation within political and economic realms. This is reflected in the fact that only 1 in every 2 seats of parliament is held by a woman, while the global pay gap continues to persist.

Moreover, the world isn’t on track to achieve full gender equality by 2030; in fact, if the current rate of progress continues it could take as long as 131 years. A lack of political will and a growing backlash against the advancement of women are the main reasons for this. These factors exacerbate existing gender inequalities and create new obstacles for progress.

The gap in wealth between men and women also stems from a lack of equal opportunities in the workplace. This is largely due to the fact that women tend to hold lower-profile jobs. This includes entry-level positions and lower paid roles, as well as more senior and expert roles. The result is that women are under-represented in the top 10%, 1%, and 0.1% of income earners around the world. They are over-represented in low-paying jobs and are less likely to have access to the financial resources necessary for building their own wealth.

This is reflected in the fact that in high-income countries, only about 30% of private wealth is owned by women compared to 49% in low-income countries. While this varies by country, it is a clear indicator that a significant amount of the wealth gap is tied to the status and power of women in society.

A reversal in this trend is essential to ensure that women and girls can access the same economic opportunities as men and boys. Fortunately, a number of countries have made commitments to this end by explicitly including the promotion of women’s economic empowerment as a stand-alone goal in their national strategies. France joined this select club in 2019, pledging via feminist diplomacy to increase its development aid for gender-equality initiatives and support feminist movements globally.

Changing the gender status quo will require an approach that is nuanced, sophisticated, and comprehensive. This means that we must not only identify problem areas but also change the social norms and culture that dictate the types of opportunities available to both men and women.

This is no easy task, and the results of these efforts will be slow to come. But it is vital that we make the effort — and that we don’t give up. Because if we do, we will have missed the opportunity to create a more equitable and prosperous world. For more information on this subject, click here to download the full report from the Gender in Geopolitics Institute.